This video at the New Culture Forum's spring conference 2022 shows some of the current problems in the Church of England. Some of us have known a much longer list for a much longer time. However, one proposed 'solution' was to disestablish the Church of England, which was compared to privatising a national institution. The …
Category: Church history
A Summary of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible
Today is the 50th anniversary of my completing the reading of the Christian Bible for the first time as a 16 year old. I have re-read it daily ever since. Wondering how best to commemorate this day, I decided about a month ago to complete my brief online summary of the Bible. It is fitting …
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The truth and “the whole truth”
Last week, the former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond drew attention to "the whole truth" in the oath normally administered in sworn testimony. The Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints (Committee of Inquiry) had invited him to speak to the Inquiry as he had been the victim of a miscarriage of …
Selective Scottish history
There are some centuries of Scottish history that are overlooked in favour of other ones. This morning I was at a meeting of about 30 senior men who were asked to name the main events in Scottish history. The list of options went all the way from the battle of Bannockburn (1314) to the Highland …
Those who think that religion and politics do not mix
There are those who think that religion and politics don't mix. The truth is that their religion and their politics don't mix. However, religion and politics have mixed throughout human history, king and priest legitimatising each other's control over the people. Christianity and politics mix quite easily together, and it is Christianity which gave us …
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What is the Establishment Principle?
The Establishment Principle is that biblical principle which states that God is sovereign over secular and ecclesiastical affairs, and that He has established a relationship between these two sovereign spheres in which the state and the Christian church are to acknowledge each other as divinely-appointed institutions, to mutually support and encourage each other, but not …
The ark of the covenant and the third temple
There is a movement afoot among orthodox Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and to this end they have been looking for a red heifer without blemish to dedicate the temple. Although there have been discredited claims in recent decades, yet there are rumours that a suitable red heifer has been found and that …
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How long does the biblical Millennium last?
The biblical Millennium is mentioned in every verse of Rev 20:2-7. 'He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations …
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When did the Gospel first reach Europe?
It is common to hear preachers say that the Gospel first came to Europe when Paul responded to the Macedonian call, ‘Come over into Macedonia and help us’ Act 16:9. This is wrong, and it is one of many manifestations of the readiness to copy ideas without checking out if they are true. The Gospel …
Seven days that changed the heavens
408 years ago today, Galileo's discovery changed our understanding of the solar system forever. His astronomical observations irrefutably confirmed the hypothesis formulated by Copernicus 100 years earlier that the Earth was not the centre of the solar system. This was an Earth-shattering discovery. Between 7th and 13th January 1610, Galileo discovered and observed the four …
Donald's Thoughts 