We have a very clear and recent example of selective quotation by the BBC in its commentary surrounding the use of parliamentary privilege to name Sir Philip Green as the anonymous person who secured a court injunction preventing The Daily Telegraph publishing allegations of sexual and racial harassment. While other commentators quite rightly concentrate on …
Category: Reformation
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 …
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, there are now rumours that a suitable red heifer has been found and that …
Continue reading The ark of the covenant and the third temple
The Seven C’s of Christian action
A Happy New Year to one and all! Let us begin 2018 by considering the 7 C's of Christian action. It will be good to incorporate them into New Year Resolutions. There have been many books written on Christian doctrine, many biographies of Christians which motivate to Christian action, but not as much about the …
The Protestant reversal
The Protestant Reformation was a revival of biblical scholarship which led to the recovery of the Gospel. Nowadays things are not so clear. There are many documented examples of Roman Catholic clerics being ignorant of the Bible at the time of the 16th-century European Reformation, and in such an environment it was relatively easy for …
Homosexual Christians – an oxymoron?
There are real oxymorons – "Unitarian Christians" and "Arian Christians" – and there are what ought to be oxymorons but are only too real – flawed Christians and sinful Christians. Is it any surprise? Biblical students and students of human nature should not be surprised. So why is it a great surprise that there are …
Scotland needs a Reformer
The main message from the 500th anniversary of the European Reformation is that Scotland needs a Reformer. We have plenty of theologians and preachers, but no reformer. Scotland's Reformer was John Knox but we have fallen upon such backsliding times that we need a new one, but at present Scotland has no reformer. A reformer …
Two liberating anniversaries today
Liberty is the theme for Reformation Day 2017. There are two liberating anniversaries today - 500 and 100 years ago respectively - and the message from each of them is being forgotten. 500 years ago today Martin Luther sparked the European Protestant Reformation and 100 years ago today the Balfour Declaration was finalised by the …
Martin Luther – Europe’s Reformer
Today we remember the 500th anniversary of the trigger that began the European Protestant Reformation, when Professor Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses for discussion to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, which triggers the European Reformation There …
Donald's Thoughts 