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Author Archives: Jonathan Clatworthy
The Day of the Lord – still on its way?
Just how nigh is the end? The lectionary’s epistle for this coming Sunday contains this sentence from one of Paul’s epistles: Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Ethics, Society, Theology
Tagged Age of Aquarius, Day of the Lord, Kingdom of God, Millennialism, Rapture
6 Comments
Israel and Gaza: what would a God’s-eye-view be like?
It’s dreadful. Whichever side you are on, the most appalling atrocities have been committed by the other side. Absolutely inexcusable. Your side has a history of countless innocent peace-loving people being killed in the name of a vicious ideology. You … Continue reading
Punishment by gnashing of teeth
The lectionary readings for this Sunday include one of Matthew’s six (!) references to ‘a weeping and gnashing of teeth’. All over the world churchgoers will be hearing about gnashings. Unlike the other gospel writers, Matthew loves a good punishment. … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Ethics, Society, Theology
Tagged deterrence, freedom, gnashing of teeth, Linda Zagzebski, Matthew, penal theory, punishment, reform, retribution
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Our planet doesn’t fit our economics
In June we said the progress that we’ve seen recently on cutting emissions will not take us to the 2030 target. We’ve been cutting emissions by about 1% per year, outside of the power sector, the one sector we’ve been … Continue reading
Are interest rates immoral?
Interest rates are such a central part of our economic life that it seems difficult to imagine what life would be like without them. Yet for most of its history, Christianity was fiercely opposed to them. Why? How was its … Continue reading
The changing meaning of miracles
Jesus walked on water, according to a story read in churches last Sunday. Did he really? If you really believe he did, does that make you a good believer in Christ? If you believe he can’t possibly have done it, … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Churches, Science, Theology
Tagged David Hume, Galileo, gods, Gottfried Leibniz, Isaac Newton, Jesus, John Locke, Laws of nature, Miracles, walking on water
4 Comments
Planet versus agenda
Heatwaves. Wildfires. Massive destruction in one country after another, caused, as even the fossil fuel companies now have to admit, by human industrial actions warming the planet up. So what are the most powerful people in the world doing about … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Ethics, Society
Tagged anthropocentrism, Black Death, British Government, design, evolution, fossil fuels, gas, Heatwaves, oil, Rishi Sunak, science and technology, wildfires
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Early Christian marriage
This is another post on marriage. A recent post used the story of Isaac and Rebecca to illustrate how marriage in biblical times was very different from today. This one describes marriage in the early Roman empire. One thing that … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Marriage & sexuality, Society
Tagged age of marriage, Christianity, marriage, oppression, patriarchy, Roman Empire
6 Comments
The Parable of the Sower
This post is a reading of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower ( Gospels of Mark 4:1-9; Matthew 13:1-9; Luke 8:4-8; Thomas 9), mainly drawing on Bernard Brandon Scott’s Hear Then the Parable and John Dominic Crossan’s In Parables. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Environment, Ethics, God, Theology
Tagged allegory, blame, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Parable of the Sower, parables, seed, Sower, suffering
2 Comments
What the Bible doesn’t say about marriage
Culture wars. Wokeness. One way of claiming to be ‘conservative’ or ‘traditional’ is to say that whatever you approve of is in the Bible. In fact marriage in the Bible takes a wide variety of forms, all the way from … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Ethics, Marriage & sexuality
Tagged Bible, Isaac, marriage, patriarchy, Rebecca
2 Comments