Bible Stories

The central Christian view of race is that there is only one race: the human race! As the apostle Paul said to the Athenians, ‘God created every race of men of one stock to inhabit the whole earth’s surface.’ At the pivotal points where God dealt with humanity -when he created us, Read more

‘God created mankind in his own image: male and female he created them,’ says the writer of Genesis. In Greek legend Zeus first created a sexless being. Later, in a fit of divine anger, he split this into man and woman. The division of humankind into two sexes is thus understood to be an imperfect state, a weakening of mankind’s power, because the two sexes pull in different directions. Read more

Art has a lot to do with religion. Most of the ‘art-works’ unearthed by archaeologists link in with some religious practice or other. Until recent times the church was the most important patron of the arts. Contemporary artists regularly discuss their work in ’spiritual’ terms. Read more

We are ‘flesh‘, made of the ‘dust of the earth’. We are part of creation; we eat, excrete, procreate, suffer and die just like the other creatures. The very idea of ‘dust’ describes our creaturely status. No humanist could speak more definitely of our lowly origins. Far from making us too otherworldly, the Bible cuts us down to size: ‘You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust,’ says the Psalmist. But if the Bible writers are realistic, they are in no way negative. The Bible affirms life, and joyfully encourages us to enjoy life’s pleasures. It tells us that if God has seen fit to create us as physical beings there is nothing in our make-up or anatomy to be ashamed of. Read more

Throughout human history people have had different pictures of time, especially when they think of eternity or immortality. For many ancient cultures, especially in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific, the rhythmical pattern of the seasons - seed-time and harvest, hot and cold, wet and dry-has given meaning to life itself. The sun, the moon and the stars are the reference points. The goal of living is to harmonize through festivals with the cycle of nature. Read more

Confessing God

All the creeds, confessions of faith and doctrinal bases that have ever gained currency in the church have defined theism along the lines already sketched.

If we say we believe in God, we are saying something about ourselves as well: that we are creatures wholly dependent on God the Creator for our existence, our continuance, our circumstances and our destiny. Read more

Books spell the word ‘God‘ with a capital ‘G’. Why? Because ‘God‘ is to all intents and purposes a name: the proper name of the personal Three-inone — Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit — whom Christians worship, love and serve. ‘God‘ was the English name for the Trinity long before books existed in English.

In our day, indeed for more than a century, the word ‘God‘ has been bent to suit particular Christian view-points. Books of essays have appeared with titles like My idea of God, The God I want — titles that tell their own story. It has even been claimed that God is dead—which has made some recall Mark Twain’s famous cable, ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’ Read more

Before Jesus put to his disciples the question Who do you say I am‘?’ he asked them Who do people say I am?’ and they answered One of the prophets’. That is the natural answer. To the Muslim, Jesus is one of God’s messengers. To the Hindu he is one of the jeevanmuktas, who have realized identity with Brahman in this life. To the average man in Europe or North America, where religion is an optional leisure-time activity, he is ‘one of the founders of world religions’. This is the ‘natural‘ answer, for if there is a variety of alleged revelations the natural thing to do is to assume that the truth lies somewhere between or beyond them all. This is natural, because it leaves me free to shape my idea of God as I like. Read more

‘He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.’ What exactly do these words in the Apostles’ Creed mean?

In Eastern or Roman culture, to sit on the right-hand side of the emperor was the same as sharing his political and military power. This role of co-regent was reserved for the eldest son, and his accession to the throne was celebrated as a national festival. Read more

Marxism was born at the time when Protestant theologians were busy in their search for the historical Jesus — a quest very much predetermined by the rationalistic methods and philosophical views of the time. For Karl Marx, ‘criticism of religion has been essentially completed’, and so he shows no interest in the founder of the Christian faith. Read more