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A Single Grain
A Single Grain
by Jonathan Sharp
A poem relating themes of Harvest and Birth, Growth, Death and Resurrection as suggested by Jesus' comment in John 12v24 Wild as an ear of corn he grew, Up to the sun he strained, Thriving upon its energy, Drinking of heaven’s rain. Stirred and prompted by the breeze, W…
Arthur's Call - Arthur's vocation
Arthur's Call - Arthur's vocation
by SPCK - Frances Young
7 Arthur’s vocation Silent Word A man with a message? Half-focused eyes look up to the sky Through long thin fingers, gently splayed And slowly waved, like flesh-tinged twigs Obliquely catching light from the sun – Not grasping, demanding or easily bored, Just intrigued by finger…
God's full and perfect justice (Revised)
God's full and perfect justice (Revised)
by Andrew T Murphy
[A slightly revised version, to replace the earlier version] "Justice has been done"? How does God deal with sin? What is justice? Surely it is more than simply punishment or revenge. This is a big hymn which asks for a big theory of atonement, exploring the wealth of rich…
Hymn: Caught between the world and heaven
Hymn: Caught between the world and heaven
by Michael Docker
Caught between the world and heaven We seek God's face, Looking down yet upward driven; We seek God's face; Always facing daily dangers, Never far from dreams of angels; Trusting that God's truth will change us, Ours is God's grace. Taught of Christ who shared our sorrow, We seek…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 6 Exodus 19.2–8a Romans 5.1–8 Matthew 9.35—10.8 Christians know that, through the work of God in Christ, made real to them by the Holy Spirit, the world is a different place. We are, to use Paul’s characteristic phrase, ‘justif…
the historical character of Jesus - 3b Paul’s ‘knowledge’ of Jesus of Nazareth
the historical character of Jesus - 3b Paul’s ‘knowledge’ of Jesus of Nazareth
by SPCK - David Allen
Paul’s ‘knowledge’ of Jesus of Nazareth The extent of Paul’s knowledge/interest (or otherwise) in Jesus tradition is a longstanding question within the scholarship.19 We can find ourselves swimming in a tide between maximalists and minimalists, between those who see barely any ci…
the historical character of Jesus - 3f Conclusion: Jesus according to Paul
the historical character of Jesus - 3f Conclusion: Jesus according to Paul
by SPCK - David Allen
Conclusion: Jesus according to Paul What sort of figure is the Pauline Jesus? Paul’s portrait or remembrance of Jesus is complex and multi-faceted, and manifests itself in a variety of ways. It may not be the type of picture we expect, nor exhibit the depth of Jesus tradition we …
Mere Apologetics - 1b The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics
Mere Apologetics - 1b The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
The Basic Themes of Christian Apologetics Before exploring these possibilities, we need to think a little more about the nature of apologetics. What issues does it engage? How does it help us proclaim and communicate the gospel? We could summarize the three tasks faced by apologi…
Numbers in the Bible Assembly Collection - Christmas - No Way Assembly
Numbers in the Bible Assembly Collection - Christmas - No Way Assembly
by Christian Assembly Team
Numbers Assembly – No Way Christmas (0) Bible ref: Matthew 1 to 2:1-12 This assembly would usually be used at or close to Christmas... Story NO WAY! said Mary when the angel told her she was going to have a baby. “I can’t be pregnant because I’m not married yet.” But when the ang…
Great Christian Thinkers - 26 St. Leo The Great
Great Christian Thinkers - 26 St. Leo The Great
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Leo The Great Continuing our journey through the Fathers of the Church, true stars that shine in the distance, we next encounter a pope who, in 1754, Benedict XIV proclaimed a Doctor of the Church: St. Leo the Great. As the nickname soon attributed to him by tradition suggest…
Great Christian Thinkers - 23 St. Ephrem
Great Christian Thinkers - 23 St. Ephrem
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Ephrem Common opinion today supposes Christianity to be a European religion that subsequently exported the culture of this continent to other countries. But the reality is far more complex, since the roots of the Christian religion are found in the Old Testament, hence, in Je…
Great Christian Thinkers - 22 Aphraates, “The Sage”
Great Christian Thinkers - 22 Aphraates, “The Sage”
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Aphraates, “The Sage” In our excursion into the world of the Fathers of the Church, I guide you today to a little-known part of this universe of faith, in the territories where the Semitic-language churches flourished, still uninfluenced by Greek thought… Taken from Great Christi…
Great Christian Thinkers - 36 Bede the Venerable
Great Christian Thinkers - 36 Bede the Venerable
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Bede the Venerable The saint we are approaching now is called Bede and was born in the northeast of England; to be exact, Northumbria, in the year 672 or 673. He himself recounts that when he was seven years old his parents entrusted him to the abbot of the neighbouring Benedicti…
Great Christian Thinkers - 17 St. Hilary of Poitiers
Great Christian Thinkers - 17 St. Hilary of Poitiers
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Hilary of Poitiers I reflect now on a great Father of the Church of the West, St. Hilary of Poitiers, one of the important episcopal figures of the fourth century. In the controversy with the Arians, who considered Jesus the Son of God to be an excellent human creature but on…
Great Christian Thinkers - 27 Boethius and Cassiodorus
Great Christian Thinkers - 27 Boethius and Cassiodorus
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Boethius and Cassiodorus I now discuss two ecclesiastical writers, Boethius and Cassiodorus, who lived in some of the most turbulent years in the Christian West and in the Italian peninsula in particular. Odoacer, King of the Rugians, a Germanic race, had rebelled, putting an end…
Great Christian Thinkers - 32 St. Columban
Great Christian Thinkers - 32 St. Columban
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Columban The holy Abbot Columban was the best-known Irishman of the early Middle Ages. Since he worked as a monk, missionary, and writer in various countries of western Europe with good reason he can be called a “European” saint. With the Irish of his time, he had a sense of …
Great Christian Thinkers - 29 Pseudo-Dionysius The Areopagite
Great Christian Thinkers - 29 Pseudo-Dionysius The Areopagite
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Pseudo-Dionysius The Areopagite In the course of my catechesis on the Fathers of the Church, I speak next of a rather mysterious figure: a sixth-century theologian whose name is unknown and who wrote under the pseudonym of Dionysius the Areopagite. With this pseudonym, he was all…
Great Christian Thinkers - 42 John Scotus Erigena