The story of humanity’s fall into sin and subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden has long captured the imagination of Christian thinkers, poets, and artists. We can see the importance of this story from the earliest strands of the tradition; in the passage directly following this past Sunday’s Epistle reading, Paul writes: “Therefore just … Continue reading The Parable of the Servant: An Alternative Myth of the Fall
We’re just over the half-way point in this series on Julian of Norwich, and I hope that if nothing else is clear by now, the one thing that is clear, is that Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love is very well-named. Love permeates her whole experience of God, her theology, and spirituality. Today I’d like to … Continue reading Created for Love
When I was a kid, I’d watch a lot of home renovation shows on television. And while it was always played up for the camera, I loved the moments when they’d pull back some ugly old carpeting to discover beautiful hardwood floors underneath, or when their concern about rot or termites would be revealed to … Continue reading The Soul is Like God in Nature
A recurring theme on this blog over the years has been the idea that we need to find better ways of talking about sin. So much of the doom-and-gloom, fire-and-brimstone language surrounding it arose in the Early Modern period and is not only counter-productive and off-putting, but also misrepresents the fullness of what the Scriptures … Continue reading On God and Sin(ners): A Reflection on Romans 5.1-11 and Julian of Norwich
Prayer is a strange thing. It can take on so many different colours. There is repentance, there is thanksgiving, there is worship, contemplation, petition and intercession. All of these (and others) have their own motivation, and yet they are all recognizable as prayer. We might broadly define prayer as simply ‘relating with God’, whether with … Continue reading The Foundation of Prayer
