Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Debating Dawkins: Confronting the New Atheists…
I recently finished teaching a paper on apologetics at Vose Seminary where I serve as principal. I am currently finishing off marking the assignments that resulted, and while I would be the first to admit that marking is my least favourite part of the job, every now and then a student writes an essay that reverses that, and I am reminded again of why I teach. A few days ago I read Vose student Robert Barthurst’s essay Debating Dawkins. The class had been asked to imagine that they had to debate one of the New Atheists – and could...
read moreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis – Take 3
Recently this blog explored C.S.Lewis as apologist. You find Lewis sayings everywhere – indeed, he is apparently one of the most oft quoted people on Twitter. Here are some of his memorable insights from a selection of his works… Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see (from God in the Dock) What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are (from The...
read moreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis – Take 2
Recently this blog explored C.S.Lewis as apologist. You find Lewis sayings everywhere – indeed, he is one of the most oft quoted people on Twitter. Here are some of his memorable insights from a selection of his works… Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different (from Prince Caspian) It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to (from The Problem of Pain) Forgiveness does not mean excusing (from Fern Seed and Elephants) All...
read moreWhen wrestling with God: Jacob’s struggle, and ours…
Sometimes life does not go to plan, and you find yourself in a battle with what seems to be everyone and everything. In the midst of those seasons, it is easy to lose perspective and to succumb to the destructive trio of bitterness, cynicism and despair. Given that for most people it is not a question of if those seasons will come, but when they come, are there any biblical narratives that can provides some guidance and strength? Personally, I often go back to the account of Jacob wrestling with God. You find it in Genesis 32, from vrs 22...
read moreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis…
With the recent post on C.S. Lewis as apologist, I thought it only sensible to spend a few Managing Monday’s on citing some of Lewis’s insights… Joy is the serious business of heaven (from Letters to Malcolm) It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one (from Letters to Malcolm) Everything is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him (from The Great Divorce) No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear (from A Grief Observed) The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles...
read moreC S Lewis as apologist…
You are probably aware of the work of C S Lewis. His Narnia series transformed more than a few childhoods, and while exploring Narnia’s imaginary fortunes, Lewis provides a narrative that interprets the main contours of the Christian faith in a way that is both accessible and meaningful. It is a remarkable feat. While Narnia forms its own kind of apologetic for the Christian faith, Lewis was also a systematic defender of Christianity. I’ve recently completed teaching a unit in apologetics at Vose Seminary (where I serve as...
read moreManaging Monday with Henri Nouwen: Take 4
Today we come to the end of our short series looking at some quotes from Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), who was a Dutch born Roman Catholic priest, academic, author and theologian. Nouwen reached the top of the academic ladder with posts at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, but made the surprising (although liberating) decision to leave academia and to work with physically and mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Here are some of his thoughts… The hard truth is that all people love...
read moreOn a High School Graduation…
This week I spoke at the year 12 graduation and awards evening of Carey Baptist College. Many of the graduating students have been part of Carey for over a decade, and they’ve been a close knit and supportive cohort. For teachers such evenings are bitter sweet… great to see students equipped and ready to move on, but it’s sad to say goodbye. The graduation is one last chance for the school to say what it hopes each pupil will remember, so it was an honour to have been asked to do this. Given that these evenings are long...
read moreManaging Monday with Henri Nouwen: Take 3
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) was a Dutch born Roman Catholic priest, academic, author and theologian. Nouwen reached the top of the academic ladder with posts at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, but made the surprising decision to leave academia and to work with physically and mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Here are some of his thoughts… You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking – Henri Nouwen Each step of love is...
read moreSome changes to the blog…
Thanks for reading this blog. For the last year I have been posting on Monday, Tuesday and Friday morning, and have been happy with the response – almost 20 000 page views this calendar year. But the frequency of posting is eating into my time a little too much – more particularly, it is slowing the progress on the 3 new book projects that a spoke about a few posts ago. This is to alert you that while the blog will continue to operate (this is definitely not a closure notice), posts in the foreseeable future, won’t be as...
read more