³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

We've something of a Calvin Special on tomorrow's Sunday Sequence. If you haven't already heard (where have you been?), 2009 is the 500th anniversary of the French Reformer's birth. John Calvin is often described as "the father of Presbyterianism", and some 70 million Reformed Christians around the world are certainly part of his continuing legacy. In this week's special, I make a visit to Geneva, the city most associated with the Reformer's story, in a quest for the historical Calvin. Yale historian Bruce Gordon talks to us about his new biography of Calvin, and we debate the Reformer's ideas -- from predestination to the Protestant work ethic -- with the evangelical feminist theologian , from the Institute of Ideas, and , former principal of Highland Theological College. How should we read John Calvin's work today? What does it mean to be a "Calvinist" in the 21st century? And where would Calvin stand on today's great theological and cultural debates?

If you would like to break into Calvin's writings, is hosting a through book IV of Calvin's magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Gordon Mikoski introduces the reading plan , and explains their focus on the last section of Calvin's book. You can also join the online discussion about Calvin's ideas on the Seminary's dedicated .

For 48 hours in 1979, Ireland came to a standstill to greet Pope John Paul II. Thirty years on, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster is marking the first and last visit of a reigning Pope to
these shores with a special hour-long programme of memories and tales from the
biggest gathering Ireland has ever witnessed. "When The Pope Came To Ireland", on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster on Sunday, August 30 at 1.05pm, hears from some of the 1.25 million people who witnessed John Paul II's sermon at Phoenix Park in Dublin. There are also
contributions from those who were amongst the hundreds of thousands of people who
listened to his calls for peace in Drogheda and those who travelled to Galway and
Knock.

Read the rest of this entry

Fr Gerry Creedon, who delivered the opening prayer at , is a longtime Kennedy family friend. In on Ted Kennedy, Fr Creedon, who is parish priest of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, said:

"I believe he had a passion for peace, for justice, and I think underneath that was a deep conviction about values, about faith. And I think that, in some ways, the whole history of Ireland is written into some of his history and his values, a search for freedom, a search for a better life . . . I first met him going to church on a Sunday at St. Luke's in McLean, and I would preach on topics like peace and justice, particularly peace. And while the congregation sometimes disagreed, or slept, I'd meet Ted after mass, and he'd continue to talk about the theme I was talking about, backing up the principles of Catholic social teaching, the gospel that I was addressing, with specifics, with statistics. He was somebody who was engaged and engaged in those values, especially about peace."

Kevin Cullen offers of Kennedy's contribution to Irish politics.

Money quote: "In the end, Ted Kennedy succeeded in politics because he took to heart the advice of poet Robert Frost to his brother at Jack's presidential inauguration. Frost urged Jack to be more Irish than Harvard. Teddy was."

Should the UK government issue a posthumous apology to , the mathematician often described as "the father of modern computing"? Last Sunday, I spoke to about his Downing Street petition calling for that apology. Alan Turing died by his own hand on 7 June 1954, at the age of 41, as a result of cyanide poisoning. Many believe his suicide was a consequence of the sense of isolation -- and the serious mental stress -- he experienced after being convicted of gross indecency in 1952. Homosexuality was then a crime, and Alan Turing fell victim to that law. (Watch documentary footage related to this part of Turing's story .)

Turing was not only a great logician and mathematician, he was also a code-breaker at Bletchley Park, and his contribution to cracking the Enigma machine was rewarded in 1945 with an OBE. (Read an online biography of Turing .)

Some have suggested that the current is a deliberate reference to Alan Turing's death: a cyanide-filled apple from which one bite had been taken was found next to his bed.

Update (9 September 2009):on behalf of the UK government. The PM's statement reads: "While Mr Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him ... So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work I am very proud to say: we're sorry, you deserved so much better."

I had Steve Stockman and Stuart Bailie on the show today talking about Woodstock, 40 years on. They agreed that something important happened during those three days in August 1969, but they weren't sure what exactly its lasting cultural significance amounted to. And if the combined knowledge of Bailie and Stockman can't be sure, what hope do the rest of us have? The 60s was a decade of crisis, protest and change, and Woodstock was a sonic fireworks display at the end of that decade. It's easy to overstate the cultural legacy of that weekend of music, either is a utopian vision of the future or a moral apocalypse. Some right-wing commentators believe the "counter-culture" values of Woodstock represented of Western civilisation (which I think most people would regard as something of an overstatement).

Read the rest of this entry

This 17-foot cardboard sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi is the work of , a professor at the University of Nevada.

It is currently on display in the main lobby of the University of Ulster's Belfast campus.

I tweated this picture of the sculpture today, just before presenting a special A Level Results edition of Talk Back from the university's Board Room.

Joseph DeLappe has also produced on Second Life.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed is dying. He has prostate cancer and, if some reports to to believed, he has only a few days to live. Understandably, he would like to spend those remaining few days with his family in Libya. The Scottish justice minister may soon decide that Megrahi's wish should be granted, even though that decision would provoke n.

On today's Talk Back, I read text messages from self-avowed Christians who hoped that Mr al Megrahi would die a slow painful death before rotting in hell. Others, also describing themselves as Christians, asked us to remember those who lost a loved-on in the Lockerbie bombing. One text simply read: "You who are without sin cast the first stone."

Update: The Scottish Justice minister Kenny MacAskill has announced that Mr al-Megrahi . Mr MacAskill said Mr al-Megahi showed his victim no mercy, but that is no reason to deny him and his family mercy. He said the Scottish people pride themselves on their humanity and his decision to release the Lockerbie bomber was a reflection of the faith and values of the Scottish people. In a speech that contained a number of religious references, the Scottish justice minister also said Mr al-Megrahi "now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power".

Further Update: Interviewed on Radio 4's PM programme, Kenny MacAskill was asked what he meant by "higher power". He said, for some that will mean God, for others Allah, and for still others Nature.

Read the rest of this entry

It's true. Some creationists have doctorates. And those doctorates are not just in irrelevant subject areas like theology, history and mathematics. It's just an empirical fact of the universe that some people have been awarded PhDs degrees in the relevant areas of biology and genetics -- yet they remain convinced that evolution by natural selection is a false explanation of human origins. I make this point only because there is some debate on other threads on this blog about whether young earth creationists with an advanced degree in a relevant discipline actually exist. I think it would be wise to simply stipulate that they do exist, though in very small numbers, then move on; because absolutely nothing follows from this admission. The fact that a creationist holds a PhD in biology or genetics cannot be advanced as an argument in defence of creationism, anymore than an evolutionist in possession of a relevant PhD is a walking argument for evolution. The truth or falsity of those accounts of life is demonstrated by the evidence, not the personnel.

Read the rest of this entry

says he was sent by God to deliver a message to Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi that she was about to be assassinated. His unannounced and uninvited visit to her home has cost the Nobel laureate an extended prison sentence. Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer has described Mr Yettaw in less than theological language ("wretched", "fool"). The American's release is the result of an . One has to be impressed by the grace of Aung San Suu Kyi, under pretty dreadful circumstances. She has even defended Mr Yettaw's right to religious freedom and free speech.

One must have a great deal of sympathy for John Yettaw, who is but all accounts a deeply troubled man still dealing with the trauma of losing his teenage son, Clint, two years ago. The 17-year-old was killed riding a motorcycle that Yettaw had bought for him as a present. There is more than one tragedy in this story.

"Newsflash: Congratulation to our President Matt Baggott on his appointment as the new Chief Constable of the PSNI. Please remember Matt in your prayers." welcomes the as the new Chief Constable of the Police Service in Northern Ireland. Read the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ profile of the new policing chief .

Don Axcell, the CPA's chief executive, says this about the organisation: "The Christian Police Association has been serving those in the police service for over 125 years and continually seeks to be relevant and active in its role. Already we have welcomed 100 new members this year and yet there are still areas of the UK where there is not a branch of CPA. One of our challenges for 2009 is to improve that situation. This year has already seen many encouragements, with four branches re-launched. We need everyone's help to raise the profile of the Association and aid us in our mission of supporting and encouraging Christians in the police service and building bridges with the Christian Community. It is my prayer that you will want to join us in this mission."

In June, I interviewed the historian of evolution Peter Bowler, who claimed that he, and other academic historians, were duped into appearing in a Creationist film about the life of Darwin. Peter Bowler, Janet Browne, Sandra Herbert also claim that their views on Darwin were misrepresented through editing in the film, The Voyage That Shook the World. Subsequently, they co-authored a letter about the affair to the . They wrote: "The overall impression is given that Darwin had an enquiring mind but was led astray by his theoretical preconceptions, a view backed up through interviews with several scientists, including one who expresses open doubts about evolution. The film also suggests that what is ultimately at stake is a clash of world views rather than the resolution of scientific questions."

Read the rest of this entry

Late in his life, Charles Darwin received a letter from an atheist author who wished to dedicate his new book to the great scientist. Darwin declined with this letter: "Though I am a strong advocate for free thought on all subjects, yet it appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity & theism produce hardly any effect on the public; & freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds, which follows from the advance of science."

Read the rest of this entry

Richard Dawkins says his literary agent advised him against writing The God Delusion in the mid-90s, but all that changed with the presidency of George W. Bush. The rise of an evangelical president pressing for something like a theocratic approach was, according to Dawkins, the perfect context for a book addressing the dangers of religion in the modern world. He makes his comments in of how religion in Britain has changed in the first decade of the 21st century. Church closures, theological wars, fuzzy faith, moral relativism, new atheism, the crisis of faith: how will faith fare in the second decade of the new century?

For longer interviews with those featured in Robert's report, and more analysis too, .

Confidently non-religious people describe themselves as "atheists"; the more tentative prefer the term "agnostic". Still others may describe themselves as "freethinkers". And with each of these terms of identification comes a different type of personality. "Profiles of the Godless", , has examined both the preferred labels and the personality types that tend to be connected with those labels. The study raises doubts about the "overly simplistic" claim that greater religiosity tends to produce greater personal happiness, and suggests that younger non-religious people are becoming more confident in their secular beliefs. The study also notes that non-religious people tend to be highly educated, unmarried males who are intellectually adventurous but personally "less agreeable". Sound like anyone you know?

Money quote:

"To summarize, relative to the religious or churched segment of the population, the nonreligious are distinguished both demographically (more likely to be male, highly educated, never married or cohabiting) and by their personality (more open to
new experience and intellectually oriented, less agreeable). Although overall life satisfaction and social contact in our non-religious sample was equivalent to the religious comparison group, the latter perceived a higher level of social support, possibly provided by their religious organizations. Among our large survey of the nonreligious, there was a range of philosophical beliefs: respondents included self-labeled atheists, agnostics, humanists, and spirituals. The label "atheist" appears to be becoming more common among younger individuals, suggesting that fewer nonreligious young people are
choosing more tentative labels relative to older cohorts. Finally, in contrast to many general population studies that lump together those who are confident in their nonbelief with those who may be weakly religious, the present study allows the ability to distinguish degrees of nonbelief, yielding interesting results. Confident nonbelievers such as atheists were more emotionally well-adjusted relative to tentative non-believers; the latter, though, appear to place a greater emphasis on being agreeable to, and trusting of, others. The present study indicates that the common assumption of greater religiosity relating to greater happiness and satisfaction is overly simplistic."

An American couple for praying for their 11-year -old dauther's healing rather than seeking medical help. When Madeline Neumann collapsed from undiagnosed diabetes, eher parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, began to prayer for God to intervene and save their daughter. They refused to call an ambulance. Dale Neuman is a former student of a Pentecostal Bible college. He and his wife will be sentenced in October.

The Marxist atheist writer Slavoj Žižek discusses his new book, , co-authored with the Christian theologian John Milbank, and explains how the Christian concept of the "toxic neighbor" impacts political, economic, sexual, and cultural thought.

The philosophical encounter between Milbank and Žižek was proposed by , a former student of both scholars, who is editor of this volume.

Sam Harris is gunning for Francis Collins published in the New York Times. Harris is unhappy that President Obama has nominated the former head of the Human Genome Project to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. Collins's scientific credentials as a distinguished medical geneticist are not in doubt. But Colins is also a the author of as a reasonable belief in the age of science. On this basis alone, it would seem, Harris regards his appointment as dangerous to the moral health of the American nation. Presumably, if Harris's argument were to be accepted, no theists should be appointed to any public position requiring them to take any moral decisions.

Andrew Brown, , says the debacle demonstrates that atheism can be every bit as intolerant as religion.

Sam Harris will join us on Sunday's programme.

We learn from the blogging Presbyterian moderator, Stafford Carson, that his luggage was lost en route to Addis Ababa.

His Bible and sermon notes were packed away, so the moderator had to preach on Sunday morning without notes, using a borrowed Bible, and wearing the clothes he travelled in.

His baggage was later recovered and returned, to Dr Carson's obvious relief. Under a blog post titled "", he has promised to provide photos.

Stafford Carson, accompanied by his wife Patricia, is on facilitated by Tear Fund and Christian Aid. He'll be visiting church partners, aid organisations, and meeting Irish government officials in Addis Ababa.

He writes: "The Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church (EKHC) was established in the early 1920s following the pioneerring missionary work of the former Sudan Interior Mission (SIM). It now has a membership of almost 6 million people within over 5,000 congregations. Part of my visit will focus on how Kale Heywet enables churches to reach out and transform their local communities."

is not impressed by the about the spiritual, social and emotional sites. Bishop Blake is a former priest of the Church of England who now heads the . He's also a who has conducted services on the internet.

He told The Daily Telegraph: "The Archbishop of Westminster warns about the dangers of electronic isolation and relationships mediated through the keyboard. Of course there are dangers and wise parents and balanced adults will guard against them. However, there are greater dangers to relationships perhaps in Roman Catholicism. I have counselled those heartbroken that a member of their family had been snatched from them into a closed order of Nuns, others sucked into the loneliness of the celibate priesthood, many more isolated into religious fanaticism, others damaged by the homophobia, authoritarianism and sexism enshrined in church policy."

Read the rest of this entry

Joan Acocella, r, extracts some hermeneutical lessons from recent, and historic, efforts to rehabilitate the apostolic betrayer of Christ. Money quote:

"[T]he idea, Christian and otherwise, that every word of a religion's founding document should be taken literally . . . is a childish notion, and so is the belief that we can combat it by correcting our holy books. Those books, to begin with, are so old that we barely understand what their authors meant. Furthermore, because of their multiple authorship, they are always internally inconsistent. Finally, even the fundamentalists don't really take them literally. People interpret, and cheat. The answer is not to fix the Bible but to fix ourselves."

Michael Nazir-Ali, who has already announced , later in the year, as the Bishop of Rochester, laments the demise of Christian Britain and the widespread abandonment of Judaeo-Christian social values, in t. Amongst a umber of issues of concern, he raises this:

"A widespread nihilism in culture has led to a lack of consensus about the sacredness of the human person and, in turn, this provides a context for the horrendous and mindless violence inflicted on people, even on young children. We cannot expect respect for the person if we do not give any reasons why persons should be respected. Mutatis mutandis, this is also true of racism. The Judaeo-Christian tradition, based on the Bible, teaches the common origin and equality of all human beings. It may be that Christians have not always upheld such equality in practice but without its basis, as we have seen in doctrines of "scientific racism" and eugenics, the weak will have no defence against oppression and exploitation by the powerful."

Some historians of religion will wonder if this an accurate historical summary of the Judaeo-Christian tradition's role in debates about the equality of all human beings. Was the tradition's attitude to slavery in the past merely an example of not upholding such equality "in practice", or an example of a dehumanising strand within the tradition itself? The tradition is plainly not fixed in stone; it is an organic form which evolves and mutates. And part of that evolution results from the conversation the tradition has with "culture". Perhaps culture sometimes offers a corrective to some abusive strands within the tradition.

"We are a democratic country, a country of tolerance, a law-abiding state, and we will honor every person regardless of his or her beliefs." Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a gunman on Saturday evening. Fifteen others, mostly teenagers, The murdered youths were named as Nir Katz, 26, of Givatayim, and Liz Trubeshi, 16, of Holon.

President Shimon Peres called the killings "abominable", and said, "Murder and hatred are the two most serious crimes in society. The police must exert great efforts in order to catch the despicable murderer, and the entire nation must unite in condemning this abominable act." The president's careful use of a word that is a cognate of the term "abomination" will not go unnoticed by many. In essence, he has taken a religious word that is often deployed in anti-gay rhetoric and applied it to those who have targetted innocent gay young people in this attack.

A special session of the Knesset, the Israeli legislature, was convened today to consider the attack. The that only 20 members of the Knesset attended the debate (out of a total of 120).

Or Gil, 16, who was hit twice in the legs during the attack, said: "He fired all over the place. I took cover with someone under a table and he kept firing. When I got up it was horrifying. I just saw blood."

While Belfast's gay community was celebrating the annual Pride festival on Saturday, Tel Aviv's gay community was in shock and mourning.

have become the first major Christian church in the UK to support gay marriage. At their annual gathering in York yesterday, the Society of Friends called on the government to change the law to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples and determined that their marriage ceremony should be available to those couples. The official minute of the decision is below the fold.

are an autonomous organisation and are not bound by the British Quakers' decision, but may consider that decision in forming their own attitude to marriage law and practice.

The Quaker decision comes at the end of Belfast's annual Pride celebrations. Within the next hour, thousands of members of the GLBT community, along with friends, family and supporters, will parade through the centre of Belfast. When they reach City Hall, they will parade past a group of conservative Christians protesting against the Pride celebration. Last year, most of Northern Ireland's political parties were represented on the Pride parade, and this year even more politicians are expected to walk in solidarity with the gay community. Some pro-gay clergy walked as part of the last parade; we'll soon see if there's an increase in the number of clerical collars in this year's procession.

Read the rest of this entry