Power and Poverty

I have been reading Dewi Hughes’ book, “Power and Poverty: Divine and Human Rule in a World of Need”. Hughes is the theological advisor for Tearfund. Hughes spends a lot of the book unpacking stuff that lots of other writers already cover well, with a whole section on what the Old Testament says about God’s [...]

Anthropology

I have made a start on my MA in mission and theology at Nazarene Theological College, and am most thankful to Lynley, The Salvation Army, and our congregation (in that order!) for allowing me to do so. My first task, thankfully completed today, was to prepare and deliver a seminar on Anthropology and its contribution [...]

The Forgotten Ways

“Alan Hirsch’s seminal work, “The Forgotten Ways,” is a book that demands to be read by anyone trying to make sense of mission in the post Christendom world.” I wrote that first paragraph some months ago, filed the post away in the draft folder, and forgot about it. Having now completed the book and come [...]

The Shack

William P Young’s novel, “The Shack,” is a best seller in bookshops. I don’t normally read so-called Christian fiction but I quite enjoyed this story of how one man who has endured the most awful tragedy rediscovers his faith as a result of a divine encounter. It is quite difficult to write about the novel [...]

Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification (6 of 6)

E. Glenn Hinson explains The Contemplative View with a very helpful, albeit hardly surprising, emphasis on the inner life in which, “Our relationship with God transfuses and informs everything we are doing. Hinson’s definition of contemplation as “loving attentiveness to God” is also helpful but in contrast with the grace-centred Lutheran view, for example, perhaps [...]

Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification (5 of 6)

Russel P. Spittler provides a thoughtful summary of The Pentecostal View, whilst recognising that this covers a very wide spectrum of opinion. However, I have struggled with his analysis most of all as he insists that speaking in tongues is evidence for the believer’s baptism in the Holy Spirit. Spittler does recognise that not all [...]

Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification (4 of 6)

Commenting on The Wesleyan View, Laurence W. Wood observes that, “For Wesley, holiness is a process of becoming in reality what already is ours in Christ through the new birth… It is a continuous happening through the indwelling of the Spirit.” This is a helpful nod in the direction of process as well as crisis. [...]

Five Views of Sanctification (1 of 6)

I have just finished reading, “Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification,” edited by Donald L Alexander. This is one of the books on the summer reading list for a course I hope to be starting in the Autumn. It’s not the easiest of reads but worth persevering with. Five theologians write from different church traditions [...]