Category - belief

Chinese government permits religious literature in the Olympic village

staff writers — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:15:14 +0100

The Chinese government has given permission for special distribution of booklets of the Gospels, copies of the New Testament and full Bibles during the Olympic Games, but other concerns about freedom of speech and expression remain.

Religion and Society research programme

Simon Barrow — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:50:53 +0000

A major five year research programme on faith and society is underway, and has a valuable new website.

Scouts' honour questioned over its exclusion of the non-religious

staff writers — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 13:26:35 +0000

Two leading organisations speaking for the concerns of non-religious people in the UK have challenged a major youth organisation over its exclusion of non-believers, in spite of its repeated claims to be open and inclusive.

Forgiveness and suffering for beliefs is a sign of hope, says Pope

staff writers — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:07:13 +0000

Pope Benedict XVI has declared in one of his key Christmas messages that believers facing persecution, torture and death in some parts of the world and those who die forgiving their killers are a sign of hope and faith for humanity.

Freedom of belief under threat, says new book on India

Ecumenical News International — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:07:01 +0100

Despite India remaining the world's most populous and vibrant democracy, freedom of religion is in decline and plural secularism threatened, says a journalist-turned-Christian activist who is now secretary general of the All India Christian Council.

Why Christians should take Richard Dawkins seriously

Richard Skinner — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:35:02 +0100

Though the god Richard Dawkins seeks to demolish is a caricature and often based on ill-informed analysis, says Richard Skinner, it is uncomfortably close to the idol some Christians have chosen to worship.

Make ethical business the norm, not a luxury

Press Office — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:41:11 +0100

Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think tank Ekklesia, said today that the best way to honour the memory of Anita Roddick - who died on 10 September 2007 - was to take forward the case for

Plea for global treaty to protect significant spiritual sites from damage

Ecumenical News International — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:48:32 +0100

The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called for a binding international treaty to protect churches, mosques, synagogues and other sites of spiritual significance.

Rethinking Christianity - by Keith Ward

Simon Barrow — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:55:14 +0100

In an era where a basic understanding of what Christianity is about cannot be taken for granted, Simon Barrow welcomes a new book by philosopher and theologian Keith Ward which clears some ground and opens up issues.

What difference does God make today?

Simon Barrow — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:34:58 +0100

In a society which is publicly sceptical of Christianity and which often assumes that all 'God talk' is superstituous or merely subjective, this paper suggests how the basic grammar of Christian belief can make sense today, and how it can be mapped in relation to key issues like globalisation, responding to human suffering, and the crisis of communication within mixed-conviction societies. Unlike many of Ekklesia's research papers, it is not directly tackling public policy issues, but instead is an extended essay exploring (especially through the work of Nicholas Lash, and others) some fundamental questions about how Christian convictions are shaped and articulated in the public realm. This is important, because much of our work and commentary employs explicitly theological language - although usually at a more popular level. The paper seeks to show that the meaning of 'God' is widely misunderstood, both by believers and sceptics, and that Christian theology offers some distinctive and robust resources for coming to terms with the demands of daily life, politics, culture, economics and society - but not in the easy, prescriptive way that is usually supposed. It includes a brief historical look at how and why talk of God became meaningless for so many in Western culture - before moving on to show how Christian thought becomes intelligible and effective once more when it is embodied in relationships, passionate conversation, shared living and action for change, rather than in abstract metaphysical categories. The essay does not presuppose wide theological reading, but it is a fairly dense exploration of some foundational issues. [Updated July 2007]

Simon Barrow