Category - philosophy

Moral practice and non-belief

Giles Fraser — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:59:17 +0100

Atheists are often criticising the ethics of religious belief, says Giles Fraser. But do they base their own moral practice too much on what they are against?

Theology, science and the problem of ID

Simon Barrow — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:17:10 +0000

This paper briefly sets out the religious, philosophical and political context of both the 2007 government guidelines on science teaching and the recent report and statement of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), explaining why 'intelligent design' (ID), popular among some religious groups, is neither sound science nor good theology. It includes notes, an overview of 2005-7 Ekklesia comments on creationism and ID, and a select bibliography.

Simon Barrow

The God elusion

Simon Barrow — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:11:34 +0000

The current media-propelled debates about God are mostly hopelessly out of touch with their own intense fallibility, says Simon Barrow. He tries to explain why God-talk will always be helpfully elusive if it is faithful to what it seeks to point to.

God is beyond metaphysics

Giles Fraser — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:03:57 +0000

Christianity has suffered as a result of trying to subject an ineffable and transcendent God to the inevitable limitations of speculative philosophy, says Giles Fraser. But divine reality impinges upon us much more immediately in the Gospel.

Christianity - is it all Greek to us?

Giles Fraser — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:47:01 +0000

From its earliest times, Christianity has been associated with Greek thought, says Giles Fraser. But the legacy of Plato is one that needs a good deal of questioning.

Open secularism meets open religion

Simon Barrow — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:48:34 +0000

The debate about religion in public life is often cantankerous, says Simon Barrow. But a constructive new pamphlet on secularism from the Humanist Philosophers' Group shows us that a better standard of discussion is possible.

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