Home ›

Culture and Review

  • 20 Nov 2008
    Laughter, wine and... Calvin?

    The 16th-century Reformation figure Jean Calvin is often portrayed as a stern Protestant but an exhibition in Geneva of selected passages from his writings shows a dimension of the reformer that many people do not know.

  • 13 Nov 2008
    World water - a case for 007, pray?

    World cinema's most famous spy is back and this time he fights a villain trying to control strategic water resources in a developing country, says Annegret Kapp. But is the script of the latest James Bond movie too far fetched a fictional plot?

  • 22 Oct 2008
    The Gospel accorded to Antoni

    In a thoughtful, passionate and challenging reflection on homosexuality
    and the Christian church, Glynn Cardy's focus is not on an 'issue' but
    on the people who are most affected by prejudice, and their need for
    justice, dignity and human rights.

  • 30 Aug 2008
    Jesus, the brand of the brothers

    Using a new-to-DVD documentary on Lonnie Frisbee as a starting point,
    Brian Collins reflects on the way Jesus became an inspiration, brand and cultural transfer for an alternative culture that became mainstream.

  • 8 May 2008
    Seminary sculptures confront war, torture and suffering

    An installation of sculptures responding to the horrors of war, particularly the ongoing war in Iraq, is on display at Union Theological Seminary in New York City until 16 May 2008. It is the work of priest and artist Thomas Faulkner.

  • 22 Apr 2008
    Creationist film not very intelligently designed

    Millions of dollars have been spent promoting Ben Stein’s creationist propaganda movie ‘Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed’ to conservative church groups, but that money would have been better spent on fact checkers, say its critics.

  • 22 Apr 2008
    Unravelling blood, oil and prophets

    The bludgeoning conclusion of Paul Thomas Anderson's much-lauded, Oscar-nominated film "There Will Be Blood," which has recently been released on DVD, features a preacher forced to renounce his faith in God and admit charlatanry. Spencer Dew investigates.

  • 18 Apr 2008
    New painting challenges image of St George the crusader

    A new painting of St George by Scott Norwood Witts, which depicts the saint as a man of compassion rather than a crusader, is to be unveiled at the Catholic Cathedral of St George, Southwark, to mark the saint’s day next week.

  • 21 Mar 2008
    Why the church needs a new foreign policy

    The United States and the United Kingdom are being forced this month (March 2008) to reflect on the recent heritage of their military interventions. Who or what are we trusting in when we choose the way of the sword over the way of the Cross, asks Simon Barrow. Where does salvation lie?

  • 21 Mar 2008
    Faith, grief and adjusting to death

    There is a strong link between positive psychological adjustment to a death and one’s ability to deal with of the loss through one’s faith and religious practices, says Andrew J Weaver, a United Methodist minister and professional research psychologist.