Entries from July 2009

The Canterbury Tales

On July 30, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

In recent conversations with some highly intelligent sixth formers, I'm disappointed to discover that Shakespeare and Chaucer don't seem to be staples of our English education any longer. When I was a lass, the standard texts for GCSE always included one Shakespeare play and one of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. The Canterbury Tales are brilliant – some less well known than More...

Angels on the head of a pin

On July 30, 2009 / By maggi dawn / 2 Comments

Church Mouse reports that Blackburn Cathedral is offering its communicants a choice of bread – a wafer consecrated by a woman priest, or a wafer consecrated by male clergy. I understand the dilemma the Chapter will have found themselves in. I have experienced plenty of times the deliberate snub of those who want to make a scene about More...

millions

On July 29, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

About a year ago the parents of one of my favourite graduating students sent me a present for my son. It was this lovely book, Millions. It's a story about two boys and their father who move house after their mum dies. They start a new school, deal with bereavement, and inadvertently get involved in a More...

Fingermaze

On July 29, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

My son and I spent last week in the company of friends on the South Coast. Our holiday ended with a visit to Beyond's monthly meeting, which was at the Fingermaze in a park in Hove – a labyrinth in the shape of a fingerprint. Earlier in the weekend Martin Poole had recruited Ben More...

spot the denomination

On July 28, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

which church is this? "The ___ Church believes that there is one all powerful force that binds all things in the universe together. The ___ religion is something innate inside every one of us…" More...

Theology for beginners (2)

On July 24, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

Another book that I found invaluable when I began the serious study of theology was Richardson and Bowden's New Dictionary of Christian Theology. Hundreds of short articles, set out alphabetically, explaining theological terms, historical movements, and so on. So if you want to read about "salvation" or "atonement" or "process theology", you just loook up the More...

Theology for beginners

On July 22, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

Lisa, one of this blog's commenters, has asked what she can read to learn more about theology. I've promised to put up some links here over the next few weeks, to good books that are not dumbed down, but also not so drowned in specialist language that you need a degree in theology to understand them. Every More...

Moon Communion

On July 20, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

On Sunday July 20, 1969 the first people landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar lander which touched down at 3:17 Eastern Standard Time. Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a More...

Bad Science

On July 19, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

Quite a few times lately I've found myself discussing the popular, media-expanded view of religion that most people don't believe in, and explaining to people that I don't believe in it either, and it has precious little to do with good theology. I share Richard Dawkins' opinion that fundamentalist, brainless religion is unbelievable, and in More...

Home

On July 18, 2009 / By maggi dawn / No Comments

I just finished reading Marilynne Robinson's Home. It tells you a lot about America, family life, religion, racism, and how appalling prejudices of one kind and another can become woven into what is supposed to be a benevolent worldview. Home makes sense all by itself but makes even more sense if you know a bit about your bible – More...