I find it jolting that it was already six months ago when I found myself in the Indian monsoon. I have not yet written here about my experiences there. I had wanted to and had begun to do so, but found the task too daunting to complete. Now, as the year draws to a close, I want to briefly describe it before it becomes irrelevant. Read more …

For in no other way could we have learned the things of God, unless our Master, existing as the Word, had become man. For no other being had the power of revealing to us the things of the Father, except His own proper Word.

Irenaeus

God is, or is not. But towards which side will we lean? Reason cannot decide anything. There is an infinite chaos separating us. At the far end of this infinite distance a game is being played and the coin will come down heads or tails. How will you wager? Reason cannot make you choose one or the other, reason cannot make you defend either of the two choices.
So do not accuse those who have made a choice of being wrong, for you know nothing about it! ‘No, but I will blame them not for having made this choice, but for having made any choice. For, though the one who chooses heads and the other one are equally wrong, they are both wrong. The right thing is not to wager at all.’
Yes, but you have to wager. It is not up to you, you are already committed

Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 153-154

Let a man mercifully correct what he can, let him patiently bear what he cannot correct, and groan and sorrow over it with love.

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage

Thus thou hadst mercy on him, and not on him only, but on us as well; lest, remembering the exceeding kindness of our friend to us and not able to count him in thy flock, we should be tortured with intolerable grief.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a great man. He stood up against the injustices of Apartheid. He reached the zenith of human endeavours: achieving his life's goals, becoming a worldwide respected icon and hero, and the leader of a country which once sought to destroy him. But I believe that, to him, his greatest achievement was not his presidency—rather, it was seeing the realisation of his dreams of a free and fair South Africa liberated from hate and prejudice (regardless under whose stewardship) that was his greatest achievement. Not only was he man of greatness, but he was humble and compassionate as well, including towards his enemies. In this struggle he was of course not alone: many people stood beside him, fought with him, and fell around him in the decades-long struggle. But he could not be put down: even being sent to a prison colony could not quash his dreams. Read more …

[William Carey] translated the Bible into Bengali to make it accessible to the people he was trying to reach. But he also translated into Bengali, the language of the people, the sacred books of Hinduism, because they were in Sanskrit and the people could not read it themselves. Carey was not afraid of the teachings of Hinduism: he was prepared to have people read it themselves (for the first time) so they could see clearly see what God's word teaches in contrast to them. God's truth shines brightly: you don't have to stop people reading other things to help them come to know the truth about Christ.

Jerram Barrs

In a recent article I promised that more content was forthcoming as a busy period of my year/life was coming to an end, and that winter would force me indoors to contemplate and write. Sadly, as a mere mortal, I was unqualified to make such a prediction. Read more …

A common attack on Christianity is that Christians do not keep (all) of the Old Testament laws. Examples are that certain foods may not be eaten (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14), there are prohibitions on how clothes can be made (Leviticus 19:19) and there are a bunch of rules and laws regarding skin diseases and mold (Leviticus 13–14). Yet virtually no-one who calls him or herself a Christian keeps—or even tries to—these laws. Yet they will readily admit that these were divine commandments given by God. So what is the deal with Christians and the Old Testament laws? Read more …