The Sign Of The Cross

The Eponymous Flower: Graz Professor Demands Death Penalty for Pope : Graz (kath.net) Richard Parncutt, professor of Systematic Musicology at the University of Graz, recently called for the death of Pope Bene... What an intolerant bigot! A hate crime, surely? Authored by Chris Hall Related articles, courtesy of Zemanta: Beyond bizarre: University of Graz music professor calls for skeptic death sentences University Of Graz "Death To Deniers!" Professor Richard Parncutt Calls For The Execution Of Pope Benedict Professor says execute Pope Benedict

Christians have no right to refuse to work on Sundays, rules judge. Since when did the Judiciary deem themselves fit and proper to define theological matters? The presumptuousness of it! Mr Justice Langstaff, a High Court judge says that Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs. Apparently this was because some Christians were prepared to work Sundays. Since Apostolic times Christians have gathered together one day a week to worship, break bread, offer the Eucharist and confess their sins. St Justin and Tertullian both mention the importance of Sundays. From thenceforth on there have been numerous Councils and ecclesiastical bodies. Germany has had Sunday rest enshrined in its basic law as a day of rest and “spiritual elevation and indeed Sixteen of the EU's 27 members have already provided legal protection for Sunday as a work-free day. This is where unions and churches have worked together to ensure t...

Top bloke! Authored by Chris Hall

The BBC have been told to put more Christian presenters on children's TV to 'familiarise' youngsters with different denominations. The study said Christian presenters would 'validate' the feelings of Christian children.  It said this was important for young people in their ' formative years'. BBC children's programmes should include more Catholic, Orthodox and Pentecostal Christians, a report of the corporation recommends. A panel of nine experts said youngsters should be introduced to the diversity of Christian denominations in their early years. While there has been a gradual increased in the representation of these people, they remain 'still relatively invisible' in the media, they said. Demonstrating positive experiences and outcomes will stop Christian children feeling isolated, it said, particularly in rural areas. The report commissioned by the broadcaster, which drew on audience surveys and nine 'faith experts', concluded th...

My boy is six years old today. When we first saw him with his litter he was the lightest in colour and was the broadest in the beam. How little were we to know how much joy he would bring to our lives and that of our family. Lord may we have many more years with Charlie. Authored by Chris Hall

Seems the happy band that make up the assorted temporal League of Militant Atheists  are running scared of those Godly people again. So incensed are the zealots by the prayers and supplications of the Institut Civitas that they're thinking of applying to the courts to legally disband them and force them underground. No, it's not China or some time-warped Soviet satellite that everyone's forgotten about, it's the bastion of secularism, France . “Secularism is not about simple tolerance. It’s not about ‘anything goes.’ It is a set of values that we have to share,” Minister of Education Vincent Peillon told the French press recently We who believe often forget about the strength of the Lord. Others are only too aware and are seriously worried. And it shows. Authored by Chris Hall Related articles France steps up struggle against religious radicals Military Atheist Group Forces Naval Base To Remove Live Nativity Scene

Purloined from somewhere on Google+, just had to. Authored by Chris Hall

Top man! ...and rightly so. From the Telegraph : Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, said he considered the Prime Minister “out of his depth” and Christians cannot trust him given the “contradiction” between his statements on religious matters and his actions. Spot on Bishop Devine. Cameron has proven he will say any old rubbish to hide his real agenda. He also used a two-page letter to Mr Cameron, to accuse him of “belittling” the Church of England by attacking its reluctance to ordain women bishops. The CofE has a form of democracy in the process of Synod but the Laity in the Synod were just so 'not with the programme.' Obviously the Synod got it so wrong* compared to the theological colossus that is Cameron. The Church is also upset the Prime Minister has refused to support moves by Christians to go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to demand their right to wear the cross. Another top man! Perhaps Cameron thinks they're the type of Chri...

A Short History Of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich My rating: 5 of 5 stars If Goodreads rating system went to 10 instead of 5 then I would give this book 9.5. Not because it doesn't deserve 10 but because I'm convinced it cannot be better than the three volumes that this is a condensed version of. The author admits that much has been left out in the production of this single volume and if I knew what I know now then I would have tried to obtain the original three volumes. Having said that, this is a fantastic book for anyone who has more than a passing interest in Byzantium. It's a shame that we in the West know so little about Byzantium. Such a shame that the history of Byzantium has been sidelined and written out of what we teach in history. Hitler dreamt of a thousand year Reich - too late Adolf, Byzantium got there first. Not as a Nazi Reich you understand but as a magnificent Roman Empire stretching from Europe into Asia Minor and North Africa. Coupled with this...

A few months ago our beloved Charlie ate his dinner and then promptly threw up. From that point on his ability to eat waned quickly to zero although you could tell in his eyes and face that he was hungry. It was very disconcerting to see this lovely Labrador who adored food trying to eat but being unable to bring himself to accept food. He also became very listless, sort of depressed and very sleepy. It was as though he'd lost something inside. When a Labrador goes off their food you know it's not something to be taken lightly so a trip to the vets followed. From then on were a battery of pills, potions and blood and bile tests which led to a conclusion: His liver was being attacked and was dying. One of the enzymes which is an indicator of something dodgy in the liver is ALT and Charlie's were horrendously high. Another test they do is a before and after food test for bile, and again Charlie's were extremely high. So the high ALT pointed to the fact that live...

Always love listening to this. Authored by Chris Hall

There's a silver lining to every cloud. Authored by Chris Hall

English: Logo of the Church of England (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It seems that the democratic vote by the Church of England Synod on the creation of women Bishops in the Church of England didn't go the right way. At least it seems to read like that when looking at the frenzy of activity following the unexpected vote. Gnashing of teeth anyone? I mean, we have the Prime Minister David Cameron warning the Church of England to think again about its ‘very sad’ rejection of women bishops. In a strongly worded rebuke, the Prime Minister said it was time for the Church to ‘ get with the programme ’ or risk looking dangerously out of touch with modern society. He said: ‘I’m very clear, the time is right for women bishops, it was right many years ago, they need to get on with it as it were and get with the programme, but you do have to respect the individual institutions and the way they work, while giving them a sharp prod. In the Commons the MPs couldn't wait to flex their mus...

Tolerance is not acceptance. Sums it up for me! Authored by Chris Hall

Just adding Disqus to the blog as the Blogger Comments feed seems to have broken. Recent comments on articles should show soon. Thank you for your patience! Authored by Chris Hall

Listening to LBC radio this morning on the way into work and also scanning the news websites I'm struck by the outpouring of bitterness and anger by some of the supporters of the vote for women bishops. Very little of what I hear has centred around theology or church tradition. Most of it seems to be related to very secular terms such as equality, diversity, empowerment, misogyny, dinosaurs, evolution, going forward and others. Together with the apparent inability of those who find the vote impossible to accept to display humbleness and good grace I fear for the future of the Church of England.  As someone who was once baptised into the Church of England I'm oft glad I've jumped ship. Authored by Chris Hall

There's just something about this image and text purloined from Locusts and Wild Honey that is profoundly unsettling yet hilarious. The link may help to understand something about the state of the Episcopal Church in the USA. Authored by Chris Hall

The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople by Jonathan Phillips My rating: 5 of 5 stars Jonathan Phillips has authored a fantastic book in The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. It's been immensely enjoyable to read and extremely informative. Phillips' book tries to be non-partisan and objective in delving into the political, commercial and theological roots for the Fourth Crusade and the story around why it went astray. He brings comment from both the Western nations and the Roman Catholic church as well as from the Byzantine Empire side, although I would have wanted to read more from the point of view of the Orthodox church. I'd put this almost on the same level as Herrin's magnificent book Byzantium: The Surprising Life Of A Medieval Empire. If you have any interest in the Crusades or this era then this book is a must read. View all my reviews Authored by Chris Hall

One of my favourite songs is Foreigner Suite by Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam from his 1973 album Foreigner. There's just something about it that reaches deep inside me. It was lovely to see him release a section of the tune again albeit with different lyrics under a the title Heaven from his 2006 album An Other Cup. Here's both songs.

Not noticed this mention of usury or monetary interest before in Psalm 15, verse 5 but this post by The Ugley Vicar highlighted it. Excellent! Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill? 1 O  Lord ,  who shall sojourn in your  tent? Who shall dwell on your  holy hill? 2 He who  walks blamelessly and  does what is right and  speaks truth in his heart; 3 who  does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor  takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the  Lord ; who  swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who  does not put out his money at interest and  does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be  moved.

Spotted this on Google Plus recently. Sad to see that reasoned argument and debate only go so far with some people. Anyways, gives me a chance to pull out my 'tolerance' card!

I've used this image in a post previously as it seemed to make a good point. However there was something about the word 'tolerance' and how it's being used today. We can have a look at the Oxford English dictionary definition to get an initial thought of how tolerance is defined: Definition of   tolerance noun 1  [ mass noun ]  the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with: the tolerance of corruption an advocate of religious tolerance 2 the capacity to endure continued subjection to something such as a drug or environmental conditions without adverse reaction: the desert camel shows the greatest tolerance to dehydration [ count noun ] : various species of diatoms display different tolerances to acid diminution in the body’s response to a drug after continued use: the body’s  tolerance to  Ecstasy builds up very quickly 3 an allowable amount of variation of a spec...

Seeing Ed Miliband getting booed at the TUC organised Anti-Austerity march for his cuts-lite remarks reminded me that...

New release from the excellent Captain Ska. Coming soon to an NHS™ near you. Don't say we didn't have our eyes open.

There's one or two subjects that spring to mind where a card like this will come in handy!