Since moving to Oxford two years ago, I have been aware of two looming inevitabilities. The first is that I must become a cyclist since, as the road signs around me brag relentlessly, ‘Oxford is a cycling city.’ And the second is that I really must read C.S. Lewis. I put both off until this…
Category: Culture
I enjoy music, theatre, reading, film and various aspects of culture. And from time to time I will inflict my thoughts about it upon you too.
The Host. (A very short story).
His lips turned an icy blue. A shocking contrast against the crimson rising around his neck and cheeks. His whole body screamed in silent convulsions. At first unnoticed. Then slowly awareness began to spread among the other guests. Is he…?Should we…? One hand clutched his throat. The other shot out and began flailing around, seeking…
The call to (de)influence: an article and an interview.
The other week I wrote a piece for Connecting with Culture, the weekly email from London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC). In it, I reflected on the rise of ‘deinfluencers’, and the dual role of Christians to deinfluence and influence, through a combination of prophetic critique and joyful celebration. If you fancy a read, you can…
A line I hate. A line I love.
A line I love, and a line I hate. In 15 words or fewer.
2022 Reading Roundup
It’s that time of year where people humblebrag about how much they read, under the pretence of making recommendations for others. You can hardly move on Twitter for end of year reading lists. And Phil Whittall’s roundup of roundups takes it to an Inception-level extreme – lists within lists. As Qoheleth might have said, ‘Of…
Learning to Listen in a Lonely World
‘You can be lonely anywhere, but there is a particular flavour to the loneliness that comes from living in a city, surrounded by millions of people.’ Olivia Laing – The Lonely City In her haunting book, The Lonely City, Olivia Laing explores the theme of loneliness, especially as experienced in urban contexts. Loneliness is not…
BeReal: Connecting with Culture
If you’re curious what a ‘geriatric millennial’ makes of a social media app much loved by Gen-Z, then you’re in luck! This week I had the privilege of writing the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity’s Connecting with Culture, and I chose to offer a few thoughts on BeReal. The concept is simple. Users receive a…
Covenant-making and context collapse
A few weeks ago I made a joke that took on a life of its own. Sorry if it’s taken you all that time to erase it from your memory, only for me to remind you again. I tweeted a picture from the Bible of Jean de Sy, which depicts Abraham’s circumcision in Genesis 17:…
Gaia: Has the church silenced the sermon of creation?
‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge…Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’ (Psalm 19.1-2, 4) ‘Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,…
The light by which we see: Scrivener, Tomlin and the case for Christianity
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis – The Weight of Glory One of the challenges of apologetics is to ensure you are answering the questions that people are actually asking; addressing the ache…
Liam Thatcher 