by Andy Roland | May 29, 2023 | Pentecost
WHY DOES THE CHURCH IGNORE THE HOLY SPIRIT? From 1980 to 2000 the Church of England celebrated the feast of Pentecost by having a complete week of Bible readings on the Holy Spirit. But in 2000 the new service book, ‘Common Worship’ abandoned that inspiring...
by Andy Roland | Apr 5, 2023 | Bible, Holy Week, Jesus
A BIG QUESTION To people in the ancient world, Jesus died simply because he was a troublemaker and a bad Jew (a glutton and a drunkard – Luke 7.34). For Jews his death was a stumbling block to any attempt to take him seriously; to Gentiles his death was...
by Andy Roland | Apr 3, 2023 | Bible, Lent
MARCH 2023 Marketing Much of my marketing this month has been trying to drum up support for my two talks on Holy Week. So far with little success. There were just five of us at St Cuthbert’s on 28th, but one young lady did give me a lovely small pink rose...
by Andy Roland | Jan 20, 2023 | Easter, Jesus, Post-modern times, Religion
THE PSYCHIC REALM From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us. (Traditional Scottish prayer) As we think about death and what if anything might come after we need neither blind belief nor blind...
by Andy Roland | Jan 1, 2023 | Christmas, Newsletter, Religion
Hell I learnt a lot about Hell this month. I bought Bart Ehrman’s ‘A History of the Afterlife’ on Kindle. Long, scholarly, but accessible. I started it at the end of October. In December I checked out ’hell’ in other religions, thanks to...
by Andy Roland | Dec 19, 2022 | Advent, Bible, Church, Church’s Year, Religion
THE HISTORY OF HELL The Four Last Things I knew a priest went to buy some tobacco from a small tobacconist near St Paul’s on Christmas Eve. All the other shops were blazing with lights but not this one. The priest asked if he was not putting up any...
