Crete

'Even one of their own prophets has said "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons" This testimony is true.' Titus 1:12.

Always felt this was a bit harsh of the Apostle Paul, and having just spent a wonderful week a Crete I can definitely say that however true this may have been in the 1st Century it no longer applies. Cretans in my experience are a very warm, gentle, hard-working and honest people! (I wonder if this is why out of the many churches I saw in Crete, none were dedicated to St. Paul?).
We just got back from a very chilled out holiday in Elounda in Crete with Su's mum and Geoff. Elounda is a fairly small town on the North East coast of Crete beside a lagoon which is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the Mediterranean and is surrounded by mountains. Upon our arrival in Crete, we picked up our hire car and an hour later we were enjoying a cold beer and this view in a sea-front Taverna - the Cypriana before we'd even unpacked our cases. Just behind the Cypriana was our apartment. From our balcony we enjoyed this view :

It really was an incredibly chilled out holiday. We went on a few trips, such as visiting Knossos a Minoan palace which was kind of impressive, due to it's size and age. The effect was spoilt a little bit, however, due to the fact that it has been largely reconstructed (using lots of concrete) according to one guy's interpretation and it was hard to tell which bits were original.



We also went to a place called the Lasithi plateau, a fertile region in the middle of the island which is covered in orchards and vineyards and lots of windmills which were used to pump water to irrigate the region. Extremely beautiful and very quiet except for the bells of a few mountain goats.



Our last outing was a boat trip to an island called Spinalonga which was the last Leper colony in Europe. A fascinating and beautiful, if tragic, place.



Most of our days, however, were spent lazing on beaches :



strolling along harbours :




or in tavernas!








It's a hard life sometimes!

The Ashes 2005

What an amazing summer of cricket we have had. Congratulations to the England team on regaining the Ashes. (which never actually leave the MCC museum at Lord's anyway, but hey). Matt Rees sums up my feelings nicely. I can't remember a time when cricket so captured the public imagination. Even Su almost became interested. Anyone who still thinks cricket is boring must have Attention Deficit Disorder.
Now, to everything there is a season, and now is the time for a little gloat. The Australian side have been amazing and one has to admire the likes of Warne and McGrath but there are some words to be eaten by the Aussies (curtesy of Metro newspaper) :

'I think I was saying 3-0 or 4-0 about 12 months ago, thinking there might be a bit of rain. But with the weather as it is at the moment, I have to say 5-0' Glenn McGrath

'England will lose the five-Test series 3-0 and the margin will be worse for them if it doesn't rain. If you put the players from Australia and England up against each other it is embarrassing. There is no contest between them on an individual or team basis.' Jeff Thompson

'I'm not looking at it as being the first to lose them. I'm looking at being another Australian captain to retain the Ashes.' Ricky Ponting

'I don't really care much for all this "are they closer?" I really believe that it's all about us - if we are executing our skills I don't believe there's a side that can get close to us.' Matthew Hayden

'This England team, while they are better and on track, I can't see them beating this Australian team in a game.' Ian Healy

'I definitely believe if any of our batsmen get out to Giles in the Tests they should go and hang themselves. But I'm confident that won't happen' Terry Alderman (Giles took 10 wickets)

'One day we'll lose the Ashes and it will be as horrific as waking up after a night on the drink in a room full of images of Camilla Parker Bowles' The Daily Telegraph, Sydney


Ha!

Bigmouth Strikes Again

Who would Jesus assasinate? Nutjob Pat Robertson has called for the US to 'take out' the democratically president of Venezuela!. Now I know the CIA have not been averse to orchestrating the overthrow of the odd South American government in the past (Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua etc) but you're not supposed to talk about that stuff on the 700 club. This guy really is a genius at self parody, but it is rather embarrassing that he bears the name "Christian". As I suspected sven has already picked up on this. For more 'Pat' related fun check out his 'Dear Pat' archive on his old blog. Seriously though, all self-respecting American Christians should pray for this fundie to keep his mouth shut or be secretly raptured (I'm already hoping that any self-respecting American Christian would boycott CBN, but I fear this may not be the case) . Jim Wallis writes an excellent piece about it here

Brother Roger Murdered

Brother Roger, the founder of the Taizé community had been stabbed to death in front of 2500 young worshippers. This is shocking news. I have never been to Taizé but the very idea of it inspires me and this a tragedy which will surely have reverberations around the Christian world. Nice article on the impact of Taizé on the church here

Muslim Suicide Bombers?

In light of recent events and the ongoing debate surrounding Islam within Britain, I am posting an essay which I wrote last year on the question of whether those who commit such acts can be considered to be acting in accordance with Islam.

Introduction

The events of September 11th 2001 caused many in the West to ask questions about the religion of the perpetrators. The hijackers, as their suicide notes show, believed they were acting as true Muslims, playing their part as martyrs in a ‘holy war’, dying ‘in the way of God’. Both George Bush and Tony Blair were quick to state that whoever was responsible had perverted the teachings of Islam which is a ‘peace loving religion’.1 This essay will attempt to answer the question – ‘to what extent can the men and women who commit suicide attacks be considered to be acting in accordance with the Islamic religion?’. The question will be approached in four parts – firstly, a brief overview of martyrdom within Islamic history will be given; secondly, the views of the some of the people who perform these acts will be explored, thirdly, some texts from the Qur’an will be examined, and lastly some other Muslim views will be considered.

1. The Voice of History

Suicide bombing is a relatively recent phenomen. The first known occurrence was in the Lebanese civil war in 1983, when the US embassy in Beirut was destroyed by a truck bomb.2 A little known organisation called Al Jihad Al Islami, ‘Islamic Jihad’ claimed responsibility.3However, the principle of ‘readiness to sacrifice one's life in the process of destroying or attempting to destroy a target to advance a political goal’ 4 draws from a tradition of martyrdom within Islam which goes back a long way.

The Arabia into which Mohammed was born in 570 CE was a place of nomadic tribes, often involved in bitter factional feuds. Loyalty to one’s own clan was of paramount importance. As Riddell and Cotterell explain ‘An attack on one is an attack on all. The need of one is the need of all. Fighting is unavoidable and noble. Death in fighting for the clan is an honourable death.’5

One of Mohammed’s most outstanding achievements is that he managed to instil a sense of unity and loyalty within the emerging Muslim community (Umma) that went beyond these traditional, tribal allegiances. A significant unifying factor was the expansion of the Dar al Islam (sphere of Islam) through military raids and conquest, ‘Holy War’, one of the interpretations of Jihad.

There has been much debate regarding the meaning of Jihad, which is the Arabic word for ‘struggle’. In one of the hadith, the traditions of the prophet Mohammed, he distinguishes between a ‘lesser’ Jihad, holy war against the enemies of Islam, and a ‘greater’ Jihad, the struggle against evil.6 The former of these meanings was developed during the Medina period of the prophet’s life, after the Hijra in 622 CE. Also from this period arose the belief that those who died while fighting on Jihad were promised a place in paradise.7 Martyrdom ‘in the way of Allah’, on Jihad, became the most glorious of deaths. It is these themes which have been picked up on by the Islamists in recent times who are prepared to use violence, and suicide attacks to advance their cause.

The cult of martyrdom has always been strongest within Shi’a Islam. Shi’ite Muslims look back to the fourth caliph of Islam, Ali, who they believe should have succeeded Mohammed. Both Ali and his two sons, Hannan and Hussein, suffered violent deaths. The death of Imam Hussein, in particular, is one of the most important milestones of Islamic history. Hussein was fighting for the caliphate against Yazid, whom he considered to be an oppressive impostor. His uncompromising idealism, his resolve to fight against overwhelming opposition, and his bloody death at Karbala turned him into Shi’a’s most revered martyr. As Hiro states Hussein ‘turned the concept of martyrdom into a tactic to achieve an ideal Islamic order.’8

It is perhaps not a complete surprise then, that it is from within Shi’a Islam that the first occurrences of suicide attacks in the modern era are found. It was Shi’ite Iranian revolutionaries who inspired the first suicide attacks in Lebanon. The group which claimed responsibility ‘Islamic Jihad’ went on to become Hizbollah, ‘the party of God’. The effectiveness of the attacks soon caused them to be imitated by other groups in Palestine, Egypt, Algeria and elsewhere. Over the years, networks of Islamist groups were established and operational links formed which came to include Osama bin Ladin and what became known as Al Qaida.

It must be mentioned that suicide bombing is not a uniquely Muslim phenomenon. Perhaps the most frequent practitioners of suicide attacks have been the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are Hindus fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka.9 It is reported that the Tamil Tigers, which include men and women, have committed at least five times as many suicide attacks as all other similar organisations put together.10 Other non-Islamic groups include the Marxist Kurdish group PKK, and several secular Lebanese and Palestinian organisations.

2. The Voice of The Martyrs

What do the people who actually commit ‘Islamic’ suicide attacks believe about themselves and their actions? Obviously, those who are successful are not around to explain their motives. However, there are examples of suicide notes and other documents which have been used in the preparation for such attacks. Whilst the authenticity of these notes may be questioned, especially where they have been used for propaganda purposes by the sponsoring organisation, they do give an insight into the mindset of the suicide bombers.

An example suicide note from Palestinian group Hamas in May 2001 makes particularly grisly reading – ‘Whoever believes that God's religion will be victorious without holy struggle, without blood, without body parts, is living under an illusion’.11 The Palestinian cause is shrouded in language of establishing Islam through violent, bloody Jihad and martyrdom.

In the case of Sept 11th, it has been discovered that each hijacker carried a handwritten document containing the following instructions ‘Remember the Battles of the Prophet.... Against the infidels as he went on building the Islamic state’, it went on to tell them ‘they must pray and fast, reciting the Qur’an and asking God for guidance’, ‘You have to be convinced that the hours left in your life are very few. From there on, you will begin to live the happy life, the infinite paradise.’, and finally ‘We are of God, and to God we return.’12

A video tape made by one of the hijackers, Ahmed al-Haznawi, was aired by the Al-Jazeera television station in April 2002. The video, which acts as a ‘last will and testament’ for Haznawi, makes clear that from his perspective the act of suicide was an expression of God’s will. He saw it as a duty and an honour to die in order to promote the world Islamic system and fulfil God’s commandments.13

So, from the insider’s point of view, it is clear that these people believe they are acting as dedicated Muslims, carrying out God’s will and dying in ‘the way of God’. However, it is questionable whether this can be used as an argument for them acting according to Islam, just because they believe they are. After all, there are many examples of people committing atrocities in the name of their religion, from fundamentalist ‘Christians’ murdering abortion doctors to the activities of the KKK or the IRA. Most Christians would be horrified to be associated with such groups. It is unfair to judge an organisation, or a religion by its extremes.

3. The Voice of the Qur’an

All Muslims would consider the Qu’ran to be the authoritative source for all they do and believe. This is true for none more than the radical Islamists from whom the suicide bombers are drawn. These reformist Muslims pride themselves on their literalist interpretations of the Qur’an.14
To the outsider, a cursory glance at the Quranic texts can lead to confusion, as different parts of the Qur’an appear to be saying contradictory things. This is due in part to the way the Qur’an has been compiled. Broadly speaking, the chapters (Suras) of the Qur’an can be broken into two categories, those from the Mecca period of the prophet’s life, and those from the later Medina period. These two sets of Suras contain very different ideas, reflecting the different contexts. In order to resolve the differences Muslim scholars have established a theory of abrogation, whereby later Suras cancel out earlier ones where there is an apparent contradiction. To take the issue of violence within Jihad, for example. Moderate Muslims would point to those verses which appear to advocate peaceful tolerance of ‘pagans’ such as

‘Let there be no compulsion in religion.’ Sura 2:256

The Islamists on the other hand, would take verses like the infamous ‘Sword’ verse

‘Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them.’ Sura 9:5
or
‘Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and his Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.’ Sura 9:29

These verses advocating violence are from the Medina Suras, which are later than the previous ‘peaceful’ verses. According to some scholars, this means the former non-jihad verses are abrogated. Radical Islamists would take this as support for their views.15 Riddell and Cotterell believe that ‘The Islamic sacred texts offer the potential for being interpreted in both ways. It depends on how individual Muslims wish to read them.’16

When it comes to the issue of suicide, the advocates are viewing it as a logical extension of the principle of martyrdom on Jihad. The verse most commonly appealed to by the candidates and their sponsors is the following promise of Paradise –

‘Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay they live, finding their sustenance in the Presence of their Lord. They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah.’ Sura 3:169

By contrast others would point to the following verse which seems to expressly forbid suicide

‘do not kill yourselves, indeed, Allah is merciful to you’ Sura 4:29

4. The Voice of The Moderates

It is important to state that the type of Muslims who support the use of suicide bombing attacks are a very small minority. The overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims find these incidents, especially the events of September 11th, deplorable. Following September 11th many prominent Muslim leaders were quick to unequivocally condemn the attacks. Dr. Zaki Badawi, an influential academic and religious leader spoke on BBC radio saying
‘Those who plan and carry out such acts are condemned by Islam, and the massacres of thousands, whoever perpetrated it, is a crime against God as well as against humanity.’17 Others drew comparisons with the Kharijite sect, a purist group from the 8th century. Q news, a London magazine for Muslims, wrote in an article called ‘There are no Muslim terrorists’ – ‘We need to tell the world that Islam is guiltless, and that terrorism is carried out by members of an aberrant cult, called Kharijism, which borrows some Islamic forms but is in fact a separate religion.’18

Aside from condemning terrorist attacks, many Muslims have written against the act of commiting suicide. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states clearly ‘Whatever applies to the crime of murder likewise applies to commiting suicide. Whoever takes his life by any means whatsoever has unjustly taken a life which Allah has made sacred.'19
Finally, Abdul Malik Eagle, a historian of Islam, believes the teaching of Islam concerning suicide is quite clear. He quotes an early Islamic authority Mohammed al-Bakr, relating a saying of the Prophet Mohammed ‘that the believer may be tried to the utmost and die after great tribulations, but he must not kill himself.’ He continues: ‘There is another saying from the son of Al-Bakr, whom I have just quoted, that the Holy Prophet said that he who kills himself on purpose will be in the fire of hell abiding therein forever. Now this is very, very strong language. It is not just that suicide is condemned, it is a grave crime and sin from the Islamic point of view.’20 So it can be seen that many within the Muslim community would consider the phrase ‘Muslim suicide bombers’ to be an oxymoron.

Conclusion

The question of whether ‘Muslim’ suicide bombers can be thought to be truly Islamic is not a straightforward one to answer. This is partly because there is no one central authority within Islam to declare who or what is or isn’t Islamic. There are a number of different voices each saying slightly different things. Unfortunately, though the radical Islamists who advocate or carry out suicide bombings are certainly in the minority, they have an influence which far exceeds their number. It is their voices which are often reported in the Western media, while the moderates are quietly sidelined. There is certainly a strain of violence which runs through Islamic history. The glorification of martyrdom, particularly within Shi’a Islam can be seen as providing a seed bed for the suicide bombers of today. However, there are so many other factors involved, social, economic and psychological, that suicide bombing cannot be claimed as an inherently Islamic practise. The
fact that many, if not the majority of suicide bombings are committed by non-muslims is telling. The Qur’an may be interpreted to justify violent Jihad in order to establish Dar al Islam, and martyrs who die on Jihad are promised paradise. Extending this line of argument to justify the wholesale slaughter of non-combatants, including women, children and, as in Sept. 11th, other Muslims would seem to be doing violence to the texts. The suicide bombers themselves certainly consider themselves to be true Muslims, but this fact is by far outweighed by the number of Muslim authorities who claim these people have no part in the Umma. In the end, perhaps only the Muslim community can answer the question raised in the title of this essay. Muslim suicide bombers? Possibly, but if they can be considered Muslim then they cannot be thought to be representative of Islam as a whole.

1 Peter G. Riddell & Peter Cotterell, Islam in Conflict, Leicester, 2003, 150
2 Dilip Hiro, War Without End, London, 2002, 270
3 Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation – Lebanon at War, Oxford, 1992, 476-480
4Dr Rohan Gunaratna, Jane’s Intelligence Review, April 2000,
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/usscole/jir001020_1_n.shtml
5 Riddell & Cotterell, op. cit., 15
6 Malise Ruthven, Islam – A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, 1997, 118
7 Riddell & Cotterell, op. cit, 28f
8 Hiro, op. cit., 22
9 Hiro, op. cit., 271
10 BBC News, May 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/526407.stm
11 Bill O’Brian, Slate, MSN, Mar 2001, http://slate.msn.com/id/1007713/
12 Hiro, op. cit., 299
13 The Guardian, April 2002, http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,685127,00.html
14 Bill Musk, Holy War- Why do some muslims become fundamentalists?, London, 2003, 227f
15 Anne Cooper & Elsie A. Maxwell, Ishmael My Brother, London, 2003, 126f
16 Riddell & Cotterell, op. cit, 192
17 ibid., 183
18 ibid., 184
19 Yusuf, The Lawful & The Prohibited in Islam, London, 1985, 327
Jonathan Taylor Page 6 9/7/04
20 Charles Recknagel and Azam Gorgin, Radio Free Europe, Oct. 2001,
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2001/10/05102001123045.asp


Bibliography

Al–Qaradawi, Y. The Lawful & The Prohibited in Islam, Shorouk International, 1985
Chapman, C. Cross and Crescent, IVP, Leicester, 1995
Cooper, A. & Maxwell, E.A. Ishmael My Brother, Monarch, London, 2003
Fisk, R. Pity the Nation – Lebanon at War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992
Hiro, D. War Without End – The Rise of Islamist Terrorism and Global Response, Routledge, London, 2002
Musk, B. Holy War – Why Do Some Muslims Become Fundamentalists, Monarch, London, 2003
Riddell, P.G. & Cotterell, P. Islam in Conflict – Past, Present and Future, IVP, Leicester, 2003
Ruthven, M. Islam – A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997

Web Sites

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/usscole/jir001020_1_n.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/526407.stm
http://slate.msn.com/id/1007713/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,685127,00.html
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2001/10/05102001123045.asp

Believe The Hype

I may not get to buy as many cds as I used to but I can safely say that album of the summer is, without doubt, The Magic Numbers amazing debut album. I love it. Bittersweet pop songs with Byrdsian/Beach boys harmonies, janglie guitars and even handclaps, it's everything that American indie pop/rock should be (except they're from the UK!). And any band that plays one of these is way cool in my book. Ok, they're shamelessly retro, but who isn't these days. Don't mention their size though as they're a bit touchy in that department.

It's Been A Long Time

OK, so it's been over a month since I blogged. I have no excuses for this other than laziness and a complete lack of inspiration of what to write. After we got back from our week in Cornwall we had one day at home then we flew off to Shannon for a week of camping in Southern Ireland with our friends Pete and Hayley. Pete had somehow managed to get 4 return flights from Luton to Shannon for £71. That's not £71 each, but £71 for everyone, including tax! We hired a car and worked our way round the Dingle peninsula, the 'Ring of Kerry' and the South West corner round to Cork, camping at 5 different campsites in 7 nights. The countryside was stunning, like the Lake district had been picked up and dumped in Cornwall (but without the crowds of tourists), giving me my two favourite things - mountains and rugged coastline. The weather was amazing, glorious sunshine virtually every day, which is apparently even more unusual for Ireland than it is for Cornwall. We took loads of photos, some of which I'll post on here. It seems like ages ago now. The rest of the (so-called) summer has consisted of working at the bookshop, working with Prof. Hull, decorating our front room and job-hunting (so far unsuccessfully), oh and watching cricket of course.

Free iPod!

At the risk of being accused of jumping on the bandwagon, I have decided to sign up for this offer to get a free iPod. I wouldn't normally do this sort of thing, but this may be the only chance I have of getting an iPod in the near future, and desperate times call for desperate measures. I've heard of these iPod giveaway schemes in the States and they are legit, see the following BBC article which explains more about how it works.

To get a free iPod, and help me to get one, click on the following link : ipods give away, choose which one you would like. You then have to sign up to one of the free trial offers, I have signed up to the DVD rental trial which is free providing I cancel within 21 days. Refer a few friends and wait for your free iPod!

I got this via Jason Clarke so I've already helped him along a bit (sorry Andy). Two of the people who read this blog have already (beat me to it) and signed up, Andy and Steve so check it out!

Kernow

This week we are down in Cornwall on holiday. We are staying at Rachel's house in Truro, while she does her exams up in Birmingham. That means we are also doing our first major stint of babysitting (3 days and 3 nights) with Jamie our nephew. It's been loads of fun and he's been as good as gold. /;['/;[;[';/';;;..;
./;.
.
;.;;[;p-;p
oops, that was Jamie giving his thoughts on the situation.

On Monday we had that most rare of things in Cornwall, which makes it all the more special when it does happen, a glorious, sunny day, all day. We took Jamie to the beach at Newquay and splashed around in the sea. I went surfing and caught some huge waves (so big in fact that I bust my bodyboard), and we had pasties for lunch. Yesterday it was back to the Cornwall we know and love, clouds, mist and drizzle all day. We went to a fishing village called Looe and made the best of it, ducking in and out of the shops to avoid the showers. We played the proper parents, going round moaning about the lack of baby changing facilities in the public toilets and the difficulty of finding a suitable café with a high chair, but eventually found a cracking little fish and chips place. Any moaning from Jamie was soon appeased by a 90p windmill on a stick thing.

It's 9.25am and Jamie is on his 3rd pooey nappy of the day. Is this normal? Or should we not have given him that curry last night? The sun is out again, so I think another beach trip is in order. Life is sweet.

Graduation

Last night I had my graduation from college. Here's a little testimony thing I gave, the primary purpose of which was to embarass my wife Su.

Graduation Testimony

Well, I never dreamed I would be standing up here today receiving a 1st Class Honours degree in Theology. Some people may remember that I also graduated last year, receiving the Diploma… maybe I just like graduations. So yes, I nearly left last year. It’s not that I nearly dropped out, because that would imply that I signed up to do a three year degree in the first place, whereas I actually only signed up to do 1 year! Four years ago I was a very bored software engineer, working at a troubled company called Marconi. I got the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy, and after a lot of thought decided that what I would like to do more than anything is to go and spend a year studying the bible. So I asked God and I asked my wife Su and to my delight and surprise they both said yes. I guess I was looking at it as a kind of year out, an opportunity to do something I’d always wanted to do, and a chance to reflect and think about the future. I enjoyed the 1st year immensely, and when it was finished I felt like I’d had a really tasty starter in a good restaurant. I was hungry for more.

Dr. Massey started to encourage me to consider doing the second year. Now, Dr. Massey is very cunning. He started saying things like ‘we feel it would be shame for someone of your calibre not to continue your studies’, stroking my ego. Now I wanted to do the second year, like I said I was hungry for more, but it felt a bit indulgent. Two years full time study, while my poor wife went out to work to earn the pennies, it didn’t seem fair. And besides, we couldn’t afford it. Well, we prayed about it and talked about it, and once again, to my amazement, Su agreed to supporting me for another year. God’s provision was amazing, Dr. Massey put me forward for a bursary from the Evangelical Alliance (the Jerusalem Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family’s charitable trusts) and we got the full amount we applied for (which makes me feel a bit better about doing our shopping at Sainsbury’s). Through various other ways, including the generosity of my parents, God supplied all our needs. I loved the second year. We started to get into some real meaty stuff. I got a chance to read lots of fat books, which I love, and I especially enjoyed Pauline theology, which probably makes me some kind of masochist. I really began to see how theology and biblical studies fit together. Our class discussions were fun, and helped to clarify what I believe, and what I definitely don’t believe.

Well, I thought that would definitely be it, hence the graduation last year. Once again, various people, students and lecturers began to sow seeds in my mind. ‘What do you mean your dropping out?’, they said. Dr. Massey gave me a word in chapel about not leaving foundations unfinished. Tell that to my wife, I thought. I felt one year had been a privilege, two years was a real bonus, a third year would be pushing it. We agonised over the decision all summer. I kept thinking I should really get a proper job. Once again, Su, bless her, agreed to let me go ahead and finish off the degree. Again, on paper we couldn’t afford it, but God has been so good in providing for us. The third year was more of a challenge, the concepts were more difficult, some of the theories a bit more bizarre, the names of the scholars more German. Enjoyment would be a strange word for it, but I learned a lot and it has all been worth it and I’m just so pleased to be here tonight.

I would like to thank God for giving me this chance to pursue my passions, and teaching me to trust Him and that there is always more to know of Him. I’d like to thank my parents for their love, encouragement and generous support. Thankyou to all the staff at the college, and my fellow students, it really has been a case of iron sharpening iron. And last but not least I’d like to thank my amazing wife Su. Su may well be the ‘wife of noble character’ of Proverbs 31. She has been incredible, not only going out to work each day to provide for both of us, but also doing most of the housework while my head has been stuck in the books. She has given me constant encouragement, picking me up when I’ve been down, coping with my anxiety and insecurity, kicking my up the backside when I’ve needed it and always believing me. She has shown me new meanings of the words patience, kindness and love. I think she’s the best wife ever. She deserves an award.


The future? My dream would be to be a part-time Vineyard pastor in somewhere like Vancouver, teaching New Testament at Regents college and going snowboarding at the weekend. I suspect God may have other plans, we’ll see.

blogging drought

Howcome when I was in the middle of revision and dissertation writing I wanted to blog all the time, but now I have jack all to do I have lost the will to blog? Let's see, what have I been up to? On Sunday, I spoke again at church, on the example of Paul in Philippians. It felt a lot better than last week, I think I was a bit more chilled out, and it wasn't nearly as hot. Sunday was also our 6th wedding anniversary, which is pretty mad. Every year we say we can't believe how quickly it's gone, but at the same time it feels like we've always been together. It does keep getting better though, and we're both so thankful that we've been given such a great marriage.

Haven't seen any job opportunities yet, but it's early days I suppose. The other night Su and I were chatting about it in bed. It was around 11.30pm and I was doing my usual thing of saying 'I don't know what I'm going to do', and Su was doing her usual thing of saying 'don't worry', when the phone went. 'Who's that, phoning at 11.30?' we said. It turned out to be a girl from church, one of the many new Polish people that have been coming along recently. In broken English she explained that she didn't normally do this sort of thing, but that she felt prompted by God to phone and tell me that I was to be at peace, because God has a job in store for me and that I was to stop worrying. Stunned, I said thankyou and returned to bed, when of course Su said 'I told you not to worry'. Talk about perfect timing! I'm glad this girl was obedient to the prompt she had, and that she had the guts to phone someone late at night who she hardly knows to pass on a message from God in a foreign language.

On a completely different note, I can always rely on sven for a lazy link when I've ran out of things to say. I am in full agreement with his 1st Council of Sven on tea and various other important matters. Any American readers should especially take note (it goes without saying that 'Iced' tea is anathema)

Julian Beever's Pavement Art

Beever_1
Originally uploaded by Jon Taylor.

Got sent these pictures today. They show the artwork of a guy called Julian Beever who does this stuff all over the world. The pictures are anamorphose which means that when viewed from the right angle they appear in 3D. V. cool.

See the rest of them here

Ode to BA (Hons) Theology

Here's a song my friend Lewis wrote while he was in the middle of exams:
(Based on My Way!)


Now, the end is near
And so I've faced the final Gobbet...
I tried, to make things clear
But now I fear I may have lost it!
I studied long, I studied hard
But to what end, there is no telling
I'm not sure if, my paper's marred
By my unique abysmal spelling...?

Thinking back, I may have cause
To be vexed, about my grading
My answers have, eternal flaws
That second class, looks like its fading!
My essay plan, had Abraham
100 years, before King David
I think I claimed, in the exam
The fall of man, is easily dated?!

Was it 'Q'?! Or 'W'?!
I just don't know, it's so confusing
It's hard to tell, what's real and true
I cannot take this mental bruising!
I said that Luke, was written first
And maybe Mark, missed out Good Friday?!
O but more......much more than this....
I did it...
My way



The 'Was it 'Q' or 'W'?' line refers to a classic moment in one of our synoptic gospels classes when a Korean member of our class 'Mr. Cha' put up his hand and asked why 'Q' (the name for a hypothetical source of Matthew and Luke) wasn't called 'W'.
We have no idea why he asked this.

Wow!

I got a first! Of course, I was hoping and praying for one, but I was convinced I'd messed up my exams, so I was expecting a 2:1, which I would have been ok with, being an improvement on my Desmond first time round. I can't explain how happy I am. I'm so thankful to Su who has supported me all the way through and never stopped believing in me.

Results Day

Well, today's the day I get the results for my degree. The end of three years work. After the exams I was quite nervous 'cos I thought they went badly, but now I'm strangely relaxed about the result for some reason. I know that whatever happens I did my best (which is more than I can say for my first degree). I expect we'll be going out for a curry tonight whatever happens.

The weekend was fun, if ridiculously hot. Saturday lunchtime we met up with Michael, Mary and Helen for a farewell lunch at Nando's in the Bullring. Michael is one of the easiest people to get on with I've ever met, and is never short of interesting conversation. He has a genuine love for life which is infectious and, like all the best Americans, is a complete Anglophile. This song is for him.

Worked again with John Hull on Saturday afternoon for the first time in ages, which is always good. It's weird how quickly 3 hours goes working with John compared to 3 hours working at the bookshop which seems to last about 3 weeks.

Spent time with the family, (hi mum), including Rachel, Karl and James, on Saturday evening for a Father's day type get together, which was great as we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like.

On Sunday morning I was speaking at church from Philippians 2:1-18 (how can you do justice to this amazing passage in 20 minutes?). It went ok, I think, but I was a bit rusty and it was altogether too hot. By half way through I had bored myself, which is probably not a good sign. Hopefully things will go a bit better next week.

Sven's theology quiz has been crazily popular (14000 takers at the last count!) and of course has attracted attention from some dumb Christians who've got nothing better to do than whinge and generally be a pain in the backside. Get a life people, it was just a bit of fun. He even got some malicious spam code in one of his comments, good comeback though.

New Archbishop of York

I think this is good news. Sentamu is a dude. I once saw him give the best djembe solo I've ever seen. Seriously, I think he is a good choice for Archbishop, although it is a sad loss for Birmingham. Maggi Dawn tells some good stories from when he was her vicar.

The Problem

The first chapter of Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz was really just an intro to some of his thoughts on our 'sin nature'. The idea that there is 'something wrong with human nature', as Billy Graham (or was it Gary Clail?) used to say, is not exactly a fashionable thing to talk about so it was interesting to hear his thoughts on the concept.
On p14 he talks some more about his own feelings of guilt :

'I didn't feel like I knew God, and yet He was making me experience this conviction. I felt that the least He could have done was to come down and introduce Himself and explain these feelings of conviction in person.
If you don't love somebody, it gets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel. When you love them you get pleasure from their pleasure, and it makes it easier to serve. I didn't love God because I didn't know God.
Still, I knew, because of my own feelings, there was something wrong with me, and it wasn't only me. I knew it was everybody. It was like a bacteria or a cancer or a trance. It wasn't on the skin, it was in the soul. It showed itself in loneliness, lust, anger, jealousy and depression. It had people screwed up bad everywhere you went - at the store, at home, at church; it was ugly and deep. Lots of singers on the radio were singing about it and cops had jobs because of it. It was as if we were broken, I thought, as if we were never supposed to feel these sticky emotions. It was as if we were cracked, couldn't love right, couldn't feel good things for very long without screwing it all up. We were like gasoline engines running on diesel.'

I like what he does here. It is difficult to talk about our 'sin nature' without sounding like some kind of fundamentalist. It has often been expressed in ways that make people sound worthless, completely overwriting the goodness of God's creation. The issue must be faced though, at some point in our lives we need to realise that we are 'part of the problem'. It is no good blaming everything on 'the system', on 'structural' or 'corporate' sin (although I do believe in such a thing). Miller expresses this on p20:

'The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been. I am the problem.
I think every conscious person, every person who is awake to the functioning principles within his reality, has a moment where he stops blaming the problems in the world on group think, on humanity and authority, and starts to face himself. I hate this more than anything. This is the hardest principle within Christian spirituality for me to deal with. The problem is not out there; the problem is the needy beast of a thing that lives in my chest.'

The next bit is challenging for me, and for anyone who claims to be interested in social justice :
'More than my questions about the efficacy of social action were my questions about my own motives. Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as a socially active person? I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway. I don't have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change, true life giving, God-honouring change would have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I had been protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read "I AM THE PROBLEM!"

This reminds me of a G.K. Chesterton story. The Times newspaper once ran a series of articles on the topic of "What is wrong with the world?". They had contributions from various politicians and other famous people. When the series had run for a while a letter was published which read
"Dear Sir,
What is wrong with the world?
I am.
Yours sincerely,
G.K. Chesterton"

There is so much good, honest stuff in this chapter, but I'm probably already in breach of 'fair use', so I'll just finish with this C.S. Lewis poem that he quotes (p21) :

'All this flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love - a scholars parrot may talk Greek-
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin'

Light Reading

It is such a relief to be able to read for fun again! I enjoy reading big theology textbooks, which I know is fairly weird, but after the revision and dissertation stuff it is nice to read something a bit more inspirational. I picked up Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz which I think has been out in the States for ages but seems to have only just made it to our Christian bookshop. So far, Don Miller's 'non-religious thoughts on Christian Spirituality' have been refreshingly honest, uplifting and funny and I thought I might blog a bit about them.

The opening chapter describes Don's childhood struggles to relate to God as a Father (he only saw his own father 3 times as he was growing up) and his early forays into "sinning", meaning telling lies, cussing, fighting and looking up girl's skirts. The ensuing feelings of guilt caused him to begin using religion as a means of getting back to normal, so he could have fun without feeling guilty. He describes this view of God as a 'slot-machine God'.
'The slot-machine God provided a relief for the pinging guilt and a sense of hope that my life would get organized toward a purpose. I was too dumb to test the merit of the slot machine idea. I simply began to pray for forgiveness, thinking the cherries might line up and the light atop the machine would flash, spilling shiny tokens of good fate. What I was doing was more in line with superstition than spirituality. But it worked. If something nice happened to me, I thought it was God, and if something didn't, I went back to the slot machine, knelt down in prayer, and pulled the lever a few more times. I liked this God very much because you hardly had to talk to it and it never talked back. But the fun never lasts'
The chapter ends with him buying his mum a cheap and crappy Christmas present so he can spend the rest of his money on fishing equipment. He feels so ashamed of this (perhaps describing himself as Hitler was a tad over the top) that he gets on his knees and really connects with God for the first time.

I was struck by how I blessed I have been to have the parents I have. When I came back to God 8 years ago after a period of walking away from Him I was very aware that they had been praying for me. I also had a strong sense of God as a Father who was personally interested in my life and was there for me as my own dad was . It is mindblowing when you get a glimpse of the Father's love. It is amazing how quick we go back to treating God as a non-personal religious system to deal with our sin and guilt rather than wanting to please Him because we love Him.

X+Y

Coldplay's new album is their best yet. In fact they have got better with every album I reckon. I used to think they were just bland dadrock like Travis but the second album got me hooked and now I think they're truly great. It's not a huge change of direction or anything but when the songwriting is as good as this then you don't need a change of direction. This is the sound of a band at the top of their game. But perhaps I'm just getting old.

A Kairos Moment? G8 finance ministers meet

Today the finance ministers of the G8 countries continue their discussions about aid and debt reduction in preparation for the G8 summit at Gleneagles. Will today represent a real kairos moment, with an historic agreement on debt relief? As always with such things the devil is in the details and it is difficult to ascertain what’s really going on from the various accounts of discussions. Here's what I currently understand to be the situation :

Aid
Make Poverty History have been pushing for the G8 countries to double their aid and commit to honouring their promises to raise aid to 0.7% of GDP (which were made 35 years ago). It doesn't look like the US administration are going to buy into this, claiming they have already doubled aid in the last 4 years and trebled food aid. Brown was proposing an International Finance Facility which would frontload aid by issuing bonds. His mini-IFF may have to go ahead with a 'coalition of the willing'.
Here are the 2004 'Aid as a % of GDP' figures for the G7 :

France - 0.42%
United Kingdom - 0.36%
Germany - 0.28%
Canada - 0.26%
Japan - 0.19%
US - 0.16%
Italy - 0.15%

source - OECD web site


Meanwhile global spending on arms tops $1 trillion dollars!

I am convinced the US churches have a vital role to play in this arena and it was encouraging to see mega-church pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren getting on board with the One campaign.

Debt Relief
It looks like there is about to be a significant announcement on debt relief. This is a fantastic start. Their are 18 countries whose entire debt stands to be written off, with a further 11 who may qualify in the future. Jubilee Debt Campaign believe that there are at least 62 countries who should qualify for debt relief, but this is a significant first step (if it materialises) which must be applauded.


Trade Justice
There is a long way to go on this. The EU and the US are not going to give up their agricultural subsidies any time soon and it remains to be seen how much of the promised debt relief will be conditional upon the IMF/World Bank's demands for liberalisation.


As for climate change, it would not appear to be anywhere near the table, let alone on it. Although Blair is still optimistic. Perhaps it is unrealistic to fight a war on two fronts?