Here are some terms that people have been searching for when they came across this website:

"I don't want to seen Jesus lifted high"

Me neither, not least because when Jesus talks about being "lifted up" or "lifted high" he is referring to his impending crucifixion, not lots of charismatics clapping along singing "We wanna see Jesus lifted high". I always imagine the crowd stood before Pilate yelling "crucify him" whenever I hear that song. Hehe.

"Steve Harris blog"

You've come to the right place, but I think most people mean this fine gentleman.

"Theology of Daleks"

Not sure on this one, but I'm pretty sure they're annihilationists.

"Birds attacking preachers"

Why, why, why do people search for things like this? in my mind it conjures up the image of John Piper being carried away by a giant Eagle and fed to its young.

"Classic liberal theology"

That's me alright. A-ha-ha-ha.

"Inerrancy"

You're too kind...

Blogging has been a bit light this past week as I've been away from Manchester and the internet for a few days, and I'm away again next week. I've spent about 50% of my time riding around on the train, which means that I am finally being paid to sit around and read all day, or at least part of the day. I've taken a short break from the theology books and I've just finished reading Sam Harris' book The End of Faith, which I actually rather enjoyed. It's very much in the Richard Dawkins mould of popular atheism and Harris' critique of faith is far too generic to be of any real use, and despite arguing at length against the usefulness of scripture ("if God wrote it, why doesn't it contain a cure for cancer?" etc), the bibliography of over 200 books contains only one work that has anything to do with scripture and biblical history, which would fail you in Biblical Studies 101, never mind a serious attempt to debunk the historic Christian faith.

Harris of course hates fundamentalists of all sorts (mostly Islamic, but also Christians) but doesn't seem to appreciate the irony that the aggressive atheistic rationalism he proposes instead is perhaps even more intolerant and tyrannical than the system which he wishes to replace. Having said that, in some (but not all) atheist critiques of Christianity there are some nuggets of truth (Feuerbach's classic The Essence of Christianity is a prime example of a good case for atheism, albeit a slightly flawed one), and there are some worth examining in Harris' book too.

I'm also quite excited to discover that Jürgen Moltmann's autobiography has been published. Weiter Raum is available in Germany (nudges and winks at family members who live in Germany *cough* Mum, *cough* Dad) though I'm not sure about an English release date yet. (H-T Herr Tilling)

Next week I'm in Newcastle, where they talk funny and wear T-shirts even in the middle of winter. Who knows if they even have the internet there yet?

I came across this rather interesting video on YouTube. It interviews people who are regularly evangelised and gives them the chance to say what they think about the whole thing. It's interesting that many of the objections people have are legitimate i.e. they don't feel listened to, and the Evangelists never give them the chance to put across their own views. Dwight also continues his look at some Christian evangelistic practices, with this post looking at "preach and run" witness to Muslims.

I also really, really, really liked this approach to evangelism.

I loathe thieves. I've lived in Manchester for over 5 years now and I have been a victim of theft in one form or another on no few than 8 occasions. I must have given almost a dozen police statements in that time, but not once has anyone ever been convicted for the crimes they've committed against me, and never has any of my stolen property been returned.

Tonight some thieving scally scumbag stole my £500 racing bike whilst I was at work, leaving me cold, wet, and 10 miles from home at 11pm on a Sunday night. This angers me somewhat, though I console myself with the fact that crucifixion as a punishment for theft has a great deal of biblical support, despite probably being illegal in a liberal democracy. Bah.

Seriously though, I am really angry about having my bike stolen, perhaps even angry enough to vote Tory at the next election. Ugh. It also puts the final nail in the coffin of any plans I had to stay in Manchester after next summer. I want to live somewhere nice.