Tag: christianity

“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27

June 19, 2026

“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27 A 14th century tapestry picturing St. John of Patmos awarded the vision of the New Jerusalem by God (photograph by Octave … More “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27

“As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” [‘Proverbs’, chapter 26, verse 11]. It may not be a ‘proverb’ (the wise call it an ‘aphorism’) and it certainly does not translate into clear meaning or human application, but it is neither ‘completely wrong’ nor ‘completely right’: it just is human vomit up for grabs by any old dog.

May 28, 2026

Let’s clear up the right to name this well known verse of the Bible a proverb, first, though it appears more correct to call it an aphorism. Traditionally we make contradistinction between the forms of ‘saying’ known as aphorism and proverb respectively by thinking of proverbs as saying something wise or true (it is not … More “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” [‘Proverbs’, chapter 26, verse 11]. It may not be a ‘proverb’ (the wise call it an ‘aphorism’) and it certainly does not translate into clear meaning or human application, but it is neither ‘completely wrong’ nor ‘completely right’: it just is human vomit up for grabs by any old dog.

The only city you could continue to want to visit, and not yet have found a way to go there, is one of which you lack any realistic current knowledge but of the need your visit will fulfill in your imagination. For Dick Whittington, that city was not London but a city paved with gold. Satan, as imagined by Milton, wishes for a community of all and every demon, and because these demons believed, the city of Pandemonium was built as they convened and communed in it.

December 15, 2025

Why not start with versifying of my own: But that is not the city, said DickAnd looked away to one not built,Its roads with gold inlaid so thick, Building, gilding his inner guiltThat he knew would rule that cityAs mayor, without love nor pity. Meanwhile, in Hell, Satan’s fine gilded hornA Trump of doom did … More The only city you could continue to want to visit, and not yet have found a way to go there, is one of which you lack any realistic current knowledge but of the need your visit will fulfill in your imagination. For Dick Whittington, that city was not London but a city paved with gold. Satan, as imagined by Milton, wishes for a community of all and every demon, and because these demons believed, the city of Pandemonium was built as they convened and communed in it.

Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

September 27, 2025

I have always felt the words of the New Testament contained the truths by which we could and perhaps ought to live – and continue to respect them whilst being in a state of absolute non-belief in the existence of a god, or gods. Recently as I thought about this question I again came across … More Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

August 21, 2025

How do you plan your goals? Let’s unpack the question today, for it is culture-defining. Behind it lie three assumptions about modern humanity: The study of goal-orientated thinking arise in the history of philosophy arise from rather mixed sources in defining the paradigm that we call teleology. Originally the issues it covered stemmed from core … More The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

This is a blog on Ben Markovits (2025) ‘The Rest Our Lives’ London, Faber.

August 19, 2025

Thinking of his father, John Layward, who has ‘He is gone into the world of light,’ inscribed on his flat grave, the protagonist and narrator, Tom Layward, of Ben Markovits’ Booker-longlisted novel wonders whether that proud man’s ‘hatred of religion’ ‘was only important to him in the context of the battle with my mother’. So … More This is a blog on Ben Markovits (2025) ‘The Rest Our Lives’ London, Faber.

‘ … when what’s healthy and joyful is hidden, you never learn to tell the good and bad apart’. This is a blog about Niamh Ní Mhaoilcoin (2025) ‘Ordinary Saints’

July 27, 2025

‘ … when what’s healthy and joyful is hidden, you never learn to tell the good and bad apart’.[1]Institutions, and the Irish Roman Catholic Church is one such, often control what we are allowed to see or witness and what  we are allowed to remember or record of our witness of events (what we have … More ‘ … when what’s healthy and joyful is hidden, you never learn to tell the good and bad apart’. This is a blog about Niamh Ní Mhaoilcoin (2025) ‘Ordinary Saints’

The danger of loaded words in questions.

March 3, 2025

Superstition is very often a word that is pre-loaded with value judgments. In mainstream modern usage, with justification in the use of it by the ancients and in the history of Christianity. Rarly and continuing internal disputes in Christian tradition is larded with name-calling (in which being ‘superstitious’ is a claim made against sects being … More The danger of loaded words in questions.

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us! / “:

December 26, 2024

The ‘gift’ is a complicated notion. It is considered as a possession by natural right, whose possession carries with it no obligation to the giver and yet is seen as something that could not be ours without someone have gifted it in the first place. A ‘gifted’ person may possess some quality or talent that … More “O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us! / “:

‘Ecce Homo!’ To ‘have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, …’. He changed me.

December 9, 2024

Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo (1605) available via: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_homo Let Wikipedia have the first word of explanation of my choice of title: Ecce homo! (this links to the full Wikipedia article). And let this happen before I justify, as a non-believer and atheist, the choice of the Christian tradition (and in particular, that of the High Anglican … More ‘Ecce Homo!’ To ‘have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, …’. He changed me.