Searching for an up-to-date source on the latest quantitative research on religion in Britain? The launch of a new website, British Religion in Numbers, looks to be an invaluable source for scholars and others seeking a one-stop-shop for statistical research and opinion polls on religion.
The site features a searchable database of religious data sources, visualisations of religious data such as maps and charts, and written guides to understanding religious data.
Continue reading ‘British Religion in Numbers: Launch of New Website’
Yesterday Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics) hosted a seminar on ‘Faith and Community Relations: Perspectives on Diversity, Dialogue and Reconciliation.’ I presented an update on the progress on my School’s research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism.’ The event was part of Community Relations Week.
I opened the seminar with a powerpoint presentation of the major findings of our surveys of faith leaders and laypeople. These have been in the public domain for some time, having been launched last October with a two-day workshop. As often happens in such seminars, it is the discussion that follows that pushes thinking further, or in new directions altogether.
Continue reading ‘Faith and Community Relations Seminar – What now for the Churches?’
There’s not much in Philip Pullman’s latest book, The Good Man Jesus & the Scoundrel Christ, which would be new to anyone familiar with the Gospels.
Sure, his story has two characters, Jesus and Christ, in the place of a singular ‘Jesus Christ’ figure. In Pullman’s story, Mary gives birth to twins: Jesus and Christ. Pullman sets up the Christ character as a foil to Jesus: Christ wants to build a controlling church institution, while Jesus wants to free people from the shackles of moralism and soul-destroying religious obligation.
Continue reading ‘Philip Pullman Book Review: The Good Man Jesus & the Scoundrel Christ’
Peter Rollins will be back in Belfast following the largely US-orientated Insurrection Tour with a seminar, ‘The Uprising of Christ: Resurrection as Insurrection,’ at Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (The Irish School of Ecumenics, 683 Antrim Road) on Tuesday 4 May 2010 from noon-1 pm.
Expect Rollins to expand and clarify some of the ideas articulated in the Insurrection Tour. The tour was launched during the Re Emergence Conference in Belfast in March 2010.
Continue reading ‘Peter Rollins Seminar on ‘The Uprising of Christ: Resurrection as Insurrection,’ May 4, 2010′
Today is the final instalment of Fr Michael Bennett’s Guest Posts on the crisis in the Irish Catholic Church, A Look from Afar.
Fr Michael concludes with reflections on the concept of the ‘kingdom of God,’ juxtaposing it against the institution of the church. He argues that the kingdom transcends church institutions and that promoting it is the task of all people of goodwill – even those outside church structures. He also wants reconciliation to take centre stage in the Irish Catholic Church, recognising that this will be difficult, and that it requires both acknowledgement and forgiveness.
Continue reading ‘Crisis in the Irish Catholic Church – the Kingdom v. the Institution, Final Guest Post by Fr Michael Bennett’
The Democratic Unionist Party has a lot to worry about in this election. Traditional Unionist Voice’s Jim Allister has been smelling blood ever since the DUP’s compromise with Sinn Fein. Especially in the conservative heartlands, the TUV cause may get a boost from the Iris Robinson scandal and suspicions over Peter Robinson’s dodgy property deals.
The DUP’s broadcast for the 2010 General Election aired last night. It’s an interesting piece of theatre (watch here). The party is, of course, trying to hammer home the message that it has tagged to its election manifesto: ‘Let’s Keep Northern Ireland Moving Forward!’
Continue reading ‘DUP Election Broadcast: Will Looking Back Keep Northern Ireland Moving Forward?’
Patrick Mitchel, a lecturer in theology at the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin, has posted a blog about ‘Irish evangelicals: unity in diversity or just disunity?’ In the post, Mitchel engages with a chapel message delivered by Crawford Gribben last month at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
Gribben is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Print Culture at Trinity College Dublin. His talk is aimed at an audience of American seminarians from the Reformed tradition, and his purpose is to provide them both with a general perspective on the lie of the land on Christianity in Ireland, and a particular view of evangelicalism in the Republic.
Continue reading ‘Evangelicalism in Ireland: Slow Motion Revival or Faction Fighting?’
Today we continue with the third of Fr Michael Bennett’s guest posts on the Irish Catholic Church, A Look from Afar. Here, Fr Michael argues that establishing an agenda for justice, peace and integrity of creation (JPIC) is absolutely essential in today’s Ireland.
Fr Michael urges us to take another look at some of the ideas developed in Social Justice Ireland’s An Agenda for a New Ireland. He contrasts the lack of debate about how we might construct a ‘common good’ for social, political and religious life in Ireland, with our obsessive focus on the private sexual lives of celebrities and politicians.
Continue reading ‘Crisis in the Irish Catholic Church: A Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Agenda by Fr Michael Bennett’
I’ll be conducting a seminar based on the findings of my School’s IRCHSS-funded research project, ‘Visioning 21st Century Ecumenism,’ on Wednesday April 28, 2010 from 12 noon- 1p.m. at The Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast, 683 Antrim Road.
The title of the seminar is ‘Faith and Community Relations: Perspectives on Diversity, Reconciliation and Ecumenism.’ I’ll outline key findings from recent the surveys of faith leaders and laypeople, as well as insights from the on-going case studies of faith communities.
Continue reading ‘Seminar on Faith & Community Relations April 28, 2010′
Today this blog continues with another guest post by Fr Michael Bennett, a priest with the St Patrick’s Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers). Today’s topic is restoring the community to the centre of the church.
Fr Michael provides a historical perspective on relationships between clerics and the Christian community, argues against mandatory celibacy, urges a greater role for women within the church, and offers some practical suggestions for how this might happen in the Irish Context. Continue reading ‘Crisis in the Irish Catholic Church – Restoring the Community to the Centre by Fr Michael Bennett’
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