‘Apocalyptic beliefs are one of this island’s most successful exports.’ That was one of the closing lines of a keynote address given by Prof Crawford Gribben of the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast, at the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR) Conference at UCD (10-12 May 2013). ISASR [...]
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Jay Bakker – Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed: Book Review and Interview in Belfast Tues 23 April
What is God like? Is doubt harmful to faith? Who do Christians marginalise? Those are just some of the questions explored in a new book by Jay Bakker, Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed: Walking with the Unknown God (Jericho Books, 2013). Bakker, who will forever be known as the son of scandal-ridden American [...]
Michael McRay – Letters from Apartheid Street: Interview and Book Reading, Tues 26 March
Michael McRay will discuss and read excerpts from his book, Letters from Apartheid Street: A Christian Peacemaker in Occupied Palestine, at 7 pm on Tuesday 26 March at St Oliver Plunkett in Lenadoon, Belfast. The event is titled, ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers,’ and will include a question and response session. Letters from Apartheid Street will [...]
An Independent People Part II – What have the Ulster Presbyterians Ever Done for America?
The BBC’s whirlwind tour through Presbyterian history in Ireland continued last night with the second instalment of “An Independent People: The Story of Ulster’s Presbyterians.” The programme excelled in introducing viewers to men – often largely forgotten today – whose thoughts and actions have shaped the modern world. Hands up any of you who, before [...]
“It’s Not a Problem for God”: Reflecting on the Decline in Trust in Religious Institutions
Last month, a Gallup Poll revealed that Americans’ trust in religious institutions continues to decline. Just 44% of Americans say that they ‘have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in “the church or organized religion” today.’ This doesn’t surprise me. After all, these latest Gallup figures are largely in line with those [...]
Letters to a Future Church – Book Review: Encouragement for a Church in Crisis?
Letters to a Future Church: Words of Encouragement and Prophetic Appeals (Intervarsity, 2012) is a delightfully conceived volume that is part commentary on the contemporary North American church, part vision of what that church could become. Edited by Chris Lewis, who is described on the book jacket as ‘cofounder of the Epiphaneia Network, a movement [...]
Scandal and Slavery – Prof Mark Noll Comes to Belfast
One of the United States’ most distinguished historians of religion has been in Belfast this past week, delivering the annual religious studies lecture at Queen’s University and speaking at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church. The topic of Noll’s lecture at Queens was ‘The Bible, Race and Slavery as an Enduring American Problem,’ while at Fitzroy he spoke [...]
God’s Country: Review of Tinderbox Theatre ‘True North’ Production
Is religion preventing people from the LGBT community living full and happy lives in Northern Ireland? That’s a question at the heart of ‘God’s Country,’ a new play by Colin Bell. The play is part of Tinderbox Theatre’s True North series of three new dramas about life in Northern Ireland today. The play presents a [...]
Glenn Beck, Jim Wallis and the Nazis
A few weeks ago when I was speaking to my parents in the US on the phone, my mother told me I had received something in the post from ‘socialists.’ ‘Really?’ I asked. ‘Are you sure it’s not from a Sociological Association?’ She replied, ‘No. And they were saying bad things about Glenn Beck.’ That’s [...]
In the Shadow of the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’: Questions about Muslim and Christian Relationships
Yesterday John A. Johnson posted a comment on my blog about my review of Samir Selmanovic’s book, It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. I wrote the review back in March so I was surprised to be receiving a comment at the end of August, but the issues Selmanovic raises [...]
Gay Rights and the Growth of Conservative Evangelical Christianity
It has become a familiar debate in the media, not least on BBC Radio Ulster. Last week, when filling in on the Stephen Nolan show, William Crawley moderated a conversation about civil partnerships for people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community. The guests were some of the usual suspects: Non-Subscribing Presbyterian minister [...]
About me
Welcome to Building a Church Without Walls, a website for people who are excited about how Christianity is developing in the 21st Century. I am a Lecturer and Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation Studies Programme at Trinity College Dublin at Belfast (the Irish School of Ecumenics).
Please note this is my personal site. All views are my own and are not representative of TCD.
I also write for the popular NI Politics site Slugger O'Toole. Click here to view my posts on Slugger...
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