Crumbs from the Table

A big news story in Britain in recent days has been a conversation between Lady Susan Hussey (83), a close friend of the late queen, and an activist from Hackney, Ngozi Fulani, the founder of a charity supporting victims of domestic abuse, at an event hosted by the Queen Consort, Camilla. The controversy surrounds questioning by Lady Hussey as to where Ngozi Fulani was "from", who "her people" were.  I was discussing this incident with my friend last night (who, I should say, like me, is a straight, cisgender, white, middle-aged male).  So far, the public has only heard one side of the story. The narrative is one of residual racism in the royal family and the misconception that Ngozi Fulani was in some way "not British". It may well be that Ngozi Fulani deserves an apology. But maybe there is another side to the story as well.  We do want to be a society that includes people from all backgrounds and puts them at the centre. But there are backgrounds. That ...

Here is a non-exhaustive list of issues with the ESV translation of the Bible. It is not a translation from scratch, but an edit of the RSV In many instances, the word order should be revised to reflect the natural word order of modern English. In many places it breaks the conventions of English idiom to, unhelpfully, follow the language of the original: "stands in the way of sinners" (in modern English this suggests "obstruct" rather than "mimick") Similarly, the phraseology suggests something different from the intended meaning "he puts the lonely in a home" (Ps 67) Damaris is described as a "man" in Acts 17; in modern English the Greek anthropos would be human or person, while man means "male adult".  Likewise in modern English, we say, "everyone should bring their own lunch", not "everyone should bring his lunch". See the ESV translation of, for example, John 6:57.  1st century Capernaum, with an esti...

When strongmen rulers appeal to the "moral majority", and claim to uphold traditional values against the onslaught of liberal decadence, they follow in the footsteps of rulers who have gone before them, not least Adolf Hitler.   The period between the First and Second World Wars in Germany is known as the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). This followed defeat in World War One, and various attempted uprisings at that time. The Weimar Republic was an attempt to introduce liberal democracy to Germany, however it ultimately served as the prelude to the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler. As well as the infamous hyper-inflation and the inept divisions in party politics, the Weimar Republic was a time of moral decadence. Berlin was particularly notorious for this decadence, represented by figures such as Anita Berber (painted by Otto Dix - left) or night clubs such as the Eldorado or Moka Efti. The Nazi party was able to capitalise on popular revulsion towards the moral decadence o...

John Chrysostom served as Archbishop of Constantinople 398-404. During this very short period of time he exercised enormous influence, particularly through his preaching. At this time, Gothic tribes were situated to the north of the new imperial capital, and many Goths were to be found in the city. The gospel had been brought to the Goths, who spoke a Germanic language, by an Arian missionary called Ulifas. Arian Christianity was a heretical version of the Christian faith which understand the Son of God to be a creature. To counteract the influence of such teaching, and zealous for the Goths to worship God Father Son and Holy Spirit, John Chrysostom arranged for St Paul's church to be set aside for worship in their native tongue. During Holy Week in the year 400, John Chrysostom visited the church and, through a Gothic interpreter, spoke at their service. The text of the sermon would appear to have been Psalm 19:4-5. Here is a translation of his opening remarks:  "I wish Greek...

The Roman Empire never reached Ireland. Partly for that reason, neither did the Christian gospel, until the 5th century when first Palladius, and later Patrick were sent as missionaries to the people of Ireland, known as Gaels or Scoti .  I have told the story of Patrick elsewhere, but suffice it to say that, born in a Christian family in Britain (his father was a deacon), Patrick was taken captive by Irish pirates and spent many years held against his will before escaping and eventually ending up in what is now France, studying at Auxerre. Patrick was called by God to bring the gospel to his former captors, and the conversion of Ireland to Christianity is associated with him.  At that time, Ireland had few if any cities, and the backbone of the Irish church was the monastic movement with a network of monasteries in places such as Foyle (near Derry/Londonderry) and Bangor. In the year 563 a young monk called Columba ( Colum Cille ), left the monastery at Foyle (near Derry) and...

After the Romans withdrew from Britain in the 400s, Germanic settlers came over from what is now Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. While the native Britons had been partially Christianised, the incoming settlers were pagan. The Britons were pushed to the margins of the British isles, particularly to Wales.  It was the Irish monks originally led by Columba from Derry, who had settled off the west coast of Scotland, who undertook the evangelisation of the Picts and later the Germanic settlers. This took place in the 500s and 600s CE.  The church historian Bede tells how the first missionary to the kingdom of Northumbria was rather harsh, and unable to teach the Germanic Barbarians the Christian faith. Rather, it was Aidan (d.651) who took a gentler approach, teaching first the "milk" of the Word before proceeding to more "solid" food. Bede records this in his History of the English Church and People, Book 3, Chapter 5. 

Today I attended Friday prayers at the mosque for the first time. I didn't participate in the prayers, but I was present, and the chairman of the mosque kindly interpreted for me. The mosque I attended was the Al-Mahdi Foundation in Bury (Shia Muslim).  Friday prayers is the equivalent of the Christian Sunday morning service. In the UK and other similar countries, Friday prayers come in the middle of the working day on a Friday, which means that for many attendance represents a sacrifice, while others are prevented from attending. The whole thing lasts for just over an hour.  Those attending prayers should have washed beforehand. There is a separate place for performing ablutions before worship. The procedure is more complex than thorough handwashing. It includes washing your mouth twice and expressing the intention to stand before Allah in prayer.  Before people arrive, long sheets are laid out with pre-printed spaces for individual worshippers (instead of individual pra...