Virtual Methodist

The Fall of Man  (1628–1629) by Rubens in the Prado Museum, Madrid From the fateful encounter of Eve with the serpent in the Garden of Eden through to the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem, the Bible has repeated images of trees where humanity encounters God and Jesus in all sorts of ways with many different emotions at play and outcomes. We find laughter beneath oaks, cynicism under a fig tree, deep depression beneath a broom bush and furious anger under a castor oil plant. What have these stories got to say to us today as we try to find our way in a world where we are out of joint with God and a world in which trees have an important environmental part to play? For the next 5 weeks during Lent I am inviting people to join with me for an online study of some of those encounters in the shade of various trees and shrubs, beginning this coming Thursday at 7.30pm GMT, when we will find Sarah laughing under the Oaks of Mamre. If you are interested in joining us email me at david.campto...

Came across this meme on Scotteriology . I wasn't actually tagged... Scott Bailey its author wouldn't know me if I bit him... but a number of things about this meme set me thinking. First, I've been doing far too many Facebook "5 of" quizzes recently (I'm weaning myself off), but this involves a bit more thought. Second, the word meme was devised by Richard Dawkins to describe an idea that develops a reproductive life of its own, and given his well know antipathy to religion, I thought that the fact that this meme is about theological books was particularly ironic. The rules to this particular meme were originally that you should name the five books that had the most immediate and lasting influence on how you read the Bible. Note that these need not be your five favorite books, or even the five with which you most strongly agree, but what five books have permanently changed the way you think. After this the idea was to tag five others. But, as appropriate with...