March 28, 2026
Ever since Constantine in the fourth century, nations and empires have been tempted to define themselves as ‘Christian’. But can a nation or an empire be ‘Christian’? What happens when it claims to be? Constantine’s conversion seemed like a wonderful answer to prayer. Persecution stopped. Christianity became the privileged religion of the Roman Empire. Church […]
March 21, 2026
A 12th century bronze Romanesque copy of a plaque from a church door in Verona, Italy, became a source of inspiration and understanding during our recent trip to Ukraine. The day before Romkje and I left for Ukraine, two weeks ago today, we joined a Benelux gathering of Together for Europe in Aachen, Germany. […]
March 14, 2026
Russia’s ruthless invasion of Ukraine has confronted Ukrainian Christians with some hard moral questions. Halfway through an eight-day visit to Ukraine to encourage YWAM workers and other believers with colleagues Dick and Ulla Brouwer, Romkje and I are being made aware of how much we Europeans are indebted to the sacrifices, the resilience and the […]
March 7, 2026
What does our volatile world most urgently require: re-armament or moral re-armament? Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine under Vladimir Putin has shattered illusions that major war on European soil belonged to the past. Across Europe, defence budgets are rising sharply. Poland is expanding its armed forces at remarkable speed and announced plans this week to […]
February 28, 2026
We are recalibrating in the Schuman Centre. We want to focus more on a question we have often raised but are not yet satisfied with our answers. Robert Schuman was adamant about it. Jacques Delors was insistent about it. And now, Ukraine is making the question unavoidable. What do we mean by ‘the soul of […]
February 21, 2026
This month marks twenty-five years since the first Weekly Word was sent out in February 2001. When this column began, Europe stood at the dawn of a new millennium confident in integration, expanding eastwards, buoyed by peace. Few foresaw financial collapse, populist revolt, pandemic and the return of large-scale war to the continent. To write […]
February 14, 2026
The slogan ‘Never again’ evolved after World War Two rooted in the vow to prevent the recurrence of the Holocaust’s horrors. It has been broadened over time into a universal commitment against racism, discrimination, and violence, while also serving as a call for action in various human rights movements. But with the rise of populist […]
February 7, 2026
Europe is being transformed beyond recognition, hollowed out culturally and overrun by hordes of Muslim migrants in an irreversible process of civilisational decline. So prominent voices proclaim. In this telling, Europe’s decline is demographic and religious, driven by migration and the erosion of a once-Christian civilisation. But does this narrative hold up under scrutiny? Is […]
January 31, 2026
(this time hopefully with the photo!) Recently I mentioned fresh insights on the work of the 17th century Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, brought to light recently by a BBC art documentary maker, Andrew Graham-Dixon. His newly-published book, Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found, offers a totally new interpretation of the spiritual meanings of the popular […]
January 24, 2026
The emergence of an isolationist-yet-imperial United States under a fascist and autocratic administration is not as ‘unAmerican’ as we might like to think. All our lives we have only ever known a relatively stable-albeit-imperfect pax americana based on respect for international law, sovereignty of nations, multilateralism, human rights and democracy. We have never experienced the […]
January 17, 2026
A year ago this week, the 47th president of the United States was inaugurated, supported by millions of Christians seeking stability, prosperity, moral renewal, or protection from forces they feared were eroding the nation they loved. A year later, many are wondering if the adminstration they got was what they voted for. Normally it would […]
January 10, 2026
Against a background of rapidly deteriorating international relations this week, we held a graduation ceremony in Amsterdam for two Schuman Centre masters degree graduates in Missional Leadership and European Studies. We reflected with the family, friends and colleagues of the graduates on why we should study at all, on what ‘missional’ meant, and on why […]
