November 8, 2025
One of history’s most dramatic encounters between spiritual and military power is depicted in this fresco in the Vatican by the Renaissance artist Raphael under commission. In 452 AD, the Roman Emperor Valentinian III sent Pope Leo I to negotiate with Attila the Hun near Mantua in northern Italy. Great panic was gripping Rome as […]
November 1, 2025
How should followers of Jesus respond in a time of political turmoil and cultural fragmentation, when the loudest voices often drown out the wisest? Last night I reflected on this question with a group of young professionals in Brussels. We began with the ancient words of the prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require of […]
October 25, 2025
Eighty years ago, in 1945, the delegates who gathered in San Francisco to sign the Charter of the United Nations shared an understanding that peace rests on justice, human dignity, and shared responsibility. Out of the devastation of the Second World War had come a yearning for moral renewal and a framework for peace. The […]
October 18, 2025
Back in the 1960s, the era of Beatles and the Stones, the sexual revolution, moon-landings and dwindling church-attendance, religion was assumed to be definitely on the way out. ‘As society advances in modernity, religion retreats and becomes increasingly hollow’. So went the secularisation theory. ‘[By] the twenty-first century, religious believers are likely to be found […]
October 11, 2025
We live in confusing times. Sometimes it is hard to know who or what to believe. Jesus warned us that false messiahs and false prophets would appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect. The rise of politicians from America to Russia claiming to champion Christian values and peace yet preaching […]
October 4, 2025
This weekend we approach the twentieth century with the eighth of nine events in our Geloof in Mokum series. Celebrating the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam, we have been exploring the role of faith in shaping the city over nine centuries. At tomorrow’s event, Dr Johan Snel will help us focus on the profound influence of […]
September 26, 2025
In 1898, three years before he became prime minister of the Netherlands, Abraham Kuyper addressed American leaders in a series of lectures at Princeton Seminary. I suspect that if he could address America’s leaders today he would write something like the following: To the Political Leaders of the United States of America, Grace and peace […]
September 20, 2025
Amsterdammers travelling on the tram through the ‘old-west’ part of town become familiar with streets named after poets, writers and activists including Bilderdijk, da Costa, de Clercq and van Lennep. Few however know that these are the names of an influential circle of friends who fathered a spiritual awakening in 19th century Amsterdam, the Réveil […]
September 13, 2025
Last week we attempted to tell the story of Amsterdam around events unfolding on the Dam over nine centuries. In the heart of the city, we went in search of the soul of the city – that which animated the city, gave it life, values and meaning. But there is a back story to Amsterdam’s […]
September 6, 2025
Today on the Dam Square in the heart of Amsterdam, various city churches are joining in a Jesus Celebration to mark Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary. For in 1275, Amsterdam was first officially recognised by the granting of toll privileges. A Jesus March, a boat parade through the canals with worshipping bands from different congregations, and a […]
September 2, 2025
In the last Weekly Word I promised – for those interested – to send these links and summaries of the writings of two Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church metropolitans, Andre Sheptytsky (1865-1944) and Sviatoslav Shevchuk (1970- ). I. A brief history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) • Origins (10th–16th century): Christianity came to Kyivan […]
August 30, 2025
Despite the relative quiet of the skies over Kyiv last weekend, reminders were everywhere that Ukraine was a country under ruthless attack standing on the frontline of the global struggle for freedom. Billboards along the roads and notices in public toilets recruited for army regiments. Photo displays in public parks reminded passers-by of those killed […]
