September 5, 2016
Cathedrals, for centuries soaring above many city horizons, remain powerful statements of transcendent reality in a continent too often written off as post-Christian. Many of us with Protestant-evangelical-pentecostal backgrounds don’t quite know how to relate to these proud symbols of a much-abused, largely by-gone marriage of church and state, the era of a Christendom few […]
August 30, 2016
He was born 1700 years ago this year in Hungary, yet has left an unparalleled legacy across Europe. Five thousand monuments commemorate him in Italy, where he spent much of his childhood as son of a Roman military officer. Fourteen European cathedrals are named after him. Nearly quarter of a million French people have his […]
August 22, 2016
This is the last of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: Halfway between the impressive buildings of the European Council and the European Parliament in Brussels, there is a small chapel. It seems a […]
August 15, 2016
The third of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: Europe is more Christian than one would have thought when looking at the visible presence of the church community. Even in the pluralist, multicultural society […]
August 8, 2016
The second of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: The legacy of Christianity is not altogether glorious. The negative record of Christians is always a hindrance for evangelism, but nowhere is the criticism levelled […]
August 1, 2016
This is the week of the Masterclass in European Studies. Or was. For some strange reason, when European issues are becoming more urgent and serious following the Brexit referendum and ongoing terrorist actions, insufficient registrations came in for us to hold this study week. However, this month we will run four weekly (edited) excerpts from […]
July 25, 2016
Described as ‘terrifying and disturbing’, one of the world’s most unusual clocks never fails to draw perplexed visitors outside Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, as we observed walking through the university town on our recent Celtic Heritage Tour. A fearsome giant locust of apocalyptic proportions rides astride a 24-carat gold-plated disc about 1.5 metres wide. […]
July 19, 2016
It was a nation much divided over Brexit that our band of fellow travellers encountered as we headed south from Edinburgh towards Canterbury last week to round off this year’s Celtic Heritage Tour. While some we met feared the loss of Britain’s unity and tolerance, others exuded bravado and optimism despite an uncertain future. We […]
July 11, 2016
‘What has Christianity ever done for me?’ a comedian once asked on Scottish television. This question was repeated by our guide in Edinburgh this week on our Celtic Heritage Tour through Ireland, Scotland and England, as he led us down the Royal Mile from the castle towards St Giles Cathedral. Dressed as the Celtic missionary […]
July 4, 2016
Dear British friends, Our hearts have gone out to you from the ‘mainland’, both for those for whom the referendum outcome was an unwelcome shock, as for those who voted ‘leave’, now disappointed by the empty promises made by ‘leave‘ campaigners. We have always enjoyed and admired your ability to produce enthralling detective television series […]
June 27, 2016
For many, this weekend has been a time to weep: young Britons feeling betrayed by their elders, the Scots, many Northern Irish facing the prospect of a border again with the south, the one million Europeans living in London, the millions of other Europeans living in Britain, the 2.2 million ex-patriot Britons living elsewhere in […]
June 20, 2016
On both sides of the English Channel, Protestants are most likely to be Euroskeptics while those with a Catholic heritage are more pro-EU, according to recent research. Six out of every ten of British Baptists, for example, are likely to vote to leave the EU, compared to only 41 per cent of those of no […]
