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Stealing Past the Watchful Dragons

IN 1954 when Cynthia Donnelly wrote a letter to C. S. Lewis asking what role faith should play in a Christian author’s work, he replied: 

“…we needn’t all write patently moral or theological work. Indeed, work whose Christianity is latent may do quite as much good and may reach some whom the more obvious religious work would scare away. The first business of a story is to be a good story.

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(L-R) The keynote speaker, Oxford professor and theologian Alister McGrath, claims that C.S. Lewis is the greatest Christian apologist of our time. Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing, the Director of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, tackled the toughest question in Christian apologetics: Where is God in all the suffering? And Dr Jerry Root, Professor Emeritus at Wheaton College, showed how Christians can engage total strangers by drawing out their story. (Photos: Sue Careless [McGrath]; Joy Hunter [Orr-Ewing & Root])

Telling a more beautiful story in an age of pain, atheism and cancel culture

DOES a mid-20th century British apologist have any relevance today for Christians who are trying to share the gospel?

“Telling a More Beautiful Story: Lessons from C.S. Lewis on Reaching a Fractured World” was the theme of the Mere Anglicanism Conference

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On January 16, 1551 young Edward VI (who reigned briefly from 1547 to 1553) issued a proclamation saying his subjects were to fast from meat during Lent. (Public Domain)

Fasting with the Boy King

IT WAS Feb. 24, 1551 and John Samford, a draper of the City of Gloucester, clutched a treasure. It was a letter. The king’s seal had given his household permission to serve meat during Lent. We don’t know why the letter was issued. It could have been because

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In the Incarnation, God took on flesh and became a baby in the womb of Mary and then a young boy, obedient to his earthly parents. Window in the side-chapel of St Matthews (Riverdale) in Toronto. Photo: Sue Careless

Written as a letter to my nine-year-old daughter on the subject of Christmas and the Incarnation.

This is your last Christmas in the single digits. Early next year, you turn ten. Santa Claus is a character for your youngest sister to believe in. No child likes to be told “You’ll understand when you’re older,” but you just don’t have time for that answer any more. If an adult has something to say to you, they have to treat you as a thinking person. 

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(Photo: Rob Robotham)

If Aliens Were to Visit in December

I HAVE ALWAYS been a fan of science fiction, especially in the form of film and television. It seems to me that Sci-fi is the place in our culture where deep theological issues are considered. I am a particular fan of the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek, the original series, dealt with issues of divinity, of fate and of what it means to be human.

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