God’s “liking” and the unbound conscience
James Alison continues with his theme of God liking us in chapter 7 of On Being Liked (available online here). While the title indicates that Alison’s principal concern is with “unbinding the gay...
View ArticleThe Temple and the Shepherd
In chapter 8 of On Being Liked, “The importance of being indifferent”, James Alison looks at the contrast between “Temple” and “Shepherd” found in both OT and NT. In the OT this is seen most clearly in...
View ArticleForgiving Peter
We saw in my previous post how James Alison contrasts the “Temple” as a source of sacred fascination (whether we are attracted to it or react against it) with the “shepherding” of God’s people. This...
View ArticleTrue apologetics: beauty, holiness and resurrection
I came across this quote in an old notebook, from a 2008 interview in the Spectator with Dom Hugh Gilbert (the abbot of Pluscarden Abbey who was at that time being talked of as a possible successor to...
View ArticleMimetic desire and the Lord’s Prayer
I’ve posted quite a lot in recent months on René Girard and James Alison and the concept of “mimetic desire”, but if the core of what Girard and Alison are saying on this subject can be condensed to a...
View ArticleRelax! Jesus is here!
A few weeks ago, I had an enjoyable discussion on Twitter with Aaron Smith on a question Aaron had posed that went something along the lines of the following: “How would you answer someone who asked...
View ArticleDiscipleship, forgiveness and gratuity
What does it mean to be a disciple? This is a question that James Alison addresses in his talk Discipleship and the Shape of Belonging. He begins (following an extended introduction) with an...
View ArticleThe spaciousness of time
What we will be has not yet been revealed. – 1 John 3:2. This is a year of anniversaries and “significant round numbers” for me. Last week I officially hit my “late thirties” (38); this week is our...
View Article“Who do you say that I am?” (1): Trust
As I said at the end of my previous post, Justin Lewis-Anthony suggests that Bosch’s Christ Mocked reflects two themes concerning the nature of Christ that “speak particularly to us today”. Each theme...
View ArticleMirror image
BBC News report: An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as “religious headgear”. Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago...
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