Archive for March, 2009

University of Queensland’s on-line news recently carried a news item about Rev Clive Ayers, whose doctoral research is on the role of religion in tackling issues such as climate change.

In part, the article says:

While science and religion have sometimes had a difficult relationship, Dr Ayre believes caring for the environment is one issue both sides agree on.

“With faith and science, I’ve argued that the main problems occur because there are fundamentalists on both sides of the equation who see their views as the only one, and they tend to distort the position of the other,” he said.

“But the relationship between religion and science is a very productive one, and extending it to other faiths is a further step.”

You can read the full text here.

I have just finished reading the book How Did Christainity begin? A believer and non-believer examine the evidence by Michael F Bird and James G Crossley (with contributions from Scot McKinght and Maurice Casey).  I’ve done a reasonably comprehensive review of it on my personal blog, so don’t see any point in replicating it here. However, as the title suggests, it presents evidence of how Christianity came into being from the perspective of a Christian evangelical biblical scholar (Bird) and a secular biblical scholar (Crossley).  As well as providing their own statements, they engage with the other’s in a very helpful way.

I am not sure how the average “person in the pew” or “person on the street” would cope with the level of technicality of some of the argument, but it’s certainly something I’d recommend to anyone asking thoughtful questions about how to understand the origins of Christianity, and to those Christian professionals to whom they bring their questions.

Welcome (back) to UNE and to the first week of full class timetables.

If you are a first year student, or studying on campus for the first time, you are probably meeting heaps of new people. For some people, this is no big deal. For others, it’s more difficult, especially if you’re separated from friends you made in primary school for the first time in your life. If you’re finding it all a bit challenging, ReachOut.com has some hints on meeting new people that you might find helpful.

If you’re in a share house (or one of the Wright flats) and finding that things are getting a bit tense, it’s always better to deal with tensions as early as possible and to set some ground rules for dealing with potentially touchy issues.  You might find this basic common sense info helpful or this more in depth set of hints.

When negotiating, it’s always better to talk about the effect that someone else’s behavour is having on you and suggest some way of dealing with it using “I” messages than to blame or shame them using “you” messages.  So, you say “I find it really frustrating when I go to the cupboard and find that there’s no toilet paper left. It would be good if we could all get into the habit of putting it  on the list when we start on the last roll.”  This gives the other person the opportunity to say “Oh, damn.  Sorry, I forgot.” If you say “You deadhead.  You used the last of the toilet paper and didn’t put it on the list,” it puts the other person on the defensive and often results in their telling you why you’re an deadhead, too, because there’s probably something you do that gets on their nerves.

Christian Aid UK has set up a blog that encourages readers to go on a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land during Lent.  The site explains the idea behind it as follows:

During Lent 2009, in the run up to Easter, this blog will take you on a virtual journey through the Holy Land.

We will meet people who live in the region today - hearing how the region’s troubles touch their lives, but also hearing stories of hope and peace.

But this isn’t about simply watching a story being told. We want you to take part.

This journey is also about challenging ourselves to think, to reflect, to pray, and to take action.

Just as Jesus took 40 days to prepare for his ministry, we’ll be using this time to consider the practical challenges of faith in a world of poverty and violence.

There are a number of ways you can join in…

You can sign up and comment on our posts, add your prayers, support the organisations who work with Christian Aid, and take action.

If you’re looking for something a bit different to do as a daily reflection during Lent, or for some insights into what the land where Christianity began is like now, this might be the site for you. You might like to subscribe using your feed reader so you’re reminded to visit each day!