History

  • Power and the history of the Gospel in the church 

    This is the third of a three part series. You can read part one here and part two here. Friendship is not the only category we need to trace the history of the Gospel in the church. No doubt there are many other themes of heuristic utility to be explored. In this discussion, we will…

  • Friendship and the history of the Gospel in the church

    This forms the second of a three part series. You can read part one here. It is unlikely that a church, as a merely human company, will survive and grow so that it gets to the point of a fiftieth anniversary history, if it is unfriendly. The occurrence of friendship is an immense resource for…

  • Writing local church history

    John Briggs and I met as freshmen reading History at Cambridge nearly half a century ago. Now in our active retirements we have, besides our pensions, stores of experience to mull over. Perhaps we should give ourselves the leisure to do that – if mulling can be saved from being pointless self-indulgence. I think of…

  • Learning history through moments

    History as I was taught it was basically one thing after another… Getting to know the sequence, the flow, became more sophisticated as the flood broadened, But it was still sequence and consequence One thing that was missing, was contemplation and penetration of moments, short and drawn out moments… So for instance I read a…

  • World’s History, Heaven’s Silence, Theology’s Place

    Inaugural Lecture, University of Leeds, 1996 I am a Leeds-grown professor. I have worked with three notable Professors, John Tinsley, David Jenkins and Adrian Hastings, who have taught me much, as have many other colleagues in the Department where I have been able to learn what theology and religious studies are in practice and also…