Blog on the Learig

  5 October 2026 The second important relationship is between men and women. Interestingly enough, ‘God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ There is no denying the equality born out of God’s creativity. And yet, even his Church has found it impossible to celebrate it until fairly recently and then not even universally! Remember St. Paul? He wrote to the Corinthians about the way men and   women should conduct themselves in church. Women were forbidden to worship God in the church at Corinth without a hat upon their heads! But the rule didn’t apply to men. Paul argues. ‘For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God.’ Didn’t Paul read his Old Testament? Didn’t he remember Genesis? Doesn’t the story-teller say that women were made in the image of God too? Not according to Paul. They have to wear hats in church because ‘woman is the reflection of man’! Amazing!

  4 October 2026 The events of the sixth day define three important relationships. The first is the relationship between human beings and God. ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to out likeness.’ says God. Can it be true? Surely not! Joe Corrie, the Fife miner, was convinced that the story-teller was being ironic. In his poem, ‘The Image o’ God’, he writes about this idea through the eyes of a hard worked miner. Crawlin’ aboot like a snail in the mud, Covered wi’ clammy blae, ME, made after the image o’ God – Jings! but it’s laughable tae. ‘Jings! but it’s laughable tae!’ It is laughable isn’t it? Just look at our word – Belsen, Rwanda, Ukraine, Palestine! ‘Made after the image o’ God?’ The ultimate irony! And yet, it’s clear that although the Psalmist says that God ‘remembers that we are dust’, he has chosen human beings to fulfil his purposes int his world. ‘Jings! but it’s laughable tae!’ Such is the wonder of God that he has made us in such a way t...

  3 October 2026 The seven days of creation is a literary mechanism which enables the story-teller to unfold his beautiful tale with great harm and simplicity. He does so   with the imaginative use of several literary formula. Consider these two. The creative acts begin with the formula, ‘And God said …’ and end with the refrain, ‘And it was so.’ God speaks and something happens. And God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light. In fact the Hebrew word which is translated ‘create’ is ‘bara’. Unlike any of the other words which are translated as ‘made’, the subject of this particular verb is always God. In the narrative, we are never told what God used to create the heavens and the earth. This has given rise to the doctrine ‘creatio ex nihilo’ – a creation out of nothing. At the end of each creative act, the story-teller says, ‘And God saw that it was good.’ This is true for the first five days of creation. On the sixth, he observes, ‘God saw everything that he...

  2 October 2026 The first chapter of Genesis has a beautiful shape. The Creation story is divided up into seven sections. Each section is described as a day. Within these seven days, there are eight creative acts of God celebrated. There is none on the seventh day – the day God rested.   There is one on every other day except   days three and six. On each of these days, there are two creative acts of God. The sixth day is the more significant. ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind.’ said God. And it was so. Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image.’ And it was so. What was so? Human beings w ere not created on a separate day. They were created at the same time as the animals. Two things follow. Firstly, human being are not so special afterall! Secondly, the date of creation cannot possibly be 23 October 4004BC! If God created human beings and animals on the same day, then why were there no human beings around when the dinosaurs sta...

  1 October 2026 James Hutton, the Scottish geologist,   wrote the   ‘Theory of the Earth’ and published it in 1788. In it, he argued that the age of the earth was incalculable. ‘With respect to human observation, this world was neither a beginning nor an end.’ It wasn’t eternal – just unknowable! This observation wasn’t without controversy. Until then, the Church had worked out a date for the dawn of creation – 23 October 4004BC. Amazingly enough, that’s six thousand and twenty-two years ago this month! Who is celebrating? Actually, the Bible says nothing about the date of creation. However, scholars analysed the text and deduced that the earth was about six thousand years old. From this, they were able to give dates to other major Biblical events. Hutton’s controversial observations seemed to question the veracity of the Bible. But history has vindicated him. The Scotsman was right. With major scientific advances, the earth is now considered to be 4.6 billion ye...

  30 September 2026 Professor Peter Fonagy has just completed a review into mental health, ADHD and autism among young people. He declared that Generation Z was not a snowflake generation and concluded that it was ‘harder to be young’ today! He said that the problem needed to be tackled across the whole of society. He blamed cuts in youth services over the past decade leading to fewer places for young people to mix and develop a sense of belonging. ‘We need to have opportunities for them to participate, because participating in things … maintains good mental health’. We have been good at providing warm spaces for older people. Why not belonging places for young people? At the same time, there is increasing evidence to say that Generation Z is interested in religion. A recent set of interviews by Theos revealed several interesting things about their views. Christianity was appealing because it offered an alternative to modern society. It was no longer the dominant force in s...