Revisiting the Story of Israel – “the Children of Abraham”: The Bible is about the story of Israel, and of the new Israel which is the Christian Church. Christianity was nurtured in the cradle of Judaism, and the ministry of Jesus cannot be properly understood apart from the political situation of the first century A.D.Continue reading “The Radical Messiah and the Politics of Love in the Bible: Part 1 – from Kings to Apostles.”
Category Archives: Europe
The Bible as Action Manual: Radical Reflections on Siding with the Poor.
Liberation Stories: The focus of The Radical Bible, published in 1972, was social justice and ‘The Third World’ as it was then known, meaning the poor and powerless peoples of the earth, most of whom live in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This is not to say that justice is all the Bible is concernedContinue reading “The Bible as Action Manual: Radical Reflections on Siding with the Poor.”
Mythical Hymns of Creation: The Radical Story of Genesis and the Covenants of the Bible.
The Very Root and Origin of All Creation: According to dictionary definitions of ‘radical’, from the Latin radicalis, for ‘having roots’ or ‘proceeding from the root’ and meaning ‘fundamental; reaching to the centre or ultimate source’. The twentieth-century philosopher Raymond Williams wrote, in his 1976 publication Keywords, that ‘radical’ had been used as an adjectiveContinue reading “Mythical Hymns of Creation: The Radical Story of Genesis and the Covenants of the Bible.”
Fact & Film: ‘Silly Suffolk’ – The Dialect of ‘The Dig’ at Sutton Hoo.
Above: the Sutton Hoo helmet discovered by Brown’s excavations History lessons: Soon after my son moved to Framlingham in Suffolk to take up his first teaching post at the local Thomas Mills’ High School, in 2014, I fulfilled one of my ‘bucket list’ ambitions, which was to visit Sutton Hoo, the archaeological site nearby which had beenContinue reading “Fact & Film: ‘Silly Suffolk’ – The Dialect of ‘The Dig’ at Sutton Hoo.”
Advent to Candlemas: The History of the Gospel Narratives of the Incarnation, Nativity and Epiphany.
Have put up your Christmas tree yet? For many people, especially in Britain, the beginning of Advent, or even earlier, is the time to put up the Christmas decorations. In Central Europe and in parts of the USA, it is more traditional to wait until Christmas Eve, 24th December. The ‘Twelfth Night’ of Christmas, theContinue reading “Advent to Candlemas: The History of the Gospel Narratives of the Incarnation, Nativity and Epiphany.”
The Three Kingdoms and The Third Civil War, Part Two – Scotland, 1650-52: Dunbar & Worcester
The Fate of the Earl of Montrose, April-May 1650: At the beginning of the new decade, with Oliver Cromwell wintering in Ireland, together with a significant portion of the parliamentarian army, from the middle of January onwards the Rump became ever more fearful that the Scots were about to take up arms once more forContinue reading “The Three Kingdoms and The Third Civil War, Part Two – Scotland, 1650-52: Dunbar & Worcester”
Regicides, Rebels & Revolutionaries: November 1648 – October 1649; from Pride’s Purge to the Leveller Mutinies in England.
Ireton’s ‘Remonstrance’ – St Albans & the London Levellers: When the Second Civil War ended, the frustrations and bitterness which had steadily been mounting against the king’s duplicity finally reached fever pitch. Many petitions were dispatched to London from various parts of the country demanding ‘impartial justice’ for all those involved in causing the recentContinue reading “Regicides, Rebels & Revolutionaries: November 1648 – October 1649; from Pride’s Purge to the Leveller Mutinies in England.”
The Putney Debates, the Second Civil War & the Newport Treaty: Oct 1647 – Oct 1648; Levellers, Engagers & Insurgents.
An ‘Outbreak of Democracy’?: In his 1961 work on The Levellers and the English Revolution, H N Brailsford wrote that: … there has been nothing like this spontaneous outbreak of democracy in any English or continental army before this year of 1647, nor was there anything like it thereafter till the Workers’ and Soldiers’ CouncilsContinue reading “The Putney Debates, the Second Civil War & the Newport Treaty: Oct 1647 – Oct 1648; Levellers, Engagers & Insurgents.”
Between Civil Wars: The Search for a Settlement, 1646-47 – Losing the Peace.
The Continuing Conflict across the British Isles: The king’s surrender at Newark in the early summer of 1646, while effectively ending the first civil war, did little to clarify matters in Wales or Ireland. Harlech did not surrender until March 1647 and the royalist governor of Dublin surrendered the city to parliament in July. TheContinue reading “Between Civil Wars: The Search for a Settlement, 1646-47 – Losing the Peace.”
Four Hundred Years Ago: The Birth of a ‘New England’ – Trans-Atlantic Separatists & the Language of Dissent.
‘The Ship they called the Mayflower‘: The 16th September 2020 marks the four hundredth anniversary of the departure of the ship, Mayflower, from Plymouth Sound in Devon, England. The ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ were drawn from the Puritan separatists who had set up illegal churches in Lincolnshire and other parts of East Anglia. Threatened with fines and/orContinue reading “Four Hundred Years Ago: The Birth of a ‘New England’ – Trans-Atlantic Separatists & the Language of Dissent.”
Andrew James 