Jude Smith Christian Today A radical proposal for the CofE’s Westminster headquarters: move out and do some good
Archdruid Eileen Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley A House (of Bishops) in the Country
David Ison ViaMedia.News Rolling With the Punch(line)
Andrew Lightbown Theore0 Speaking of language; spiritual abuse and prayerful consideration
Excellent article by Andrew Lightbown on spiritual language and spiritual abuse. I think some forms of spiritual abuse – particularly perhaps those which claim to speak directly for God – amount to a violation of the commandment ‘thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain’. This is usually understood to forbid blasphemy, swearing and cursing. I’m no Hebrew scholar, but I have read, and I understand it to mean, that we should not claim that words or activities of ours are done in God’s name when they are not. In that context, I think Andrew… Read more »
Let me join Janet in expressing thanks to Andrew Lightbown for his discussion of “spiritual abuse”. He has put into excellent words a disquiet I experienced as I read the critique offered by the Evangelical Alliance and others. On the earlier thread on the subject of the case in Oxford, I was one who appreciated the finding that spiritual abuse had occurred, and that sanctions were appropriate. Findings of this sort are likely to be pretty rare, in part because of the very difficulty of defining the term. But that did not prevent the committee in question coming up with… Read more »