theodicy – Quaerentia

Q Combinations 21: The big IF of Easter (from AE Housman & Eugène Burnand)

quaesitor
21st April 2019
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There is an emotional complexity to this wonderful painting by Swiss artist Eugène Burnand. I know very little about him, apart from the usual resort of Wikipedia. But he manages to capture a moment of almost frantic inquisitiveness, as Peter and his young, fellow-disciple John rush in the golden sunrise light to the burial garden. Their faces seem filled with anxiety, confusion, hope, wonder, and longing all at once. Hoping against hope, but fearing a con, or something worse? Could Mary Magdalene, first to visit the tomb, possibly have been right...?

Q Combinations 6: Auden and Brueghel (a bit of a cheat, this time)

quaesitor
18th September 2015
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So I should be upfront about this one. It's a cheat - because I'm not the instigator of this particular combination - the poet was. And it's one of his best-loved - although the subject matter is not cheering, it's certainly…

Diving into the OT deep end with Joshua’s Conquest

quaesitor
26th February 2014
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Well, I feel I rather drew the short straw at ASLP on Sunday with Joshua 11-12 as my passage – but then actually, each of the sections in the series has had its moments, so I realise I wasn’t alone! But this section provides a summary of Israel’s conquest of the Land in the preceding 10 chapters, concluding with its triumphant list of 31 indigenous kings beaten and executed. Not only that, but in passing it has all kinds of profoundly difficult lines, not least Joshua 11:6 and Joshua 11:20. (more…)

God, Gethsemane and Grace: How can God allow Suffering?

quaesitor
22nd October 2013
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Again as part of our Uncover apologetics series, I looked at the issue of God and suffering on Sunday (my previous in the series was on the historicity of the gospels). For many, this really is the big one today. Belief in the divine seems palpably absurd in a suffering, chaotic, apparently uncontrollable world of forces, reactions and atoms. (more…)

A cultural adventure: Maggi Dawn’s The Writing on the Wall

quaesitor
23rd June 2010
3 Comments

In early 2009, the then poet laureate, Andrew Motion gave an interview in the Guardian in which he lamented the pervasive ignorance about the Bible. He made it quite clear that he is not a believer; he is merely concerned about…

Edward Paice’s Wrath of God: Lisbon 1755

quaesitor
23rd February 2010
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I read this book very quickly, while away on half term last week. It is a brilliantly researched and well-written account of a world-changing tragedy - and there is no small, grim irony that this is the week in which…

Prophetic motorway signs – Habakkuk 2 in summary

quaesitor
29th June 2009
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Hard to read, isn't it? If it was a real motorway sign, just think of the accidents it would cause as people tried to work out what it said. But if you could get up close and personal, you'd see…

Another gem from the Stott archive: The Message of Job

quaesitor
10th June 2009
3 Comments

Having had the chance to publish John Stott's 1952 Parochial Evangelism online, back in January, here is another next instalment from the archives. I was sorting out my bookshelves (at last) and came across his little booklet called "Why Do…

Q Combinations 21: The big IF of Easter (from AE Housman & Eugène Burnand)

Q Combinations 6: Auden and Brueghel (a bit of a cheat, this time)

Diving into the OT deep end with Joshua’s Conquest

God, Gethsemane and Grace: How can God allow Suffering?

A cultural adventure: Maggi Dawn’s The Writing on the Wall

Edward Paice’s Wrath of God: Lisbon 1755

Prophetic motorway signs – Habakkuk 2 in summary

Another gem from the Stott archive: The Message of Job

“fides quaerens intellectum”

I have faith, I always seek, I occasionally understand.

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“fides quaerens intellectum”

I have faith, I always seek, I occasionally understand.