Christianity
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Miles Coverdale: how to read the Bible
One bishop of Exeter who particularly deserves to be remembered is Miles Coverdale (1487-1569) who, in 1535, completed the first translation of the whole Bible into English. When Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s principal adviser, drew the king’s attention to...
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The greatest thing that can happen to any human soul
In February 1931, the thoughts of the then Archbishop of York, Devon-born William Temple, put love in its most sacred context. He was conducting a mission on 8 successive evenings in St Mary’s church, Oxford. On the sixth evening,...
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Miles Coverdale: how to read the Bible
One bishop of Exeter who particularly deserves to be remembered is Miles Coverdale (1487-1569) who, in 1535, completed the first translation of the whole Bible into English. When Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s principal adviser, drew the king’s attention to...
Continue reading this entry → -
The greatest thing that can happen to any human soul
In February 1931, the thoughts of the then Archbishop of York, Devon-born William Temple, put love in its most sacred context. He was conducting a mission on 8 successive evenings in St Mary’s church, Oxford. On the sixth evening,...
Continue reading this entry → -
The lively Oracles of God
420 years ago, in January 1604, some months after coming to England (having worn the crown of Scotland for 37 years), King James I called a conference of church people and theologians at Hampton Court Palace. The organisers of the...
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A story of gas and a beech tree
Dentists have been using nitrous oxide gas for over a hundred and fifty years to help relieve dental anxiety in patients. It was still common when I was a child. However, in recent years there has been a shift...
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Henry Chadwick and the road to happiness
Henry Chadwick (1920 –2008) was an academic, a theologian, a Church of England priest, a dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – and as such, head of Christ Church, Oxford – and also, later, master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. A...
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China: a crunch question
Today, as I write this, the headline in a daily political podcast is: ‘The crunch China question. Should Britain turn to megaphone diplomacy and economic disengagement?’ Apparently Rishi Sunak believes not. In September 1853, at the age of just...
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Why Fletcher of Madeley turned down promotion
John William Fletcher (1729-85) was not English. His real name was Jean Guillaume de la Flechѐre, but as his English friends could never spell this correctly he consented to be known as John William Fletcher. Born in Switzerland, he...
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Daniel Wilson: keeping his Bishop busy
One evening, when Daniel Wilson rose from prayer after reading his bible, he said to a lady, ‘Oh! my dear child, if we could live much more in the spirit of Ephesians 4, we should be much happier. I...
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