That is why the gospel of Jesus – the King of Heaven – is the better story, than the Republic of Heaven that Pullman’s story is all about!
Category: Reviews
Engaging with Pullman, Part Four: Dust and the Signals of Transcendence
However, sadly, Pullman has not yet left behind the secular worldview to discover that the Christian worldview makes better sense of consciousness. Nevertheless, there is still a glimmer of hope!
Engaging with Pullman, Part Three: Pullman on God and the Church
let me suggest that while the story is new, the slander is not! Questions about the character and goodness of God go right back to the Garden of Eden. The first lie called into question God’s love and benevolent intentions towards the human race
Book: Come and Behold Him, Christmas Through Different Eyes
David J. Randall has produced a helpful little book for anyone who wants to scratch below the surface of the Christmas story
Engaging with Pullman, Part Two: Pullman and the Power of Stories
The driving story of His Dark Materials is a quest to kill God – the Authority – and liberate the world from the tyranny of the Church – the Magisterium. It finishes with the rallying cry that now the king of heaven is dead that we must build “the Republic of Heaven” on earth.
Book: Am I Just My Brain? by Sharon Dirckx
In this short book, Sharon Dirckx provides a very helpful introduction to some extremely big topics. As she points out in the introduction, how we answer the question ‘Am I just my brain?’ has implications for free will, robotics, ethics and religion, so the stakes are high.
Engaging with Pullman, Part One: Why I’ll be watching ‘His Dark Materials’ and so should you!
This is the sensational story that the BBC have spent some £50 million bringing to the screen. The first series, retelling the first book “Northern Lights”, will be watched by millions of people in this weekend prime time slot in the run up to Christmas. Some critics have dismissed the books as “atheism for kids”
Book Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
Whilst some readers might see the book as a condemnation of Christianity, and of the danger of a doctrine of revelation which requires submission to an ancient text. We note that in both these books Jesus isn’t mentioned and Bibles are locked up
Book Review: Why? Looking at God, evil and personal suffering by Sharon Dirckx
I particularly liked the focus on our personal role ('Am I responsible for anyone else's suffering?' is one chapter heading), and the constant pointers back to Jesus' work on the cross ('Can a broken story be fixed?')
Book: The Paradox of Happiness by René Breuel
The Bible, he notes, urges us to pursue goodness, not happiness - but it turns out that "goodness is deliciously happy!".