Religion
Organic chemistry
My old Oxford college, Mansfield, isn’t a famous establishment, though its current principal, ‘Baroness Helena Kennedy’, as she incorrectly styles…
The bad book
The decline of the Church of England has been one of the most astonishing trends in modern Britain. The pews…
Away with the angels?
John Dee liked to talk to spirits but he was no loony witch, says Christopher Howse
The great inscape
‘I am 12 miles from a lemon,’ lamented that bon vivant clergyman Sydney Smith on reaching one country posting. He…
Lessons from Utopia
Thomas More’s 1516 classic is a textbook for our troubled times, says William Cook
State of the Union
Last year, the United Kingdom came within 384,000 votes of destruction. A referendum designed to crush the Scottish nationalists instead…
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
During the first ten pages of this long work Paul Theroux, on a journey through the American South, meets two…
Am I a brave cult survivor, too?
When I was 21, I lived with a cult for a year. It was a commune really, a tight-knit group…
Would you believe it? A selection of ancient faiths ripe for revival
After the success of Stoicism, more ancient faiths are ripe for revival
Tricycle’s Ben Hur is magnificent in its superficiality – a masterpiece of nothing
It’s the target that makes the satire as well as the satirist. Is the subject powerful, active, relevant and menacing?…
Bad news from paradise
Suddenly, the Maldivians are in the news. Earlier this year, they locked up their first democratically elected president, and just…
The many fights over the Lord’s Prayer
Amen corner Digital Cinema Media, a company which distributes adverts to cinemas, refused to allow an advert which involves the…
Of gods and men
Tom Holland on Egypt, where the deities were born and history itself began
Corbyn’s salvation
If Labour’s atheist leader could show he was at peace with religion, it would go a long way to making his job more secure
Remembering P.J. Kavanagh
OBITUARY
Christianity is silent on my great moral dilemma
Proximity shouldn’t make a difference — should it? We were on a beach on the European side of the Mediterranean,…
Edinburgh on Thames
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical offers a brand new song-and-dance spectacular at every performance. It opens with a brilliantly chaotic piece…
God’s new business plan
Justin Welby wants the C of E to focus on growth – and he’s enlisting bankers to help
Benedict’s back
Quietly, discreetly, the Pope Emeritus is offering a different vision to that of Pope Francis
You can’t take the Islam out of Islamic State
At last, British politicians have been galvanised into action by the appalling events last weekend in the Tunisian resort of…
Oh God, don’t let the Pope be a climate fanatic
In his latest encyclical Pope Francis will apparently describe global warming as a ‘major threat to life on the planet’.…
Curious shades of Browne
On the evening of 10 March 1804, Samuel Taylor Coleridge settled at a desk in an effort to articulate what…
Crisis of faith
England’s churches are in deep trouble
Original sin makes us better people. I wish Muslims believed in it
These days, on the subject of Islam, non-Muslims have mostly divided into two camps — though there’s a little wandering…
The Catholic crack-up
It’s not just Vatican infighting any more. Pope Francis has a potential schism on his hands
