Printed from: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=issue&id=6169
If you've never read the Old Testament from beginning to end, you won't understand why scientists like Richard Dawkins, intellectuals like Christopher Hitchens, philosophers like Daniel Dennett and even thoughtful actor Stephen Fry would answer this question with a resounding 'NO'. The problem with all these thinkers is that they...
I was first aware that my skin colour was a problem at the age of three. A girl at nursery refused to let me play in the Wendy House because I was 'brown'. A few weeks ago, my daughter came home from nursery and told me that a little girl...
I never expected to end up behind bars. One day in 2009 while working as a salaried GP, an email came round from the practice manager. Our large practice had got a contract at a medium-secure forensic psychiatric hospital, and they needed a GP to do a couple of physical...
'Postcode lottery!' soon appears in the media [1] when local decisions about healthcare resources are compared, even though public demand for services 'closer to home' makes such differences inevitable. Health and funding decisions cause much controversy in the UK, with the so-called 'dementia tax' [2] playing a big part in...
If asked what the hardest part of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, many of us would respond by saying that the isolation and separation from family and friends has taken the biggest toll. Whether we have lost loved ones, grown distant from friends, or have simply been unable to return...
The pandemic sadly means that it has been hard to travel overseas during the past year. So instead of a report of far-flung travel, we report on some different clinical experience much closer to home. This year I was immensely privileged to be able to support the wonderful Intensive Care Unit...
Professor John Lennox is well-known among Christians following his debates with prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Peter Atkins on the interface between science and Christianity. He has also regularly spoken at CMF events. His book Can Science Explain Everything? is helpful for Christians wishing to engage with the...
How can we navigate the minefield of evidence around the effects of abortion? This is challenging enough for the medical student, let alone the teenager with an unexpected pregnancy or the counsellor with limited medical background trying to help her work this through. This book aims to draw together the evidence...
In The Problem of Pain (1940), CS Lewis attempts to tackle the timeless mystery of understanding pain in a Christian paradigm. Lewis maintains a thoughtful tone of humility, recognising the limitations of his own 'layman's' stance, whilst simultaneously fortifying his arguments with logic and Scripture. To the reader wrestling with...
Should 'social justice' be the concern of churches devoted to proclaiming the gospel? Keller uses both the Old and New Testaments to demonstrate the importance God places on justice. From the laws in Leviticus, the laments of the psalmists and the speeches of the prophets, to Jesus' teachings and the...
'My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I...
deadly second wave of COVID-19 in India The BBC reports a deadly second wave of COVID-19 in India that is threatening to overwhelm the healthcare system. From 11,000 cases per day at the start of the second wave early in February, the number of people infected daily has increased rapidly to...
There's a homeless guy who sits outside the station asking for money. Sometimes I have given him something but am never too sure how to respond. Recently I was with a friend and we offered to buy him a sandwich, but he declined. I'm now wondering if he just wants...
'WYWBWY' I paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to my mouth. The consultant psychiatrist was discussing a case with me over lunch, and this acronym was totally unknown to me. 'I don't know what that means, I'm afraid', I confessed. 'Well', he said, 'sometimes a patient is depressed or suicidal,...
The apostles chose the word euangelion, Greek for 'good news', to describe the message of Jesus. The word 'gospel' that we use today comes from the Anglo-Saxon for this same word. But what exactly is the good news of the gospel? It is a common thing amongst evangelical Christians to...
I recently attended a church conference where it was asked, 'what aspect of God should you be more aware of in your everyday life: awe of God, fear of God, or love of God?' I considered for a moment before asking myself, 'where do I most often fall short?' I personally...
I have a confession to make. I secretly enjoy many of Jim Carrey's films. Whereas my wife finds him over-the-top and puerile, there is something about him that appeals to my juvenile sense of humour. Recently I watched Yes Man where he challenges himself to say 'yes' to everything with...
