In depth | Evangelicals Now

Boris Johnson blames the Church for UK obesity - is he wrong?

Rebecca Chapman

Advent is finally upon us. In just a few weeks we will celebrate Christmas, with all the fun and feasting that entails.

But before any of us get too enthusiastic about menu-planning for the big day or the hospitality we hope to extend following carols or crib services, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson would apparently like us all to know that the church is to blame for the obesity crisis.

Swiss Christian political party oppose Eurovision in Basel

Emily Pollok

The Federal Democratic Union (EDU), a Swiss Christian-conservative political party, is opposing the use of taxpayer money to fund the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel next May.

Dubbed 'a propaganda show' by the EDU, the international singing competition has been criticised by the group as promoting blasphemy, Satanism, and antisemitism in recent years.

What are 'kidults' and why do they exist?

Graeme Shanks

According to toy industry research group Circana sales have fallen for a third year in a row. However, a surprising and developing trend is that sales to so-called ‘kidults’ have grown, with an estimated one in five toys and games now being bought by over-18s for themselves.^[1]

The research suggests that adults are now turning to their childhood favourites to escape their troubles and comfort themselves with memories of simpler times. A generation deferring thoughts of a Saga Cruise by turning to the Sega Console.

Saoirse, Spurgeon and soundbites

Rebecca Chapman

How often do you hear the conversation happening around you, and wish that you could think of the perfect riposte? Not spiteful or cutting, not designed to trip the other person up, but to have the words to make your point in a way that feels modest yet memorable.

Towards the end of October, the Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan appeared on the BBC’s Graham Norton show, on the sofa alongside fellow actors Eddie Redmayne, Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, each promoting various new projects. So far, so Friday night chat-show – some good-natured banter between colleagues and friends. Conversation turned to training for the preparation Redmayne had been taken through for his recently released remake of The Day of the Jackal, including being taught how to use his phone as a weapon if he was attacked.

culture watch

Learning from Hollywood's remakes

Milla Ling-Davies

Have you noticed that cinema and TV today is dominated by remakes, sequels and spin-offs?

In the months before Christmas, we’ll see Moana 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Gladiator 2 and Mufasa: the Lion King. Then 2025 will bring us the eighth Mission Impossible movie, another Avatar film, a new version of the Fantastic Four – I could go on. In 2026, a remake of The Goonies is even set to be created, 40 years on from its release!

The dark side of manifesting your dreams

Kirsten Birkett

If you have been at all aware of popular thinking about wealth over the past 20 years or so, you have probably come across the phenomenon of manifesting. Apparently it’s very popular on TikTok at the moment; it was beloved of the New Age teachers long before that.

'To manifest something means to make your dreams, goals, and aspirations a reality by believing you can achieve them' says one popular website. It is based on a so-called 'law of attraction', positing that if you think about something often enough, hard enough and positively enough, you can make it happen by the power of your thought alone. It focuses your 'energy' to affect future events out there in the universe.

Learning from Taylor Swift’s plausible language of lament

Matt MacGregor

We need to talk about Taylor Swift. Much ink has been spilled as to how appropriate her music is for Christians; I am not getting into that debate here. Instead, my attention is on the incontrovertible fact that Swift’s music is beloved by a phenomenally large number of people.

In a culture that is hallmarked by individualism and fragmentation, Taylor Swift has garnered an unprecedented popularity and ubiquity. Her impact has been compared to that of the Beatles, an impact she has sustained for 18 years, eight years more (and counting) than the Fab Four. The New Yorker goes even further, saying that she is best compared to the likes of Napoleon or Julius Caesar.

‘A person is a bottomless thing’: Zadie Smith and glimpses of grace

Niv Lobo

Zadie Smith is one of my favourite living novelists. Her latest, The Fraud (2023), takes up the real-life Tichborne case, which captivated the British public in the 1860s-70s.

This historical setting allows Zadie to articulate all kinds of contemporary anxieties around truth in a post-truth world, and about the possibility of justice when a court case becomes a spectacle, or even a piece of theatre.

culture watch

Russell Brand and Philip Schofield: striving for redemption

Rebecca Chapman

'Celebrity rehabilitation’ used to mean a well-known personality was spending some time in some sort of clinic. These days it is more likely to mean that they are making a new TV show, or just making headlines, often with some kind of redemptive narrative arc.

The latest celebrity to attempt it is Philip Schofield, popping up with Cast Away on Channel 5. He has had a period away from the cameras he so loves after the revelation of his affair with a much younger and junior male runner at This Morning, who he met when the runner was just 15, and the lies he spun to conceal it. Here we have Schofield making a TV programme on a deserted island… to tell us how he doesn’t want to be on TV anymore?

culture watch

Are you tired of pretending?

Milla Ling-Davies

Have you ever been shadowed at work? Or observed during an interview? We often find it uncomfortable to be watched.

This is the predicament that the three protagonists in the latest season of the hit TV comedy drama series Only Murders in the Building find themselves in. In Season Three, amateur detectives Mabel, Charles and Oliver learn that their true-crime podcast is being made into a Hollywood movie. As they begin solving yet another murder, they also end up being shadowed by the three actors hired to play them in the film.

Nostalgia and the new – from Oasis to church

Steve Kneale

It seems nostalgia is back in vogue. My last article in these pages referenced Blur and Damon Albarn’s hissy fit at Coachella. By some coincidence, the perma-bickering Gallagher brothers seem to have made up and decided to get Oasis back together.

Cue much hoopla from middle-aged people and geriatric millennials who remember the first time (if you spot the allusion to another Britpop band and write in with the correct answer, just like the ’90s Saturday TV of yore, en might send you a Marathon Bar and a Tamagotchi!)

culture watch

Lessons from Disneyland: the extravagant love of God

Rachel Redeemed

God and Mickey Mouse? Yup. We’re going there…

Last month, I explored how the gathered Church can be good medicine for everyone, having read The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by M.D. Bessel van der Kolk. I suggested that the Church has a particular good to offer those who have experienced both big and little 'T' trauma - which is sadly so commonplace in our broken world and fractured relationships.

Why are weather disaster movies so fascinating for us?

Kirsten Birkett

I have just watched the movie Twisters, a remake of the 1996 movie Twister, which I enjoyed back in the day.

There are some differences, but the same basic plot; a weather scientist who has an almost mystic ability to predict tornadoes, trying to find a way to prevent them and so stop the tremendous damage that they wreak to human lives. It’s well made and fun; but this is not a review of the movie. What it made me reflect upon is why I like disaster weather movies so much.

What do the Gallagher brothers teach us about unity?

John Woods

One of my favourite psalms is Psalm 133 which begins: 'How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!'

The 2011 NIV obscures the original word 'brothers', choosing to translate it with the more inclusive 'God's people'.

Can a Gen Z work ethic advance the gospel?

Graeme Shanks

Working nine to five? What a way to make a living. Working life has moved on a lot since Dolly Parton first released her catchy and timeless 1980s hit, 9 To 5. Indeed, fast forward a few generations and it would appear that flexibility has trumped security as the key thing that Gen Z’ers are prioritising when it comes to employment.^[1]

Have you noticed that recruitment firms are now fronting their adverts with their ability to perfectly match people to a job that fits with their lifestyle? Have you read about the companies experimenting with a four-day week, complete with flexible start and finish times, a nine-day fortnight, and compressed hours?^[2] The desire for flexibility with our employment, it would seem, is here to stay.

culture watch

Why your church might be the medicine you need

Rachel Redeemed

Being 'just-about-a-millennial' I have next to zero idea of what’s going on with the latest political/TikTok trend surrounding the term ‘brat’. Perhaps you don’t either – and that’s fine!

But these are my memories from growing up as an army BRAT (British Regiment Attached Traveler): boring army-issue magnolia woodchip wallpaper surrounding us as we sat down to dinner as a family, night after night. Standard issue furniture was the standard. And military punctuality wasn’t always my idea of fun.

Weight loss, a quick-fix culture and Scripture

Emma Sowden

Weight loss is trending in the news: what does this say about culture’s relationship to the body?

I wonder if the words Ozempic or Wegovy mean anything to you? What about Mounjaro or Zepbound? And before you ask, no, they are not the newest villains in the latest Avengers movies. Ozempic and Wegovy belong to a class of medication called GLP-1 receptor agonist. In short – weight-loss drugs. Researchers have clocked an exponential and unprecedented rise in young people in particular taking these kinds of drugs. Simply put, weight-loss is trending.

Olympic boxing: where ideology clashed with reality

John-Edward Funnell

The running debate over transgenderism has revealed the obvious conflict between two ideologies that the Olympics are attempting to unite.

The controversy around boxer Imane Khelif has been one of the many at this year’s Paris Olympics. Viewers were horrified to see Italian hopeful Angelina Carini pull out of the fight in just 46 seconds to 'save her life.'

JK Rowling tweeted: 'Explain why you're OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment.' However it was intended, this comment from such a public figure turned a single boxing match into a global debate about transgender issues.

Playing the game with perseverance

Rebecca Chapman

We have started a summer of sport – the Euros, then Wimbledon, Tour de France, and of course, the Paris Olympics. Tennis especially seems to be having a cultural moment.

‘Tenniscore’ has now been fashionable for months thanks to the film ‘Challengers’ with its tennis-based love triangle that was a huge hit at the end of April. In June Serena and Venus Williams served up some sport couture in Paris, as they walked the runway at Vogue World, with Venus wearing a dress made from recycled tennis bags. Now, tennis is about to takeover the small screen – with not only the traditional two weeks of Wimbledon, but some behind the scenes documentaries, offering further insight into what it takes to get to Centre Court.

defending our faith

The contradictions of today’s modern atheism

Chris Sinkinson

You may have seen a headline doing the rounds on social media in April – Richard Dawkins’ declares himself a ‘cultural Christian.’ Does this represent his conversion? It sounded like an April Fool’s prank – the internet being so awash with misinformation, every day feels like April Fool’s Day.

However, listening to his original radio broadcast on 31 March on LBC, it turns out to be neither conversion nor comedy. His comments are worth noting. Taking a more positive tone than we might usually associate with him, Richard affirmed: ‘I do think we are culturally a Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian.’

Move over Equality, Equity is the new kid in town: Here’s what it means

Tom Underhill

Over the past few years, corporate HR departments and public bodies have quietly been wielding their Tipp-Ex in a bulk deletion of the letters ‘a’ and ‘l’. ‘Equality’ has been changed to ‘equity’ in a mass rebranding of EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) departments and initiatives.

Or maybe it wasn’t quiet: perhaps in your experience it was heralded with great fanfare. Either way, this deletion represents a significant extension of the EDI mission, now almost synonymous with the one term, Equity. So what is Equity, what does this change imply, and how should we think Christianly about these matters?

Now This

Infertility and IVF

Bill James

There has been an extraordinary ruling in the Supreme Court of Alabama. Early embryos used in IVF should be afforded the rights of children, protected by the State’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, the court declared.

The ruling was extraordinary not only because of its clarity, but also the Biblical and theological reasoning used to make the case. As Christians, we welcome the affirmation that human rights and personhood are rooted in Biblical foundations, namely that each human life begins at conception and we are made in the image of God.

How do we respond to fading Christian heritage?

Paul Blackham

There are many cultural expressions of the Christian faith – from the obvious things like Christmas trees, Christmas cakes/ puddings, Easter eggs and Shrove Tuesday pancakes through to ashed foreheads on Ash Wednesday, Lenten fasts, all kinds of Christian music/songs (carols, Mass, chants) and symbols like crosses and Bible verses on posters.

There are many other less well-known Christian traditions involving all kinds of rhymes and recipes, songs and stews, feasts and festivals. Some have become completely secularised so that nobody has any memory of their original Christian nature (like the croissant, which was associated historically with the defeat of Islamic armies, and thus was banned by Islamic State in 2013).

Another happiness ranking

Kirsten Birkett

The 2024 World Happiness Report is out, and Finland is on top (the UK is number 20).

I have recently been listening to the marvellous Moomin books by the Finnish author Tove Jannson (on Audible, read by Hugh Dennis). They reveal a quirky sense of humour and a penetrating understanding of human nature that, if typical of Finnish people, might contribute to a happy experience of life. On the other hand, understanding human nature well could equally lead to despair. (There is, indeed, a dark undercurrent in the stories, which may be why not everyone likes them.)

A cultural recovery?

Matthew Roberts

Christianity appears to be having a little cultural recovery.

I don’t mean for a moment that the general hostility in society to Christianity is lessening. But it is true that a growing number of secular commentators are realising that Christianity is, in some sense, a thing which we cannot do without.

Now This

Going to the wedding

Bill James

As summer approaches, many of us will receive wedding invitations.

We may be clear that Biblical marriage is between one man and woman, and that sexual intimacy is only appropriate within that context. But how do we respond when a friend or a family member invites us to their gay or transgender wedding? Do we prioritise friendly relationships and accept, or decide on principle that we cannot go?

Soldiers told to downplay religious aspect of Remembrance

Nicola Laver

The Army is telling UK soldiers that acts of remembrance on Armistice Day should be ‘agnostic of religious elements and separated from Remembrance Services’, according to a leaked policy document.

The 2022 document, Policy, Guidance and Instructions on Inclusive Behaviours, seen by The Telegraph, reportedly states: ‘Acts of remembrance, and others, should be inclusive and seek to avoid being conducted as a wholly religious event’ – and suggests religious services could be held afterwards.

Rico highlights culture contrast

Iain Taylor

Rico Tice has highlighted the dramatic contrast between Christian culture and its contemporary secular equivalents at Christianity Explored Ministry’s (CEM) annual supporters’ evening, entitled ‘Love, Live, Tell’.

The well known evangelist is spending much of his time training Christians in evangelism.

culture watch

Where are all the villains?

Milla Ling-Davies

When you were younger, who was the fictional villain that had you hiding behind the sofa? The Daleks from Doctor Who? The child-catcher from Chitty-Chitty-Bang- Bang? Or, if you’re like my husband, the giant called Flesh-lump-eater from the BFG?

I recall being terrified as my mum and dad read to me from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets of the serpent sneaking through the pipes, whispering ‘blood’ and ‘death’.

Bernard Randall: 'The culture war is far from over'

Iain Taylor

Dr Bernard Randall, the Christian teacher who was sacked and reported to terrorist watchdog Prevent by his school for preaching a moderate sermon on identity politics, has responded to the Charity Commission’s decision to permit the dissolution of Educate and Celebrate (E & C).

E & C was the scandal-hit charity whose extreme gender identity teaching at Trent College, Nottingham led to Dr Randall's dismissal. He has not given a sermon or been able to work in Christian ministry since, a situation he continues to challenge.

culture watch

A ‘friendship recession’?

Rebecca Chapman

This February the phenomenon that is the streaming show The Chosen has hit cinemas again, with the first two episodes of Series Four showing us more of Jesus and His disciples.

Director Dallas Jenkins hopes that watching will be a shared experience for many of us, encouraging people to ‘get together during a time that’s very divisive’. This new series is a step up in many ways – more focused, more confident storytelling, and more compelling with its mix of light and dark, sorrow and humour, faith and frustration.

God is not guided by today’s moral compasses

David Shepherd

Notting Hill is still one of my favourite ‘rom coms’ ever. Memorably, it starred Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, and the late Emma Chambers (who tragically died a few years ago).

In the film, there is a dinner scene in which Emma Chambers’ character refuses the offer of a dish because she is fruitarian. When Hugh Grant’s character asks what that is, she says: ‘We believe that fruit and vegetables have feelings. So we think cooking is cruel. We only eat what has fallen from the tree or bush and that are, in fact, dead already.’

Dating apps in decline: What’s our better alternative?

Emma Sowden

The sun appears to be setting on the dating app era, and culture is on a mission to re-codify love, but what will we find in the aftermath?

Amidst our hyper-digital age, the tide appears to be turning on the reign of online dating. Despite radically changing the art of modern romance after exploding onto the scene in the early 2010s, today apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble are all reporting a steady decline in users. What was branded as an efficient way to connect people sold a promise of dating minus the mess. However, ten years on, people have cottoned onto the reality that online dating carries its own set of messes and mishaps. Those leaving the apps are citing the ways in which these platforms prey on insecurity and cause ‘swipe fatigue’ by overwhelming users with choice.

Now This

A frog in the kettle?

Bill James

We are horrified as we look back in history and see how our spiritual forefathers failed in critical ways.

During the time of the slave trade, some not only remained silent but were involved by owning slaves. During the time of Nazi Germany there were precious few who, like Bonhoeffer, were willing to speak up at the risk of their lives. So, what will be the verdict of history on our generation? Which issues do we neglect which will be seen in a different light in the future?

editorial

Worth dying for?

The looming prospect of World War Three? A decline in the number of young people applying for ministry apprenticeships, training courses and job adverts (see Karen Soole's article in this issue)?

There might not seem to be much linking these disparate situations. But maybe there’s a common thread.

Bank account closure: 'The impact was enormous'

Iain Taylor

Following last month’s article, ‘Is your church at risk of having its bank account shut down?’, Evangelicals Now was contacted by the Naval and Military Bible Society (NMBS) who shared their recent struggle of having their bank account unexpectedly closed by Barclays.

The NMBS is the oldest Bible society in the world, having provided Bibles to Service and Merchant Navy personnel since 1779. Recently, the Barclay's 'Know your Customer' (KYC) team had asked why their turnover had increased sharply and they were told, by telephone, that it was because of significant extra demand for Bibles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Despite reassurances that 'a note would be placed on the account', Barclays swiftly moved to close both accounts.

culture watch

Bold but flawed

Rebecca Chapman

Which cinematic depiction of the devil most strikes home for you?

The silver screen has offered us myriad options, ranging from Wall Street banker Gabriel Byrne in The End of Days, to womanising Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick. Or, played by a woman, in The Passion of The Christ, or the classic Al Pacino performance in The Devil’s Advocate.

Rejoicing as ‘faithfuls’ – watching for traitors

John Stevens

As we start 2024 the nation is gripped by the BBC series The Traitors, which has returned after proving a massive hit last year.

In this sophisticated version of Wink Murder, 22 contestants battle to survive to win a cash prize. They are divided into ‘traitors’ and ‘faithfuls’, with the traitors aiming to murder the faithfuls one by one, and the faithfuls seeking to identify and banish the traitors.

Ruth Perry, Ofsted and church processes

Stephen Kneale

A coroner’s report concerning the head teacher, Ruth Perry, determined that her final Ofsted inspection ‘lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity’, stated that at times the inspection was ‘rude and intimidating’ and ruled that it ‘likely contributed’ to her death. Mrs Perry took her own life whilst waiting for the Ofsted report to be published.

The death of Ruth Perry sparked a public debate about the role of Ofsted and how school inspections work more broadly in the UK. BBC News reported: ‘Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said last month Mrs Perry’s death had been used to “discredit” the schools watchdog. Referring to these comments, Ms Connor [the senior coroner] said this suggests a lack of learning from this case.’ She stated that there was a marked difference between the evidence of the council and Ofsted, suggesting the council was open and accepting with a clear desire to improve matters.

Covid: government exceeded mandate – evangelicals

Affinity

The government did overreach itself during the pandemic, delegates at an Affinity event have broadly concluded.

With the backdrop of the government’s Covid Inquiry, the organisation, which represents 1,200 evangelical churches and groups, recently held a symposium bringing various partners together to reflect on how Christians and churches responded to the pandemic.

culture watch

Control it like Beckham?

Milla Ling-Davies

It can be terrifying feeling out of control. My husband was driving back from Cardiff last weekend when his car skidded on water on the motorway. He did what most of us would do in that situation – he tightened his grip on the wheel.

In Netflix’s new documentary Beckham, this is exactly what we see former England football captain David Beckham do when his life begins to spiral. As things gets wilder and wilder, his grip on what remains in his control gets tighter and tighter. But while it’s the instinctive response – is it the right one?

National Trust ‘inclusion’ calendar excludes main Christian festivals

Nicola Laver

The National Trust has been widely criticised for producing a calendar that features religious festivals such as Diwali, Ramadan and Eid – but not Easter and Christmas.

A statement from the NT said: ‘We have an Inclusion and Wellbeing Calendar that is an internal resource, used to keep staff and volunteers up to date about awareness months and minority religious and cultural celebrations they might not otherwise be familiar with.

Evangelical Alliance asks: Can church reach ‘manifesting’ Gen Z?

en staff

Young people are ‘open and spiritually curious’ – but it is ‘manifesting’ rather than Christ currently capturing their imagination, new findings show.

Katherine Brown, part of the Evangelical Alliance ‘Being Human’ team, says that the survey – on popular dating app, Tinder – reveals that though many people in their twenties (often labelled ‘Gen Z’ if born after 1997) claim to be atheists, ‘they believe in the power of the universe’.

en investigates: Is your church bank account at risk of closure?

Iain Taylor

Last summer the national media shone the spotlight on when and how banks may close customers’ accounts.

Evangelicals Now has been contacted by two evangelical churches in Essex, South Park Chapel, Ilford, and Becontree Church, in Barking and Dagenham, London, whose banking facilities were withdrawn recently by Barclays.

Adam Anders: 'I stayed true to the vision God gave me'

Rebecca Chapman

Adam Anders is a Swedish film, television and music producer who has sold more than 100 million albums and worked with artists including Miley Cyrus and The Backstreet Boys. This November, he made his directorial debut with the film, Journey To Bethlehem, the first musical retelling of The Nativity Story.

Journey To Bethlehem stars Fiona Palomo as Mary, Milo Manheim as Joseph, and features Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas as jealous King Herod. It is a live-action musical adventure for the whole family, which weaves classic Christmas melodies with humour, faith and new pop songs. Here, Adam speaks to en's Rebecca Chapman and honorary en journalist, her seven-year-old-son Benji!

culture watch

Leaving sex to birds & bees

Milla Ling-Davies

It’s a universal truth that the moment your parents happen to walk into the living room a sex scene will start playing on TV.

We’ve all been there, scrambling to fast-forward the awkward bits. But will the youth of today be spared this rite of passage? According to a new study by the University of California, Los Angeles, Generation Z* are fed up with seeing sex on screen.

The two prayers of Friends star Matthew Perry

Milla Ling-Davies

On 28 October, the much-loved Friends star Matthew Perry died at his home in Los Angeles, aged 54.

In his autobiography Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing published just last year, Perry recalled how the first prayer he ever prayed was: ‘Please God make me famous, you can do anything you want to me, just make me famous.’ Just three weeks later he landed the life-changing part in the sitcom Friends, playing Chandler Bing.

Taylor Swift and what she tells us about ourselves

Emma Sowden

They say you can tell a lot about a society by who its icons are. And, whether you can recite her every lyric or simply can’t stand the sound of her, you would be hard pushed to deny the fact that singer Taylor Swift is one such cultural icon.

Not convinced? Let me try and persuade you: this summer saw the beginning of Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ – a three-hour long concert extravaganza paying homage to her music catalogue. By the time it wraps up in November 2024, it will have spanned 146 dates across five continents. It is set to become the highest grossing tour of all time and has been dubbed this year’s most significant pop-culture phenomenon. Cities hosting the tour over the summer saw a significant boost in revenue, prompting multiple world leaders to openly request she bring the tour to their countries. In September, it was announced that the University of Melbourne will host an academic conference on the singer, and in October a film version of her Eras Tour was released in cinemas, rapidly becoming the most profitable concert film in history. And that’s only just scratching the surface: I could go on.

Whether sport or music or gaming, let’s join the dots

George Crowder

Every Thursday evening, I drive from choir practice to swim training, and in so many ways experience a massive gear change.

They couldn’t be two more different activities, and two more different groups of people. Yet, reflecting spiritually, there are some thought-provoking similarities and connections between them. I first joined the choir because I wanted to have regular contact with people outside church. It’s a community choir with a very low bar for musical ability. I am in the minority, being male and under 50, but, being an Anglican, I am used to that. I would also challenge anyone to have a better success rate at inviting non-Christian friends to a Christmas Carol service. I invite the choir to sing every year, and they come, and they bring their families and friends to watch.

Evangelism at Halloween accelerates via Christian innovation

Naomi Dawson, Anna Price & Kate Cinnamond

Churches have used Halloween to shine gospel light into non-Christian darkness.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Gorleston’s ‘Light on a Dark Night’ transforms its building into an eery, smoke-filled ‘Twilight Zone’ where people have to pass through challenges and seek the Light. Around 400 came along to the event this year.

culture watch

Paris Fashion Week: 70 is the new 17

Milla Ling-Davies

What do you check in the mirror before you rush out the door? Is it a thinning patch of hair? Wrinkles on your forehead? What part of you do you try and hide during family photos? Whatever it is, you might not have to worry about it much longer because Paris Fashion Week 2023 has declared that ageing is now ‘cool’.

The event took place in early October and was a celebration of being authentic and embracing your age. Model and actress Pamela Anderson, age 56, went ‘courageously’ without makeup. At age 78, Dame Helen Mirren walked the runway for L’Oréal with her natural grey hair on proud display, as did actress Andie MacDowell, age 65.

culture watch

Influencers: yay or nay?

Milla Ling-Davies

When someone says ‘social media influencer’ do you think of a teenager dancing and taking selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower? Picturing this, it can be easy to write influencers off as immature or vain. But is this the whole story?

An influencer is a normal person, like you or me, who has ‘built a large social media following typically due to their expertise on specific topics’ (Influencer Marketing Hub). They share videos and photos about subjects like parenting, food or travel, and can have millions of people listening in. They have, surprise surprise, influence.

‘Cakegate’, C-list celebs and cheeky Christians

Stephen Kneale

Just over a week ago (at the time of writing), my friend uploaded a screen grab of her less than impressed response to a request from what those of us in Oldham would refer to as a ‘cheeky beggar’.

What followed was over a week-long saga in which my friend’s response, dripping with sarcasm as it was, found its way into the national news. Every day, I saw a new outlet had picked up the story. It hit all the major national newspapers and media groups, making it a matter of true import when it finally hit the big stage in the Oldham Times. The saga – which as I write is still ongoing – was even dubbed #cakegate and, if I’m being honest, I am partly only mentioning it in these pages so Evangelicals Now doesn’t miss out on the bandwagon.

Lack of trainee pastors to replace those retiring is ‘elephant in the room’

en staff

The lack of trainee pastors to replace those who are retiring is an ‘elephant in the room’ which evangelicals are neglecting, a former en editor is warning.

Writing on the London Seminary website, John Benton says: ‘The stark truth is that far fewer men are coming forward to train for the ministry than there are pastors coming up to retirement.

culture watch

Learning from the Lionesses

Milla Ling-Davies

Imagine you are six years old. You’re jumping in delight because Chelsea have picked you for their U10s squad. A few years later, you’re 13 and playing for Arsenal – too young for the women’s team, too good for the girl’s team, they put you in the boy’s team.

At 21, you finally get the dream call to play for the Lionesses. It’s your debut World Cup, you’ve scored your third goal and have won player of the match for the second time. Your team hug you, the stadium roars, and the next day’s newspapers sing your praises.

A missed opportunity ?

Tom Clarke

Statistical evidence would suggest that the commitment of the church in the UK to overseas mission has been on a downward path for some time, whether measured in terms of personnel volunteering to go and serve or in terms of financial support.

Anecdotally, I was asked recently if it was still the case that some Christians offer to leave home to serve the Lord in cross-cultural situations. This was a genuine question from a godly pastor who just had no experience of this happening either in his own church or others which he knew of.

culture watch

A rocky Jesus revolution?

Milla Ling-Davies

What fulfils me the most? This was the question running through my mind as I watched The Jesus Revolution.

The Christian film that surprised everyone by smashing the US box office has finally come to the UK. It tracks the true story of the Jesus movement in late 1960s America, from the perspective of curious student Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) and pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammar). It has streamed in 157 cinemas and made over £100,000 in its first week here. There have been some doubts about the historical accuracy of the film, with The Guardian pointing out that it sidesteps any mention of Lonnie Frisbee’s (Jonathan Roumie) struggles with homosexuality. But it’s been widely hailed as the ‘least cheesy’ Christian film out there, ‘not preachy’ and praised for showing how a Christian life can still be a hard one.

Lessons from the world of Ken and Barbie

Rachel Jones

Ok, I’ll admit it: I’m excited for the Barbie Movie.

That’s right: in what promises to be the film of the summer, Mattel’s classic doll is being given the cinema treatment. As I write the soundtrack is already all over the radio. Directed by Greta Gerwig, and starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, the trailer promises that ‘if you love Barbie, this is for you’, and that ‘if you hate Barbie, this is for you.’ Since that encompasses just about any woman millennial or older, the filmmakers are on to a winner.

Reading culture wisely

Trevor Stammers

Book Review CHRIST AND THE CULTURE WARS: Speaking for Jesus in a world of identity politics

Read review

culture watch

Apostle Paul in the charts?

Milla Ling-Davies

Have you ever tried to talk to your unbelieving friends about sin? They might bat you away with ‘But humans are innately good, aren’t they?’, or ‘What’s right for you doesn’t have to be right for me’. Well, David Kushner’s new song Daylight can help open up this conversation for you.

The 22-year-old American is relatively new to fame. It came quickly last year, after he released tracks that went viral on social media platform TikTok. Daylight, his newest release, has references to sin, God and forgiveness and yet somehow, at the time of writing, it’s sitting at number two in the UK charts and putting up a good fight for the top spot. How is this possible?

culture watch

Eyes wide open

Milla Ling-Davies

How do you respond to suffering? We all react in different ways. A friend of mine is a self-confessed 'hermit' and hides herself away, I tend to sleep alot. Maybe it depends on the type of suffering. Maybe it depends on the type of person.

Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest pop artists of the 21st century. Since rising to fame in 2011 at the age of 20, he’s already topped the UK charts 14 times – that’s just three times less than the Beatles did.

culture watch

The real deal?

Milla Ling-Davies

How much does hypocrisy bother you? For Gen Z*, it might be the ultimate faux pas.

Gen Z are so concerned with authenticity and integrity that they have earned themselves the nickname ‘true gen’. They want ethical chewing gum, natural-looking makeup, and fair-trade stickers on their bananas.

Richard Dawkins, Christians, and brain experiments

Kirsten Birkett

I recently read that Richard Dawkins underwent an experiment in 2003 where magnetic fields were applied to his head.

It was meant to stimulate the temporal lobes and create a religious experience. It failed on Dawkins; apparently his temporal lobe sensitivity is much lower than average. On others, however, the same treatment had triggered a sense of an invisible presence or out-of-body experiences.

culture watch

Imperfect, but helpful?

Ian Cooper

The Chosen is an American TV and film series on the Life of Christ, which from uncertain beginnings has become a global success.

It has millions of viewers and has been dubbed or subtitled in scores of languages. With a model of crowd-funding it has raised the vast sums needed for a series which aims to complete seven seasons of eight episodes each, 56 episodes in total. Currently it has done three seasons, 24 episodes, and is available on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and the Angel Studio and Chosen apps – it’s free on the apps. The director is Dallas Jenkins, a conservative evangelical, 46 and married with four children, whose father Jerry Jenkins was the author of the Left Behind books. So why, when most Christian film series are cheesy or preachy or both, has this been a terrific hit.

From the Serenity Prayer to Stoicism’s revival today

Dave Burke

It is surprising how many people with no church background can quote the ‘Serenity Prayer’ attributed to the German theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr: ‘God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other’.

I can’t think of a wiser prayer in a world like ours where so much is beyond our control. It helps us to concentrate on what really matters; how we handle a crisis and how we can find peace. Yet the heart of that prayer can also work for anyone, even an atheist, and in fact it is the first principle of a system of thought called Stoicism.

Google searches for the word ‘safe’ have tripled. Why?

Rachel Jones

I don’t know what it reveals about the state of the world, or the state of my soul, that I consider not looking at my phone on the tube to somehow be virtuous, but I do. It is, at the very least, good for my neck. And my eyes – and those need all the help they can get. So instead, I examine the posters.

A new series of ads issued by Transport For London have particularly caught my ailing eyes. They aim to address the very serious issue of sexual harassment on public transport, with suggestions for how members of the public can help. Here’s one:

culture watch

Minutely-controlled world

James Paul

It might seem strange that after watching over two and a half hours of Cate Blanchett’s riveting performance as fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár, I could turn to my friend and fellow-viewer and ask: ‘What was that film about?’

This wasn’t because Todd Field’s latest work was a confused film. In one sense Tár follows a familiar trope of a musical genius whose relentless pursuit of perfection leads to breakdown and a fall from grace.

Tears and shock as ‘faithfuls’ and ‘traitors’ misjudged

Cassie Martin

Who’s your 100%? Who do you trust the most?

Like many others, our family has been hooked on the BBC series The Traitors. The runaway success story of pre-Christmas broadcasting (helped by its positioning alongside the football World Cup), The Traitors has enjoyed an even stronger afterlife thanks to word of mouth and BBC iPlayer.

What can the world’s biggest YouTuber teach you?

Jonny Abbott

As a theology graduate, former pastor and now on the staff at Moorlands College in the communications department, I am learning all I can from everywhere I can about how we can get our message across in the contemporary world. Where to turn?

Well, I have just watched a video of a car with a jet engine strapped to it. The goal is to see how many buses it will jump over. If you were one of the 47 million people who have so far watched the video you will know that this was just one of eight other equally audacious ‘experiments’ put together by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, AKA ‘Mr Beast’ (see photo). If you haven’t seen any of Jimmy’s videos before, they involve everything from subscribers competing for private islands, to creating a replica of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. As the most subscribed-to individual on YouTube, Mr Beast is redefining what the modern-day entertainer looks like.

culture watch

A Christ-like Pinocchio?

James Paul

‘What does it mean to be human?’ and ‘What makes a good life?’ are two key questions which all cultures, whether religious or secular, must ask.

The answers are rarely expressed as a clearly articulated philosophy, but rather embedded in what philosopher Charles Taylor terms a ‘social imaginary’, which he describes as the way ordinary people ‘imagine’ the world to be, and ‘imagine’ life to work. This imaginary seeps into our unconscious through the myriad of ‘images, stories and legends’ which make up a culture and shape our daily lives.

letter from Australia

Turning from the Lord to ‘Saint Jordan’?

David Robertson

The results of the 2021 Census in Australia showed, as expected, continual decline in the number of those who state that their religion is Christian.

Although Christianity is still the largest religious grouping at 43%, this has shown a decline of some 1 million in the past decade. The largely middle-aged white liberals who inhabit most of Australian media were quick to proclaim this as being the result of young people leaving the church.

Everyday wisdom – and finding it unexpectedly

Rachel Jones

‘Now then, what am I going to write an en column about?’

It’s a repeated refrain in my house. Dissatisfied with my flatmate’s answers, I cast the net wider. I ask friends. Colleagues. College acquaintances. My mother. I’m drawing a blank.

culture watch

Anti-Semitism among us today

Joseph Steinberg

As a Jewish believer in Jesus, and CEO of International Mission to Jewish People (www.imjp.org), I was interested to see what comedian David Baddiel had to say about the marginalisation of Jewish voices and the massively growing problem of anti-Semitism in the world today.

More like Jesus while watching TV?

Cassie Martin

Depending on when you read this, you may be planning on watching or have recently watched the King’s Christmas Broadcast on TV.

Or perhaps enjoyed some of the celebratory programming around the centenary of the BBC – the British Broadcasting Corporation – even if celebrities doing the tango to the Casualty theme tune on Strictly might have seemed a rather peculiar way of marking the occasion.

Scripture, modern life and culture

en Reviews Editor John Woods speaks to Christopher Watkin, author of Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture.

The book will be published in the UK on 5 January and uses the ‘Biblical-Theological’ structure of Augustine’s City of God to show how Scripture can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today’s debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality. (The picture on the front page of en highlighting this article comes from a podcast about Critical Theory.)

culture watch

Virtue, EIIR and Tolkien

James Paul

Two very different events this past month have led me to reflect on the continuing relevance of moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre’s prophetic work After Virtue (Duckworth, 1981).

MacIntyre explains how the West has moved from a culture based around the practice of virtues, to one in which moral judgments are merely expressions of personal feelings and attitudes, often used to produce similar feelings in others. Nowhere has this change been more demonstrated than in the death of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Are you ready for November’s Formula One final?

Cassie Martin

If you’d asked me a year ago what my opinion was of Formula One, I would have probably said that I didn’t really see the point and wasn’t it a massive waste of fuel to drive round and round in a circle for a couple of hours?

However, due to the combined influence of a keen teenage son and Netflix’s glorious soap opera, Drive to Survive, I have become an avid fan and now find myself making knowledgeable pronouncements like ‘Ferrari’s tyre strategy is all over the place this season’!

A cultural moment which is a gift to Christians

David Robertson

Every now and then a film comes along, or some other cultural moment, which you just know is an absolute gift to the preacher or evangelist seeking to communicate the good news of Christ.

Think Chariots of Fire, Schindler’s List, The Matrix, Apocalypse Now or The Tree of Life. I recently saw another quiet masterpiece – which was so deeply moving because it reflected so beautifully the fractured needs of humanity – and, at least to me, indicated how suitable the Good News of Jesus is for such needs.

‘Cancel culture’ issues

Jordan Brown

Web Review THE AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN

Read review

culture watch

The search for meaning

James Paul

Whether it’s cool or uncool to like Coldplay, it’s hard to deny they are the biggest band in the world. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a fan.

Whether it’s the broken-hearted melodies of songs like Fix You or the joyful anthems of Sky Full of Stars, their music has been an accompaniment to my life for the past two decades.

culture watch

Capturing the culture

James Paul

There are rare moments when art changes a culture, and other moments when a book or film captures a cultural moment so that it acts like a mirror reflecting back where we are as a society.

Douglas Coupland’s Generation X did that in the late 80s and early 90s for what he termed the ‘accelerated generation’ of young people whose lives were beginning to be dominated by a fast-emerging cyberculture. And some have recently made a similar claim in terms of the millennial generation for the novels of the 31-year-old Irish author Sally Rooney, the first of which, Conversations with Friends, has recently been turned into a BBC TV series.

How the soaring cost of living can help us refocus

George Crowder

Whatever question they get asked, we have witnessed politicians on every side swiftly segue onto the subject of the cost of living.

It is an issue which affects all but the most privileged of the voting public, though it also serves to dodge difficult questions on other subjects.

Could the jobs crisis be an opportunity for churches?

Karen Soole

We live in unusual times. Job adverts have been carefully drafted and widely distributed, yet the deadline for applications comes and goes with no one expressing interest.

This scenario has been taking place up and down the country. Currently, there are record numbers of vacancies as firms struggle to recruit. We experience the outworking of this with scenes of airport chaos and rising NHS waiting lists. There are shortages across sectors, from probation officers and dental nurses to plasterers, construction workers, and the agriculture industry. Those wanting to learn to drive cannot find driving instructors or even book a test.

culture watch

God in the grime of life

James Paul

Some may disagree, but I don’t believe there is, or even should be, such a thing as a Christian film, especially if by labelling a film ‘Christian’ we mean to create a sub-genre of film that contains some special spiritual or moral attribute whilst ignoring its artistic quality.

But I do believe that there are films that tell stories which flow out of the gospel narrative of creation-fall-redemption. And in that respect, I commend to you Rosalind Ross’s directorial debut, Father Stu, as an absorbing and emotionally engaging film which centres around a the very human experiences of disappointment, fatherlessness, suffering, forgiveness and faith. It also includes one of the best cameos by a Jesus-like character that I have seen in a long while.

Do we tell half-truths?

Karen Soole

This year, there has been a stand-out new genre on streaming services: the scammer show.

These dramatic reconstructions of ‘fake it until you make it’ chart the rise and fall of charismatic individuals who persuaded people to depart with eye-watering sums of money. Among them, Inventing Anna is the story of the fake German heiress Anna Sorokin, WeCrashed tells of the Neumans who raised billions of dollars whilst running at a colossal loss and, in my opinion, the best, The Dropout charts the fall of the biotech company Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes.

Engaging with a controversial movie

Cassie Martin

There has been something of a furore over Pixar’s latest animated movie offering, Turning Red.

The film has provoked strong reactions, with audiences either loving or hating it. Its fans love the quirky animation style and accurate portrayal of teenage girls whilst its detractors have been horrified by references to puberty, labelling its Chinese-Canadian heroine Mei ‘unrelatable’.

‘Cancel culture’

Date posted: 1 May 2022

Dear Editor,

I wanted to endorse Karen Soole’s article ‘Beware of gospel-ending conversations’ in the April issue of en, but from a slightly different angle.

culture watch

Every parent’s longing

Phillip Johnston

One of my very first sermons was a 6,800-word Easter preach that tried to do everything.

Resurrection apologetic? Check. Whirlwind tour of redemptive history? Had to. Atonement and union with Christ? Can’t have one without the other. A few personal stories chucked in for good measure? Of course. Leaving out anything felt like a sin of omission. If everything didn’t happen, nothing would. As I gathered my copious notes from the pulpit after the service, I was approached by a retired naval commander known throughout the church for his ministry of encouragement. This Sunday, however, the encouragement was charged with admonishment. ‘Next time,’ he said, ‘say everything you just said – but with half the words.’

From the Garden of Eden to 21st-century Wordle

Rachel Jones

Today was a good day. Why? Wordle in three.

Yes, I’ve joined the bandwagon. A little late – as always.

culture watch

Anger turns to tears

James Paul

In this age of CGI action-movies it takes courage to set a film almost wholly within one room and use the dialogue between four actors to carry the weight of the plot and drama of the piece.

But that is just what Fran Kranz has bravely done to absorbing effect in his debut feature Mass, creating a film that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, and (to my eyes) deeply Christian.

A field day for the Father of Lies

David Robertson

‘Misinformation’ may well become the word of 2022.

The popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, who has 11 million subscribers, was threatened with ‘cancellation’ because of alleged ‘misinformation’ provided in a three hour programme with Dr Robert Malone. The troubling thing is that without knowing what this ‘misinformation’ was, and without listening to the programme, many people just joined in the pile on – on the basis that the accusation must be right because ‘270 scientists/doctors signed a letter saying so’. And yet dig a bit deeper and you find that only 87 of the signatories were doctors. The rest included engineers, psychologists, teachers, social workers, students, several podcasters, a dentist, and even a vet!

A toaster, a hair-dryer and the trials of World Book Day

Cassie Martin

March marks the 25th anniversary of World Book Day.

For parents there is the nightmare of having to come up with a last-minute costume, amusingly depicted by the BBC comedy Motherland and numerous internet memes. My favourite is the picture that went viral, of two confused-looking children in regular school uniform carrying a toaster and a hairdryer. The caption reads: ‘My children dressed as the Argos catalogue’.

Tipping points: loveless marriages & abusive churches

Karen Soole

en continues to seek to provide a forum for us all to learn as broadly as possible from sinful and shameful abusive actions. Our foremost thoughts and prayers must be with the survivors and victims.

It is the straw that broke the camel’s back. The final straw is small; it barely weighs anything but, added to the burden already carried, it crushes.

culture watch

Who is this unusual film for?

James Paul

The direction of our modern culture is to reduce every aspect of human experience, including politics, sex, the arts, and even religion, to entertainment. But this has not always been the case.

THE MOST RELUCTANT CONVERT:
The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis
Dir. Norman Stone. Cert. 12A
In cinemas 7 November and soon to be released on streaming platforms.

culture watch

Faith amidst alcoholism

James Paul

The film industry has pinned its hopes on No Time to Die as the saviour of local cinemas who have struggled to survive months without audience revenue. But if you want to feed your soul, rather than your adrenal gland, then the Aretha Franklin musical biopic Respect, is the movie to see.

RESPECT
Director: Liesl Tommy
Certificate 12A, Run time 144 minutes

Why is hate-filled abuse ‘within community standards’?

David Robertson

‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ (Who guards the guardians?) is the question the Roman poet Juvenal asked, at just about the same time as the New Testament church was rapidly expanding.

It’s not often that Latin phrases come to mind (mainly because I know so few), but this one seems entirely appropriate for the increasing tendency we are seeing in our major internet platform providers to decide that they, and they alone, are the arbiters of truth.

Strictly contestants point to Christian faith

en staff

Two contestants in the BBC TV programme Strictly Come Dancing have pointed to their Christian faith in various ways as the popular Saturday night series goes on.

Well-known news and sport TV presenter Dan Walker has stuck with keeping Sunday special. The Daily Mirror reported: ‘The BBC Breakfast presenter, 44, will be taking Sundays off for religious reasons due to his devout Christian faith. Dan, who is partnered up with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova, will be using his day off to “gain perspective” on his scores and performances of the night before.’

Is deception the hallmark of our times?

Lee Emerson

As I write, the Dyson Report has just laid bare the deception used by Martin Bashir to obtain the interview with Diana.

But actually this is symptomatic of the whole realm of public and political life, where lies and deceit are commonplace. Truth has indeed stumbled in the public squares (Isa. 59:14), as Chris Wright reminded us in his article ‘The Modern War on Truth’ (en January 2020).

culture watch

Ai-Da: art or illusion?

James Paul

‘Ai-Da: Portrait of the Robot’ is a small but intriguing exhibition at the Design Museum in London, featuring Ai-Da, the self-proclaimed ‘world’s first ultra-realistic artificial intelligence robot artist’.

She is appropriately named after the English mathematician Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), who published the first algorithm for use with Charles Babbage’s Analaytical Engine, one of the earliest mechanical forms of the computer.

culture watch

Experiencing loss

James Paul

I recently listened to a wonderful talk by the poet Malcolm Guite in which he explores these lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘The poet’s eye, in fine frenzy rolling / doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven / as imagination bodies forth the form of things unknown.’

Shakespeare is calling our attention to the way the artistic imagination can give shape and form to things ‘unknown’, so that earth and heaven, the temporal and eternal, matter and meaning, are connected. These words were rolling around my mind as I watched two films which explore the experience of loss from the inside out.

Cancel culture

Date posted: 1 Aug 2021

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the article in the May 2021 ‘How should we respond edition of en, to “cancel culture”?’ by John Stevens. I appreciate that in a short article only one aspect can be explored, and he primarily dealt with the negatives of the past in patterns of behaviour that fall short of Biblical norms and generally-held moral standards.

culture watch

Where is Jesus?

James Paul

Fatima (2020), directed by Marco Pontecorvo, is due to be released on UK streaming services on 25 June 2021.

Last week I watched Fatima with a small group of guests staying at the L’Abri community where I live and work. Fatima is a historical drama based on the alleged miraculous appearances of the Virgin Mary in 1917 to three peasant children near the Portuguese town of Fatima. Over a period of six months Mary appeared to Lucia (10), Jacinta (7) and Francisco (9) – very believably acted by Stephanie Gil, Alejandra Howard and Jorge Lamelas – and revealed three secrets; a vision of hell, a prophesy of the imminent end of WWI, and a mysterious third secret concerning the murder of the Pope (which was only revealed by the Vatican in May 2000). As news of these Marian apparitions spread, people came from far and wide to be present at these monthly visitations, culminating in October 1917 when a crowd of around 70,000 gathered, some of whom claimed they witnessed the sun dancing in the sky.

Dawkins’ views on Downs spark horror

Nicola Laver

Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has reignited anger over his views on Down’s syndrome and abortion.

In a recent interview with Brendan O’Connor, an Irish radio presenter who has a child of his own with Down’s syndrome, Dawkins said aborting Down’s babies would be ‘wise’.

culture watch

Towards a post-racial UK

James Paul

George Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.’

These past weeks I have been pondering the way the films honoured at the recent Academy Awards reflect the soul of contemporary society. Nomadland (Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director) explores the fallout of the 2008 economic crisis for a generation of ‘houseless’ Americans who are too old to find re-employment but too poor to retire. The Father (Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay) looks at the growing epidemic of dementia from within the mind of a sufferer. And Shaka King’s historical drama, Judas and the Black Messiah (Best Supporting Actor), although set during the late 1960s, brings us to reflect on the continuing fight against racial injustice as highlighted by the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the murder of George Floyd a year ago.

culture watch

Afterlife reflections from Pixar’s Soul

James Paul

Having just published a book about heaven, a friend recommended I watch Soul, the latest release from Pixar now streaming on Disney+.

Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a middle-school music teacher who between lessons still dreams of making it big as a jazz pianist.

culture watch

Soulmates (2021) – Amazon

James Paul

What if you could take a test that would reveal with 100% accuracy your perfect soulmate; the one person in all the world you were most meant to love and who would most love you?

Would you take that test? Would you take it if you were single? Would you take it if you were married, but the flames of love for your spouse had dimmed over the years to an occasional flicker? Would you take the test if you were in a happy and fulfilling relationship, but wondered how much better things might be with your perfect match?

Is it time to ditch the Golden Rule?

Rachel Jones

It was over dinner that my housemate broached the controversial subject: ‘How would you guys feel if I got an Xbox?’

‘Oh I don’t know,’ I said, ‘I’ve heard they’ve put a lot of strain on people’s marriages during Covid.’

Polarised misrepresentation hurts God: today’s debates aren’t simply two-sided

Duncan Forbes

As society becomes increasingly polarised, we’re tending to divide people up into two teams: my team, and the enemy team.

This is a problem because, in reality, a lot of our issues are more complex than having simply two teams, and such division can grieve the Holy Spirit.

‘I may not live to see our glory, but I will gladly join the fight.’

Jeff Hamling

Jeff Hamling draws out the gospel-shaped hole at the heart of hit musical – and now film – Hamilton

Hamilton is considered the greatest musical of our generation. A renewed sense of interest and excitement rippled through the country when Disney Plus announced its release of the show (starring the original cast).

INTJ? Or are you just a sinner?

Adeline Wenham

Adeline Wenham (INTP) wonders whether the whole idea of ‘personality types’ is even faintly Biblical...

Lockdown proved to be a time of heightened self-awareness, if Mumsnet is at all indicative. Some of us are now painfully conscious of where we lie on the introvert/ extrovert spectrum.

Misogyny, rights & Rowling

Sarah Allen

It might have seemed as if the isolation of lockdown was making people mad last month when the stars of the Harry Potter films turned on J.K. Rowling. They denounced the woman who had kick-started their careers, because on social media she had objected to the phrase ‘people who menstruate’.

It wasn’t celebrities going stir-crazy, however, but a public display of an ugly and strange change in our culture. From the time of Rowling’s tweet pushing back against the insistence of many that ‘trans women are women’, and expressing the need to retain some women-only spaces in an eloquent and personal essay, she has faced much worse than negative press statements. Deeply offensive language has been spewed at her online, trans women have posted pictures of their very male anatomy, pornography has been uploaded to the account in which she interacts with her young readers. Then there are the news outlets which will only say that Rowling has written ‘offensive’ tweets but will not expose the horrendous backlash she has faced. Perhaps worst of all have been the ordinary young women I’ve heard lament that they won’t ever be able to read another Potter book again. These young women would call themselves feminists, but have unwittingly absorbed a self-destructive misogyny.

Culture watching

Locked-down watching

Sarah Allen

Panic must have set in at the BBC in April. How to fill the schedules in a new world of social distancing, empty stadia and shut-up shops? Re-runs? Zoom extravaganzas? And yes, even better, monologues!

Talking Heads was the perfect lockdown solution, taking ten award-winning monologues from the 1980s and 90s, adding well-known but unoccupied actors and directors (Imelda Staunton, Tamsin Greig and Martin Freeman, amongst others), and borrowing the vacant EastEnders set. The final touch was to persuade national treasure Alan Bennett to write another two scripts – bingo! More than six hours of primetime TV.

The secularisation of the UK church

David Robertson

It’s a familiar secularist cry – ‘we want freedom for religion, but we also want freedom from religion’. It sounds good and it sounds nice. But like so many soundbites the devil is in the detail. What do they mean?

In reality freedom ‘from’ religion means freedom from any form of religion (but especially biblical Christianity) in the public square. Militant secularists are as happy as Chinese Communists to have crosses in the public square pulled down. They want Christianity out of the public arena altogether. A ‘secular’ society is for them a ‘godless one’. We don’t ‘do God’ in education, health care, work, politics and media. They are happy for the church to be reduced to the equivalent of a line-dancing club or a Trekkie society. Do it in private – and don’t scare the horses!

In Depth: culture

Boris Johnson blames the Church for UK obesity - is he wrong?

Swiss Christian political party oppose Eurovision in Basel

What are 'kidults' and why do they exist?

Saoirse, Spurgeon and soundbites

Learning from Hollywood's remakes

The dark side of manifesting your dreams

Learning from Taylor Swift’s plausible language of lament

‘A person is a bottomless thing’: Zadie Smith and glimpses of grace

Russell Brand and Philip Schofield: striving for redemption

Are you tired of pretending?

Nostalgia and the new – from Oasis to church

Lessons from Disneyland: the extravagant love of God

Why are weather disaster movies so fascinating for us?

What do the Gallagher brothers teach us about unity?

Can a Gen Z work ethic advance the gospel?

Why your church might be the medicine you need

Weight loss, a quick-fix culture and Scripture

Olympic boxing: where ideology clashed with reality

Playing the game with perseverance

The contradictions of today’s modern atheism

Move over Equality, Equity is the new kid in town: Here’s what it means

Infertility and IVF

How do we respond to fading Christian heritage?

Another happiness ranking

A cultural recovery?

Going to the wedding

Soldiers told to downplay religious aspect of Remembrance

Rico highlights culture contrast

Where are all the villains?

Bernard Randall: 'The culture war is far from over'

A ‘friendship recession’?

God is not guided by today’s moral compasses

Dating apps in decline: What’s our better alternative?

A frog in the kettle?

Worth dying for?

Bank account closure: 'The impact was enormous'

Bold but flawed

Rejoicing as ‘faithfuls’ – watching for traitors

Ruth Perry, Ofsted and church processes

Covid: government exceeded mandate – evangelicals

Control it like Beckham?

National Trust ‘inclusion’ calendar excludes main Christian festivals

Evangelical Alliance asks: Can church reach ‘manifesting’ Gen Z?

en investigates: Is your church bank account at risk of closure?

Adam Anders: 'I stayed true to the vision God gave me'

Leaving sex to birds & bees

The two prayers of Friends star Matthew Perry

Taylor Swift and what she tells us about ourselves

Whether sport or music or gaming, let’s join the dots

Evangelism at Halloween accelerates via Christian innovation

Paris Fashion Week: 70 is the new 17

Influencers: yay or nay?

‘Cakegate’, C-list celebs and cheeky Christians

Lack of trainee pastors to replace those retiring is ‘elephant in the room’

Learning from the Lionesses

A missed opportunity ?

A rocky Jesus revolution?

Lessons from the world of Ken and Barbie

Reading culture wisely

Book Review CHRIST AND THE CULTURE WARS: Speaking for Jesus in a world of identity politics

Apostle Paul in the charts?

Eyes wide open

The real deal?

Richard Dawkins, Christians, and brain experiments

Imperfect, but helpful?

From the Serenity Prayer to Stoicism’s revival today

Google searches for the word ‘safe’ have tripled. Why?

Minutely-controlled world

Tears and shock as ‘faithfuls’ and ‘traitors’ misjudged

What can the world’s biggest YouTuber teach you?

A Christ-like Pinocchio?

Turning from the Lord to ‘Saint Jordan’?

Everyday wisdom – and finding it unexpectedly

Anti-Semitism among us today

More like Jesus while watching TV?

Scripture, modern life and culture

Virtue, EIIR and Tolkien

Are you ready for November’s Formula One final?

A cultural moment which is a gift to Christians