Bridge of Reason

A Weekly Bible Reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – The Literalist’s Christmas (Luke 2; Matthew 1&2) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about (Mt.1:18) How it irks some people to hear the Christmas Story. This week I saw a YouTube video by a self-proclaimed atheist purporting to debunk the whole business and setting out all the pagan motifs and festivals that have been usurped – “stolen” – by Christians to give us the familiar Christmas emblems. Oh, perfidy thy name is Christian! I recall a conversation I had with a Jehovah’s Witness who explained conspiratorially that the famous children’s “Ladybird Books” had produced a little volume explaining the origins of many of our familiar Christmas customs. He explained, sotto voce , that “they” didn’t like it and so the volume was mysteriously r

Mrs Baxter, of Naas, Co Kildare, died of acute cardiac failure caused by blood problems in Tallaght Hospital on September 15, 2009. The Jehovah's Witness died five days after surgery to remove a tumour from her colon, after which she suffered significant bleeding. Surgeon Diarmuid O'Riordan told the inquest there was a “98% to 99% chance she would have survived if she was given the appropriate blood transfusion”. A woman with a 98% chance of surviving surgery dies because she has refused blood. The madness of this tragic decision becomes even more incredible when you realise that the blood issue came about, not because of a biblical injunction to abstain, nor from a misinterpretation of Bible verses regarding blood, but because of one mad man’s irrational opposition to vaccination. In 1919 Clayton J Woodward became editor of the JW publication The Golden Age magazine. in 1923 an article appeared that proved the first shot in a salvo against vaccinations. Under the title The

It hardly seems credible that this kind of thing could happen. We have unfortunately become used to, although I hope not inured to stories of men and women preying on the young and vulnerable to satisfy their own perverted sexual gratification. We call it paedophilia or pederasty and express our abhorrence at such things, regarding perpetrators as sick and dangerous members of society. Nothing provokes people’s ire as does this crime. Yet in our 21st century society, there are men and women who staunchly defend such activities on religious grounds, subjecting girls as young as 14 and 15 to loveless “marriages” to middle-aged or even elderly men. Young men in the community are driven away as unwanted rivals, becoming waifs and orphans, victims themselves of this twisted systematic abuse. Young girls are threatened with eternal damnation if they do not abide by the commands of their elders and leaders. But our elders are supposed to be our betters and not our stalkers! And who did th

Its Christmas for Pete's sake and if we can't raise a smile and laugh at ourselves at such a merry time - well...Have a Merry Christmas

A Weekly Bible Reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – A Shepherd and King (2 Samuel 5:2) One of the arresting but often overlooked aspects of the Christmas story is that not Herod nor the priests with whom he consulted had any doubt or were in any way confused about the fact that the well known reference in Micah 5:2 (c.f. Mt.2:5-6) alluded to a person, that he would come from Bethlehem, and be the Messiah. “But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel” The final line in this verse finds its parallel in 2 Sam.5:2, which describes how “all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron” to make him their king and the parallels with the life of Jesus are so striking as to be prophetic.

Who needs a Bible when you have the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and the indepth, probing articles of the Watchtower?

A Weekly Bible Reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – Saved From Our Saviours (Psalm 78:70-72) We live in difficult times and Christians seem increasingly marginalised and under fire from a world that has lost patience with religion in general and with the church in particular. You can almost hear, as you open the newspapers and listen to the pundits and commentators, “We will not have this man to be our king!” We have an idea in our minds of how we think things ought to be in our picture of “the last days”, “Preparing the church” or “building the kingdom” depending on your eschatology. “The battle belongs to the Lord!” we cry, and wonder why it doesn’t look like it. In such times it is natural to feel that it’s all gone wrong; to cast around looking for someone or something to make it the way it ought to b