Breaking the COVID Purity Spiral

Knitting Wars & Purity Spirals It is hard to imagine how Instagram knitting can lead to someone having a nervous breakdown. But that’s exactly what happened to Nathan Taylor. Taylor was part of an online knitting community on Instagram. As a gay man living with HIV, he started a hashtag to promote diversity in knitting: Diversknitty. It went viral. Yet not long after, this call for diversity was dominated by discussions about white supremacy and racial privilege. The hate Taylor received was so horrific that he had a nervous breakdown. Even his suicidal hospitalisation was described online as a ‘white...

Tom Habib

COVID Vaccination and The Church

Megan Best

It’s Time to Speak: But What About?

Karl Deenick

Vaccine Passports And The Coercing of Conscience: What Should Christians Think? (2/2)

Akos Balogh

The Lord of The Lockdowns

Jon Coombs

A Historical Response of Reformed-Evangelicals to Plagues

Mark Powell

It has now been close to twelve months since COVID-19 was officially declared to be a worldwide pandemic. During this time, we have seen—amongst many other things—international air travel come to a halt, the cruise line industry virtually destroyed, and church services in every country have either ceased meeting in person, or been greatly interrupted. What can we learn from those who have gone before us in this regard?[1] One of the most helpful resources I have recently discovered on the topic at hand is that by Theodore Beza—John Calvin’s successor in Geneva (1519-1605)—whose short, A Learned Treatise of the...

A Historical Response of Reformed-Evangelicals to Plagues

Mark Powell

Thank God and Roll Up Your Sleeve

Neil Chambers

Thankfully the vaccination roll-out has now begun, but some Christians are still concerned about the advisability of receiving the vaccine—either because of the speed of its approval, or because of questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine’s use of cell line [HEK293] developed from the tissue of an aborted foetus. In Western Australia, there is even an anti-vaccination party running in the State election. How might we think about these matters as followers of Jesus in the light of his Word? Too Fast for Safety? The speed of the development and approval of these vaccines is something to be thankful for In...

Thank God and Roll Up Your Sleeve

Neil Chambers

Christmas in The Valley of Vision

Tom Habib

Here in the UK, it gets pretty dark pretty early. As I write this, it is officially the darkest night of the year. I took the kids for a walk this afternoon and it was dark before 4pm. We live in a semi-rural part of the country, so we made our way home by the occasional streetlamp and the twinkling of Christmas lights. I’ll come back to them later. It’s pretty dark over here. A new and more transmissible strain of COVID-19 has been detected … 36,000 more cases today. It’s pretty dark over here at the moment anyway. A...

Christmas in The Valley of Vision

Tom Habib

COVID-19 and the Persecuted Church

Honoria Brennan

November 1st was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. In this post, Honoria Brennan shares some timely reflections on the day and the grave situation of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Heb 13:3) I have always struggled with this verse—partly because I find it hard to imagine being in prison; mostly because I didn’t want to imagine it. Well, lockdown this year, gave us all a little taste of prison...