#sblaar25 meant getting up at 4.30am, drinking gin on the plane, going to the hotel gym (and messing up my selfie), but at 8.30pm Boston time, I'm seriously flagging!

There was a lot of intetest in my B&M shopping trolley this afternoon!!

My 'expert' view as unofficial Professor of Biblical and Irn Bru Studies is that this ungodly mixture is covered by Leviticus 19:19. It is, therefore, an abomination. To be honest, I'd need a lot of persuading cinnamon belongs in anything (other than cinnamon buns, and even then at a push)!

"One of the greatest acts of pick-pocketry!" I agree with the commentator, but who cares! 😀 Scotland 3 Greece 1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #SCOvGRE

Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Vol. 23, No. 2-3 (2025) brill.com/view/journal... @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social They Suffered Under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha @robertjmyles.bsky.social @profpaulmiddleton.bsky.social

The British New Testament Society conference is taking place in Manchester. Tonight, we have a panel on decolonising New Testament Studies. #bnts25 @bntsoc.bsky.social

The way to challenge the racist, far-right, anti-immigration, anti-asylum seeker rhetoric is not to say extreme plans won't work, but pander to the sentiment and offer a 'softer' version; it's to declare that it is wrong. www.thenational.scot/politics/254...

My most controversial (but correct) view is the moment racism became mainstream in British (English) politics (under the circumlocution "concerned about immigration") was during the 2010 Election Campaign, when Gordon Brown did not say: "I called her a bigoted woman because she was a bigoted woman!"

It's hot here in the South of France, but there are wasps floating in the pool!!

The new Archbishop of Wales is The Rt Rev Cheery Vann, who was the first woman ordained priest by the Church of England, is the first woman Archbishop of Wales, and is (I think) the first LGBTQ+ primus of an Anglican Province. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Assisted Dying is often seen as a clash between religious and secular world views. The Church of Scotland's report argues there is theological integrity in a range of positions. Assembly narrowly voted to remain opposed, but commends the report for study. www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/asset...

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland service about to get underway. #GA2025

The Rt Rev Rosie Frew becomes Moderator of tge General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and the King has affirmed his Coronation Oath to uphold Presbyterian government in Scotland. #GA2025

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland gets underway. #ga2025

A very rare occurrence. I've just submitted the third of my overdue articles, meaning I currently have nothing overdue. It won't last long, but for the moment, may the saints be praised! #AcademicLife

The Church of Scotland's report on Assisted Dying urges participants in this kind of debate to listen to what those who disagree with them are actually saying. It sets out theological arguments to support a range of positions. www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/asset...

Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony.

A surprisingly quick election of the next Pope. Robert Prevost, the first American to be elected, will be known as Leo XIV.

Nicola Sturgeon says the early responses to the Supreme Court ruling risks making the life of trans people "almost unliveable" and "doesn't make a single woman safer." I entirely agree. The Supreme Court judges ruling rendered the 2004 Gender reform Act obsolete. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The best part of this story is the farm owner's impressive Biblical literacy (with no reference in the article). The foal which both donkeys think is theirs is called Solomon! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cutting frontline teaching staff is always a choice and inevitably damages student experience. The tragedy is when many academics leave the profession their disciplines are the poorer. That can rarely be said of the managers who make these decisions. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/educati...

Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but risen! (Luke 24.5–6) Happy Easter!

When I was a student at Princeton (hundreds of years ago), the fact it was pitch dark at 8pm in early September had me checking the globe in the library. I'd not realised how far south the US was!

The elephant in the room is much of Makin's criticism of Welby is fanciful. The 'case' against Welby is beyond confirming it had been reported to the police, he didn't follow it up. Makin's fanciful conclusion is had he done so, it might have made a difference. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Scotland has been uncharacteristically jammy (and I mean lashings of jam) in this match! 😆 FT: Greece 0 Scotland 1 #GreSco 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #UEFAnationsleague

This lunchtime, I'm speaking in the second of five Chester Cathedral Lent Bible Talks on the Nicene Creed in Biblical Perspective. Today, we believe in One Lord Jesus Christ.

Elaine Graham says Don Cupitt's Sea of Faith project was a serious attempt to marry 'religious seriousness and critical faith.' However, she notes it lacks political engagement at a time the Church of England was politically engaged.

"The only test of faith now is how it works out in life." (Don Cupitt) Folk in Scotland might recognise the way the Sea of Faith developed in Richard Holloway's thinking, and his question of doctrine: "What's the cash value."

Tonight at the Chester Theological Society, we're hearing from Professor Elaine Graham reflecting on Don Cupitt: Radical or Reformer?

The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse is perhaps the most insidious of all!

"Show me you're grateful" said every abuser. #SlavaUkraini

Church of England announces the conclusion of an independent process into the Makin review, resulting in 10 clerics facing further action over safeguarding failures. The independent body dismissed some of Makin's (to put it politely) 'wilder' claims. www.churchofengland.org/media/press-...

Off to Preston to examine a PhD. As I'm on the train I'd take to Scotland, I need to remember to get off the train at the right stop!

This is a great example of how historians of religion use the hermeneutics suspicion: we assume that if someone is going out of their way to express something, there’s a reason for them to do so.

It would be funny if it wasn't so alarming watching serious mainstream news outlets attempting to report on the Trump regime's pronouncements and actions. I suspect at some point, even BBC news is going to start using the phrase "total ignorant bollocks". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What Church of England synod did today will no doubt be misrepresented by some as a kind of 'failure' to do the right thing. There were clear issues and problems with model 4 (the highest level of 'independence'), and what has been adopted is a model with a high degree of independent safeguarding.

Channel 4 news reports on "repeated calls" for the Archbishop of York to resign. It does seem that the vast majority of these "repeated calls" are found exclusively on Channel 4 news! #Synod2015

While it's not the done thing to criticise inquiries, and Church of England Bishops are unlikely to say so, but there is a general feeling the Makin review made some pretty bizarre claims. Andrew Brown contests some his conclusions. andrewbrown.substack.com/p/against-ma...

Church of England Synod begins tomorrow in the shadow of a series of crises around its handling of abuse and safeguarding. Despite media reports to the contrary (and a reminder even Channel 4 news is a form of entertainment), this is the first proper opportunity for the Church to address these.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion: (Robert Burns, To a Louse) #BurnsNight2025

This is desperately sad news for Lampeter. I taught in the TRS Department from 2005 - 2010. It was a special place with excellent students. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Former Anglican Priest, Philosopher of Religion, and Broadcaster, Don Cupitt has died, aged 90. Best known for his BBC series, Sea of Faith, he advocated for non-realist Christianity. His dispensing with metaphysical speculation sought to develop Christianity for a secular age.

This @churchtimes.bsky.social piece by Madeleine Davies is the first decent assessment of Justin Welby's time as Archbishop of Canterbury that I've seen so far. www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...

The Archbishop of York has today paid tribute to Canon Geoffrey Tattersall KC, who died yesterday. A retired judge, Canon Tattersall chaired the Church of England's Living and Love and Faith Synod debates over the last few years with good humour, grace, and appropriate force. He will be missed.

Sad to hear Richard Hays, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Duke, has died, aged 76. A hugely influential scholar, his 'Moral Vision of the New Testament' (1996) remains an important work, as will his last book, 'The Widening of God's Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story' (2024).

I could try to say something profound, but several Noilly Prats in, I think I'll just stick to Happy New Year, and Cheers! #HappyNewYear #NewYear2025

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, so here's a depiction from the crèche series in Sitges this year.

I'm in France for Christmas, so obviously I've had fois gras, frogs' legs, and snails! #ChristmasInFrance 🇫🇷

But with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not The love song which they bring; – Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing! (Edmund Sears, 1849)

A week in Spain (Madrid, Zaragoza, and Sitges). 22 churches and 14 museums visited. That's my idea of a holiday! Now off to France for Christmas! 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🎄