An old(?) normal for return to church

Posted on 10/03/2021 by Jon Garvey

If the last year has taught us anything about church, it is that at its core is “assembly” (ekklesia) and not “virtual contact.” Apart from the many psycho-social reasons I pointed to even before the first lockdown – a year less a week ago – one key realisation to many is the centrality of participation.

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Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | 2 Comments

COVID predictions fulfilled

Posted on 05/03/2021 by Jon Garvey

My predictions, that is, rather than the Government’s. The headline in the online Daily Mail just now reads:

“Matt Hancock urges England to stay vigilant after major study said rate of decline in Covid cases has SLOWED.”

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Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Worshipping in spirit and production values

Posted on 03/03/2021 by Jon Garvey

I had an e-mail today (as the “chief musician” of my church) from the organisation that licences worship music, headed “Enhance Your Worship With MultiTracks.” Coming off the back of recent leadership discussions after nearly a year of online lockdown virtual services, that seems worthy of comment.

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Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | Leave a comment

Socialism, capitalism, globalism

Posted on 27/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

First, a notice that The Hump of the Camel is ten years old today! Our Birthday! Happy Birthday! Quite a good age for a blog, I think. You’d be welcome at my party if we weren’t still locked up for our own good.

To business. Those of us Brits who lived before the Thatcher era remember the shortcomings of nationalised industry: underfunding, jobsworth mentality, lack of choice and innovation, uncompetitive pricing.

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Posted in Politics and sociology | 3 Comments

It’s always the models

Posted on 23/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

I’m getting more and more convinced about the centrality of our animal physicality, in everything from benefiting from nature to worshiping God “in spirit and truth.” A rather saddening recent essay suggests that the greatest harm to children from “online education” in lockdown is going to come from “derealisation,” whereby they become increasingly undistinguishing between reality and the virtual world. Worse still they become less able to see that the difference matters.

There seems to be a similar problem in the sciences.

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Good Creation revisited

Posted on 21/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

A couple of new reviews have appeared on my book Good’s Good Earth, in Studies in Christian Ethics and Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, the latter of which rolls it together with a review of Generations of Heaven and Earth. You can find them by linking to the respective book tabs on the menu above, and clicking on the “Endorsements and Reviews” links.

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Posted in Adam, Creation, Genealogical Adam, Science, Theology, Theology of nature | 7 Comments

Meeting public expectations

Posted on 19/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

I came across a little-known story about the London Blitz yesterday, best summarised in this article by Londoner Simon Webb, or if you’re impatient of more reading, in his YouTube video on the subject.

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Posted in History, Medicine, Politics and sociology, Science | Leave a comment

When will we beat the false positives?

Posted on 17/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

Daily Telegraph headline today:

“Covid lockdown to continue until cases drop below 1,000 a day.”

It’s accompanied by a graphic projecting the current fall in UK cases to make April 7th the likely date. But there is reason to doubt this optimism.

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Posted in Medicine, Politics and sociology, Science | 1 Comment

A sense of place

Posted on 16/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

I’ve just read two books to lift the heart above the media’s COVID monomania, albeit it in a bittersweet way. The second was Meadowland: the Private Life of an English Field, by John Lewis-Strempel, a birthday gift from my daughter. It traces the year in the life of a hay-meadow in Herefordshire as observed by its owner, which resonates with me because I own a hay-meadow in Devon.

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Posted in History, Philosophy, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | Leave a comment

Proportionality

Posted on 14/02/2021 by Jon Garvey

Just a couple of UK-based graphics to consider this wintry Sunday:

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Posted in Medicine, Politics and sociology, Science | 2 Comments