Dr. Andrew Davies, Director of The Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, takes eminent theologian Professor Candida Moss on a road trip to Cadbury World, and learns more about martyrdom on the way. Candida Moss is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. … Continue reading “Watch the first Cadbury Conversation: Martyrdom Misconceptions”
Author: Andrea Buchner
Islam as a political force: more than belief
Since 9/11, and even more so with the atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, violence in the name of God is predominantly perceived as a “different” kind of violence, that triggers more “absolute” and radical manifestations. As a result, the dominant assessment of religion in world affairs, is that the scope and reach … Continue reading “Islam as a political force: more than belief”
Reflecting on Holocaust Memorial Day
I grew up with Jewish school friends attending their family gatherings. I once had a business partner who had lost most of his family in the German death camps. The smaller extermination centre at Auschwitz, industrialising death, is about the same size as one of the factories we owned and invested in. I often wonder … Continue reading “Reflecting on Holocaust Memorial Day”
New frontiers of interfaith work
After twenty years of involvement in interfaith work, the start of 2017 it seems a good time to reflect on some of the current challenges I’m seeing and suggestions some new issues that we might need to engage with. They are all a critique of the way I’ve worked, or events I’ve been involved in, … Continue reading “New frontiers of interfaith work”
Michael Wear is coming to the Cadbury Centre
Michael Wear was one of the youngest-ever White House staffers and has published a book about his years in the world’s most powerful office. The title of his book is Reclaiming Hope. Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America. On 2 March 2017, Michael Wear will come to the University … Continue reading “Michael Wear is coming to the Cadbury Centre”
Obama’s Forgotten Plan to Reduce Abortions
Michael Wear, Honorary Fellow of The Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, writes about abortion politics in the Obama White House, when he was a staffer there during President Barack Obama’s first term and director of faith outreach for his reelection campaign. Read his article on Politico.
Christianity, megachurches and the response to homelessness
The Christmas story has for centuries motivated the long history of the church’s commitment to helping society’s poor and downcast. Indeed, it was a cluster of Christian and Jewish charities which led the first serious concerted action against homelessness in the 1960s and 1970s.
Explainer: why some churches teach that women are ‘separate but equal’
Complementarianism is the idea held in some faiths that men and women play different, complementary roles in life, society and – particularly – religious practice. Rather than regarding women as essentially inferior or incapable of leading, women are regarded as “equal”. This view is a way of interpreting patriarchal religious doctrines and reconciling their authority … Continue reading “Explainer: why some churches teach that women are ‘separate but equal’”
A ‘British Values’ oath has worrying echoes. There are much better ways to boost integration
For Catholics, the idea of an “oath for all holders of public office”, which the communities minister Sajid Javid proposed yesterday, has unpleasant connotations. For most of the last 500 years, Catholics were forced onto the margins of society by such measures as the oath of royal supremacy and the Test Act. Still, we … Continue reading “A ‘British Values’ oath has worrying echoes. There are much better ways to boost integration”
Professor Francis Davis discusses the impact of immigration on UK Churches on BBC Radio 4
Professor Francis Davis discussed the impact of immigration on UK Churches on the BBC Radio 4 show Beyond Belief on December 5, 2016. The topic of the show was introduced on BBC Radio 4’s website with the following words: “Churchgoing in the UK is in steep decline, but between 2005 and 2012 attendance rose by … Continue reading “Professor Francis Davis discusses the impact of immigration on UK Churches on BBC Radio 4”