"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13.8 Out of the fog of early modern society shines the light of Blaise Pascal. He died in the bloom of life at just 39 years of age. On account of his fecundity as a polymath he left much that was unfinished. Indeed such was the disarray of his legacy that it might have been altogether lost were it not for the determination of his adoring family to preserve his legacy, through what became known as his Pensées

"For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes." 1 Corinthians 11.26 Poet and author of cherished carols such as 'Love came down at Christmas' and 'In the bleak midwinter, Christina Rossetti's family was of Italian extraction and steeped in The Oxford Movement (pressing for inclusion of ancient practices and liturgies into the CoE, paving the way for Anglo-Catholicism). Rather than rendering her nostalgic or reactionary, howe

"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind..." John 1.4 The notion of being "lost in wonder, love and praise" epitomises the way in which the Wesley brothers, Charles and John, responded to the Enlightenment context in which they were raised. Rather than go along with the reductionist instincts of science and philosophy, in their endeavour to understand and quantify everything, the Wesleys allowed the insights of contemporary science and philosophy to find p

"For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." Romans 11.36 Overwhelmed by an extended series of revelations in early adulthood, Jonathan Edwards was catapulted out of the strict Puritan tradition in which he was raised and into an intensely personal relationship with God. The immediate effect was to drive him to the closer examination of scripture, both to make sense of his experience and to check the veracity of his Puritan inh

"I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest." Revelation 6.2 "Today war has returned to Europe" ran the sombre announcement on the BBC News this morning. Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has played to a world stage. Almost as if in slow motion, with the same awful predictability as attended the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the world has watched this nightmare scen

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Matthew 26.52 Time for a break. If it's not happening as I write, by the time I return (Thursday) Russia may have invaded Ukraine. What a tragic waste of everything this whole saga is proving to be. No doubt, for those caught up in the situation, its consequences are enormous. But at a time when the future of the planet is at stake and while we need to work together to r

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly..." How ironic that one so unsure of his spiritual condition should have been so successful in his desire to assist others in their spiritual progress. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come, to give it its full title, is the second most popular book in English and has been translated into over

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12.24 As a Catholic foil to Maria van Schurman, Madame Jeanne Guyon comes out of a different stable yet pioneers a similar devotional trajectory. Using the Song of Solomon as her guide, Madame Guyon discovers that the route to intimacy with God involves at least three stages: First, there is the essential denial of one's s

"... but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better..." Luke 10.42 At the height of her fame, Anna Maria van Schurman turned her back on the institutions which lauded her. She was struck with the awful realisation that, however noble her aspirations, the pursuit of learning would take her up a cut-de-sac or, worse, up the wrong track so that, the greater her progress, the further she would get from her chosen destination: delight in God. Like the

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee." Isaiah 60.1 In the early modern firmament two stars arise and shine with particular vibrancy. Anna Maria van Schurman was a Dutch prodigy, whose intellectual abilities brought her celebrity status. Madame Jeanne Guyon was uneducated but her spiritual insights and her personal integrity earned her the admiration of bishops and nobles at the court of Louis XIV. Both women suffered for their pio