Having met Paul Woolley and Jennie Pollock today from Theos, the public theology think tank, who have invited me to contribute a 200-word debating point on their website, I am now more motivated to develop this blog as a place in which to develop theological discussion, and hopefully provoke comment and debate on the isuues I want to raise.

I have also been asked to write a review of Terry Eagleton's Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate, a critical Marxist discussion of the new atheism typified by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

Idea for current debate: Is multicultural education a threat to the Christian basis of the United Kingdom? Or Is the United Kingdom a Christian country?

THEOLOGICAL BLOG 4

Having missed a day early on in blogging, I will write more tonight, in an effort to keep up the pace.

How does one become a Christian? Are Christian correct in claiming exclusivity for the saving work of Jesus on the cross. True, he spoke these words: "In my Father's house there are many mansions," "When I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself." He also claimed to have the authority to judge, in the various 'I am' verses in John's gospel, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no-one comes the Father but by me. Strive to enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate which leads to destruction. Apart from me you can do nothing.

Such exclusive claims are anathema to the world, to sinful man, who cannot bear to have his moral autonomy challenged.

Blog on theology

Day 2 of my theological blog and already I have received comments about calling Buddhism a cult maybe I touched a raw nerve. I do not mean to offend or provoke, just to invite reasonable discussion. If you take cult to mean new religious movement in the sociological sense then the word is accurate. True it has negative connotations, but I was contrasting it with the mainstream religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

It seems with the advent of Post-Modernism that language has become divorced from ultimate meaning. To quote Nietzche, "To get rid of God we need to get rid of grammar." Again, Jacques Derrida, that language has no ultimate reference point, or "transcendent signifier."

I have just posted my first post on the blogosphere, and realised that I termed Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and Nichiren Buddhism cults. Well, the term cult can be read in three ways: negatively, as one might regard Scientology or David Koresh, neutrally, as it were a synonym for a sect or new religious organisation, or positively, as in a cult film or cult book, as if to say Valley of the Dolls is a cult novel. It was in the neutral sense that I used the word cult in describing the two Buddhist groups.

Some thoughts about blogging. This has given me much more of an incentive and motivation to express my thoughts in writing. Rather than having to go through the filter of an editor or publisher to get my work into the wider readership, I am able to communicate more directly, and publicize my work to whomsoever I wish.

Introducing Theology

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Jonathan Steele, a native English male in my late 40s. I live in London and have had a life-long fascination with religion, philosophy and metaphysics, theology in other words. I studied theology at Oxford University in my 30s, but this had the unfortunate effect of undermining my Christian faith and leading me to the seductive but deceptive paths of Buddhism, firstly Friends of the Western Buddhist Order then Nichiren Buddhism. Fortunately, after eight years in these cults, God by his grace called me back to the faith through a (re)conversion experience over the Christmas of 2008. In later blogs I will discuss in greater depth my life as a Buddhist, and compare and contrast it with my Christian faith. I will also discuss apologetics, which is the rational defence and justification of Christianity (not just Christianity, but just about anything you can think of). I will also discuss Darwinism and Christianity, end of life issues, abortion, and other mainstream Christian and ethical issues.

So, why be interested in theology? But