My name is John.

I've been a church minister all my working life and have now retired. Because of my retirement I now have time to get out my keyboard and set down some of the opinions which have taken root in my mind over the years.

I have long felt that theologically the church has lost its way. It has done things the wrong way round. Instead of building a faith on the evidence available, theologians have decided on a faith and have then attempted to make the facts fit in with it. This is scientifically, logically and historically dishonest.

My thinking has led me to reject many of the established teachings of the church, but this has not resulted in a decline of belief. In fact my faith is stronger as a result of the exercise, for I believe that the evidence points to a firm basis for religion and for the existence of God. My theological explorations have led not to a LOSS of faith but to a CHANGE of faith.

The opinions expressed on this website are controversial, but I have tried to set out the logical and historical reasons for my acceptance of them. I am very conscious that some of the articles raise more questions than they answer, but raising the issues is just what I aim to do. There are problems with some of the views put forward, for they do not fit ALL of the evidence, but I look forward to any comments which you may wish to make, any light which you may be able to throw on the dark areas.

Recently I listened to an excellent sermon on the subject of Thomas the Doubter. I feel a lot of sympathy for the oft-condemned disciple. He was honest, he had his feet firmly on the ground, he wanted evidence before he would believe. Quite right too. It is surely not without significance that Jesus did not condemn his attitude.

The time has come, I believe, to challenge the traditional views of Christianity. By doing this I do not feel that I am in any way being an iconoclast. I am not out to destroy, and I do not believe that what I am saying IS destructive. Rather is it pointing us back to the teachings of Jesus whose life and words have been submerged beneath a mountain of theological supposition. It also points us to the Church of Jerusalem, the repository of Christian ideals until Paul invented the religion which was to replace the faith of Jesus.

I hope that you will find my thoughts interesting and useful:
Yours, John