The Blood of the Martyrs in the C21st
The wars of the new millennium have been matched with a rise in martyrdom around the globe. While most people view it as catastrophic, a growing number claim it has unique value. So what is...
Speaker(s): Dave TomlinsonWired Worship & Virtual Virtues
How do the internet and social media reflect our spiritual quest? How are they shaping us today? Can we uphold our desire to be moral people in a virtual world with less concrete consequences? How...
Speaker(s): Vicky BeechingDomesticating Monsters: Why the Church Doesn’t Need Missions
In the current state of missions the ‘other' has disappeared. Attempts to salvage the ideas behind missions have led to the end of distinction and ultimately the end of thinking through the...
Palestine/Israel: Moving from separation and exclusion to sharing and equality
Palestine/Israel is in desperate need of a bold vision that challenges a status quo shaped by ethno-religious exclusivity and exclusion. After facing hard facts about the reality on the ground, comes...
The Beauty in the Beast
Hugh Warwick once argued that the hedgehog was the most important creature on the planet but he was beset by others who claimed that their own particular species were just as significant. So began a...
Identities in Paradise
How we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us collectively changes constantly as we grow up among worlds. Is there room in paradise for multiple identities? Do we have to become who we are not...
Is Anything Private Anymore?
In the digital age, can we keep any secrets? We want to harness the information flow and see everything all the time, but what price will we pay for our obsessive curiosity? As well as hearing from...
Is there any hope for heathens?
One of the great promises of religion is hope. So does giving up God mean we also have to Malikgive that up? This talk will look at the different answers to this question within secular thought: from...
Making Sense of Videogames
Videogames offer new ways of telling our stories, but reviews suggest they are largely about entertainment and violence. Andy Robertson helps gamers and non-gamers make sense of the format, to find a...
Speaker(s): Jousting with Andy RobertsonMeaning and Randomness: On Seeing Things That Are Not There
Our brains have evolved to make quick decisions that are right most of the time as opposed to slower, more reflective, decisions that are right slightly more often. They are optimised for biological...
What fruit did Adam and Eve eat in Eden? Taste and learn…
Jewish sages have five theories of what Adam and Eve ate, and not one of them is an apple! We will look at all the possibilities, explain the apple mistake, and discover how this is really about the...
Another world is Possible
Those in power in empires, organisations, cultures and churches have a vested interest in the status quo. Business as usual serves them rather well. But there are those who see, imagine, speak and...
Democracy is dangerous
The masses know what's best – or do they? The world hungers for the way we do it – or does it? The elite are bred to lead – or are they? We ask activist Peter Tatchell, 38 Degrees' Hannah...
Speaker(s): Hannah LownsbroughFailure is not an option
We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and in the most affluent time in history. The mantra's of the era are ‘opportunity for all' and ‘everyone can succeed'. Failure is...
Speaker(s): Lucy WinkettUbuntu: the Future of the Universe
If the community of the holy people of God is about anything, it's about loving our neighbours. We must understand and celebrate our inextricable links to each other always walking with Jesus. This...