Search results | Seen & Unseen

Moscow letter: why Russia critiques the West

Beyond condemning the invasion of Ukraine, there is also a need to understand why Russia thinks what it does, explains Malcolm Rogers, the Anglican chaplain in Moscow.

9 min read

2023-03-14

Explainer

Creed

On virtues

Andrew Davison

Brining together a series of articles on virtue, this page will be updated during Lent 2023, as Andrew's articles are published.

2023-03-20

Letter from Odesa

Peter Robertson

It’s fatiguing living close to the front line. Peter Robertson reports on how aid is supporting those suffering in Ukraine.

2023-03-30

After the first war, before the next

Lika Zakaryan

Once more border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan are occurring. Lika Zakaryan reflects on what happened since the last war ended.

2023-04-14

Face to face with the danger of faith

Belle Tindall

In the face of compassion fatigue, connecting with the humanity of a cause requires the artistic, not just the imperative. Belle Tindall reviews Clay and Canvas.

2023-04-22

How to disagree agreeably

Jörg Friedrichs

How do we converse passionately about controversial topics without falling out or falling into war? Jörg Friedrichs shares his insights after a difficult conversation with a colleague.

2023-07-21

Looking evil in the face

George Pitcher

After viewing a new documentary on the Holocaust in Ukraine, a harrowed George Pitcher ponders his duty not to look away.

2023-09-07

Dealing with death – why the fuss?

Jane Cacouris

“No fuss” cremations are getting more popular. Not giving a formal space or process to say goodbye feels like a seismic cultural shift to Jane Cacouris. Part of the How To Die Well series.

2023-10-25

The lost art of dying well and what we can learn from it today

Lydia Dugdale

Living well in order to die well doesn’t simply happen. It takes work. It takes preparation. For All Souls Day, Lydia Dugdale asks if we are prepared for death.

2023-11-01

What they don’t tell you about when someone you love dies

Yvonne Tulloch

Sharing her experience of her husband’s death, Yvonne Tulloch charts grief’s journey and shares signposts to help. Part of the How to Die Well series.

2023-11-08

The month of May(hem) in Manipur

Belle Tindall

On the 27th May, Archbishop Justin Welby tweeted about the violence unfolding in Manipur. Belle Tindall re-winds the clock to May 3rd and tracks the events that led to his tweet.

2023-06-02

Away from home, cut off from home

Belle Tindall

As Refugee Week concludes, Belle Tindall moves beyond the headlines and learns the story of Azer and the thousands of churches who are providing a sense of home for those who have fled theirs.

2023-06-23

When to stand up in an increasingly insecure world

Ziya Meral

When war is ‘othering’ by other means, the brutal realities of our world can be overwhelming. Ziya Meral contemplates what it means to take a stand.

4 min read

2023-07-06

Article

Creed

A close up of a blue sun dial on a church clock tower, with an abbey's windows behind it.

Building a stronger society lecture for Westminster Abbey Institute

Nick Jones

Centre for Cultural Witness Founder Graham Tomlin kicks off the Dignity and Public Service lecture series on Monday 30th October.

2023-10-15

Dialling down the drama in the science and religion debate

Andrew Davison

In the first of a new series, biologist and priest Andrew Davison explores the perceived tension between science and religion, and the role identities play.

2023-05-08

Millions of Ukrainians on the move set off an aid revolution

Simone Di Vicenz

Christian Aid’s Head of Humanitarian Policy Simone Di Vicenz argues the Ukraine war shows a change in approach is required to respond more effectively to global crises.

2023-05-18

An Acton nativity and a new crisis at Christmas time

Robert Wright

Inspired by a Christmas visit of Jose and Maria, West London churches aiding asylum seekers now expect a wave of evictions, Robert Wright discovers.

2023-12-12

The shadow under the Christmas tree

Roger Bretherton

Psychologist, Roger Bretherton, offers advice for those who find it challenging to spend time with the family at Christmas.
Part 1 of Unwrapping God This Christmas.

2023-12-14

Team Christmas and the three gifts of Christmas

Roger Bretherton

How can we push past the stresses of the festive season to rediscover the magic? Roger Bretherton tells us how he learned to find joy in being on Team Christmas. Part 2 of Unwrapping God this Christmas.

7 min read

2023-12-01

Column

Comment

A grey multi-story accommodation barge floats beside a dock.

There’s more than one way to lose our humanity

George Pitcher

How we treat immigrants and how AI might treat humans weighs on the mind of George Pitcher.

2023-12-15

How children’s books challenge us to hope harder

Elizabeth Wainwright

Reading an award-winning children’s book challenges Elizabeth Wainwright much more than expected - to imagine and hope.

2023-12-29

A history of anxiety

Henna Cundill

Anxiety is not a modern problem. From ancient social discomforts to contemporary societal shifts, Henna Cundill explore how we think, and worry, about it.

2024-01-05

One life's relevance to today

Krish Kandiah

One Life is a historic story retold for today audience, highlighting the response of individuals, families and leaders. Krish Kandiah ponders what it can teach us about sanctuary.

2024-01-06

Think little: what villages teach about coming together

Elizabeth Wainwright

Elizabeth Wainwright explores the frustrations and encouragements of village life, real and virtual, and finds a need for communion.

2024-01-08

Untouchable: experiencing discrimination around the world

Rahil Patel

In America it’s in the headlines, while in India it continues to influence. Rahil Patel explores caste discrimination and finds out who helped craft constitutional protections for those affected.

2024-01-10

After Angela: why Christian Democracy still works

George Pitcher

Feeling somewhat labelled, George Pitcher unpacks why Christian Democracy still appeals to him, even in the UK, and explores its philosophical roots in the breathless thought of Jacques Maritain.

2024-01-11

Here's what Matthew Parris gets wrong on science disproving religion

Andrew Davison

Religion is not a by-product of evolutionary goals. Andrew Davison argues that our mental lives are more than a maelstrom of urges.

2024-01-12

Why we need a gentle radical revolution

Danny Kruger

Our social arrangement needs to prioritise human relationships, argues MP Danny Kruger.

2024-01-12

The visionary artists finding heaven down here

Jonathan Evens

Jonathan Evens explores a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.

2024-01-13

How to pick an economic approach that really adds up

Paul Williams

Assessing doughnut economics, Paul Williams asks what’s the economy for and who does it really serve?

2024-01-16

Wealth is worth? Questioning the immigrant experience

Krish Kandiah

Garnering yet more awards, TV series Beef expertly explores identities. Krish Kandiah revisits the K-wave drama.

6 min read

2024-01-16

Article

Ethics

While surgeons operate in the background a digital display shows numbers in the foreground

The expectations of an oath: lessons from Hippocrates

M. Ciftci

M. Çiftçi explores the evolution of a historic and contemporary commitment to protect the vulnerable.

2024-01-18

The corrosive effect of profuse profanity

Yaroslav Walker

The coarsening of speech prompts Yaroslav Walker to remember that what you say influences who you are.

2024-01-19

More marches might just make the point about peace

George Pitcher

Protest marches highlight conflict close to home, as commentators cast around for agents of peace. George Pitcher thinks he might just know who they are.

2023-11-17

A tale of two Septembers

Anush Petrosyan

The recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is already a twice forgotten war. Forced to flee twice, Anush Petrosyan describes the experience.

3 min read

2023-11-23

Column

Comment

Three men walk down a path, the middle one talking and gesturing while the others listen.

From the barber’s chair: the friendships that open us up

Adrian Urquidez and Neal Presa

Adrian and Neal recall and recount tales of friendships and what made them work so well.

2023-12-01

How an oppressed people are finding a home in Britain

Robert Wright

While repression continues in their homeland, Iranian converts to Christianity are building communities in the UK. Robert Wright meets with them.

7 min read

2023-03-14

Column

Culture

Three men huddle around a laptop and talk animatedly.

Depreciating human life: a year-end market report

George Pitcher

The cold currency of trading hostages repels George Pitcher, who explores the casual acceptance that some lives are biddable against lives of intrinsically higher value.

4 min read

2023-12-01

Article

Comment

A woman stops in her stride down a street and pensively runs her hand through her hair as she looks to the side.

For want of better words... the impact of the indescribable

Henna Cundill

Confronted with a question about belief, Henna Cundill found herself stumbling for words. She contemplates the link between our self-identity and what we can communicate.

6 min read

2023-12-11

Essay

Culture

A head and shoulders portrait of a young woman inclining her gaze to one side.

Praying with Jane Austen

Beatrice Scudeler

From Elizabeth Bennet to Emma, Jane Austen’s heroines often consider their own character then change. As the anniversary of the novelist’s birth approaches, Beatrice Scudeler explores their author's prayers.

2023-12-14

Navigating your reality of Christmas

Lianne Howard-Dace

Recounting how Christmas changed for her, Lianne Howard-Dace re-evaluates the story and experiences of the season.

2023-12-17

How to ruin Christmas

Natalie Garrett

Actor turned vicar Natalie Garrett, recounts the perils of being a Christmas Pro.

5 min read

2023-12-17

Review

Culture

Upon his draped coffin, a picture of Shane MacGowan and a crucifix sit

The spiritual depths of the genius

Belle Tindall

Moved by his songbook and his funeral, Belle Tindall considers the source, and sacrifice, of Shane MacGowan’s genius.

2023-12-11

Wonder walls: will Manchester’s creativity save the city?

Matthew Porter

Manchester newcomer, and new bishop, Matthew Porter is bowled over by the city’s enrichening creativity.

2024-01-20

Why hold on to Veganuary anymore?

Trystan Owain Hughes

As commercial promotion of plant-based diets falter Trystan Owain Hughes digs for the real roots around a ‘reverence for life’.

2024-01-23

Witnessing the unseen: why cave art captivates us

Iwan Russell-Jones

Iwan Russell-Jones recounts the discovery of stone age art that still connects 30,000 years after its creation.

2024-01-24

We need to weep over the wreckage of mental illness

Rachael Newham

While its now OK to talk about mental illnesses, we need to weep over the harm caused and how we’ve tried to treat them, writes Rachael Newham.

2024-02-01

When Jesus walked in Leicester Square

Natalie Garrett

As the The Chosen’s latest series premieres, Natalie Garrett analyses the TV show’s appeal.

2024-02-01

Diary of an invisible war

Lika Zakaryan

As her journalism career started, Lika Zarkaryan’s home town was invaded. She kept a diary as she reported and recalls the experience of an invisible war.

2023-03-14

On war fighting

Owen

Why do soldiers go to war? There are a thousand different answers writes Owen, a serving soldier.

2023-03-23

Just War and Just Peace

Christine Schliesser

As the Ukraine War passes another milestone, can any war be considered just? Christine Schliesser explores Just War theory and a possible path to Just Peace.

2023-03-16

Where it's dangerous to believe

Belle Tindall

In the symbolic heart of a liberal democracy, a list is revealed of where it is dangerous to believe. Belle Tindall reports on the annual World Watch List.

2023-03-14

Updated: the war that we’re not seeing

Belle Tindall

Nagorno-Karabakh remains the epicentre of a complex and ongoing conflict, Belle Tindall probes at the way religious identity is being continually targeted.

2023-09-20

Northern Ireland’s imminent danger is distraction

Andy Flannagan

Distraction damages much more than your concentration. Its consequences could cost Northern Ireland its future.

2024-02-07

Truth decay: lying will destroy us

Simon Burton-Jones

The British way of doing things extends to more than an unwritten constitution. Simon Burton-Jones argues it includes how we lie.

2024-02-06

It’s OK to be angry about this, right?

Anthony Baker

Anger's real gift is the desire for action.

2024-02-19

Intermittent fasting? Try the 5th century playbook

Julie Canlis

Lent is upon us – those 40 days of voluntary masochism that we moderns have mercifully put behind us. Or have we?

2023-03-14

Swords now, ploughshares later

Tom Simpson

There’s a moral case for investing in defence capabilities right now.

2024-02-23

Shall the tyrants win?

Michael Bird

Understanding Navalny's death.

2024-02-23

Why should society care about the persecution of Christians?

Ryan Gilfeather

Believers revere martyrs, but others are also inspired by sacrifice.

2024-02-23

It's a miracle that ITV's drama-docs tell gospel truth

George Pitcher

What we need to ask of the well told stories that move us.

2024-02-29

Letter from Lviv

Iryna Dobrohorska

Loss, resilience, and a hope one day to count blessings not missile intercepts.

2024-02-27

A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics

Jonathan Evens

Does Adam Steiner’s rappel into Cave’s art help us understand its purpose?

2024-03-01

St Kilda: sketching sanctuary and struggle

Alastair Gordon

A remote Scottish island’s many meanings catch an artist’s eye.

2024-02-28

When tradition deserves a break

Yaroslav Walker

Upsetting a convention caused uproar, so is it right to break with tradition?

2024-02-26

Dignity: why people matter

Charles Foster

How dignity underlies our ethics and law.

2024-02-29

Politics needs some deep stirring emotion

Henna Cundill

In politics, the struggle between our reason and desire is a fair fight.

2024-03-05

Flourishing a way out of poverty

Jane Cacouris

Is it just for rich people who have nothing to worry about other than feeling a bit happier?

2024-03-08

We’re ignoring Nigeria's hellish underbelly

Chris Wadibia

Why the West averts its gaze from anti-Christian violence there.

2024-03-04

Why are sportspeople so superstitious?

Jonny Reid

Routine and rhythm help performance, but sporting superstition begs a question, writes Jonny Reid. Who do we really think is in control?

2023-09-16

Winning the emotional whole in elite sport

Jonny Reid and Graham Daniels

As the pressure builds at Wimbledon, Jonny Reid and Graham Daniels reflect on the psychology vulnerabilities sports stars face.

2023-07-12

The Oscars and ourselves

Belle Tindall

Beyond the shiny escapism, the awards spotlight all our stories.

2024-03-11

Riding from darkness to light

Graeme Holdsworth

Long-distance cycle rides give Graeme Holdsworth time to contemplate traveling from light to darkness and back again. And, to grapple with the wordless way our bodies do what they were created to do.

4 min read

2023-06-05

Essay

Culture

A complex of linear and metal parts in a machine-like sculpture.

Machines and their ghosts

Simon Cross

What impacts has artificial intelligence had on society, past, present and future? Simon Cross explores just where have our machines got us.

13 min read

2023-03-16

Essay

Comment

An AI generated image of robot skulls with bulging eyes on a shelf receding diagonally to the left.

The summit of humanity: decoding AI's affectations

Simon Cross

An AI summit’s prophecies need to be placed in the right philosophical register, argues Simon Cross. Because being human in an AI age still means the same thing it has for millennia.

11 min read

2023-10-30

Explainer

Comment

A Victorian medical bust showing the brain with labels in German.

Is an AI worthy of personhood?

Nigel Crook

In a world of intelligent humanlike machines, computer scientist Nigel Crook take a deep dive into the hard problem of defining consciousness, spirit, heart and will.

12 min read

2023-11-02

Essay

Culture

A garish tinplate robot lists to one side.

Frankenstein’s bed partner: AI and sex

Lauren Windle

When it comes to sex, AI is destroying the connection.

10 min read

2024-02-21

Review

Culture

A man in a red shirt slumps in his seat while a computer screen shows a dialogue screen

Lights! Camera! AI-action! - five AI films to watch

Yaroslav Walker

From an oddly-sweet, sweetly-odd film of oddness, to one of the best action films ever made, Yaroslav Walker’s hand-crafts his top five films about AI.

5 min read

2023-11-01

Essay

Culture

An AI-created painting of a scene comprising a lap top user holding their face, with candles in the foreground

Dethroning creativity: why does AI art make us feel so icky inside?

Daniel Kim

Creative Artificial Intelligence generates a disquiet within. Daniel Kim explores why it confronts our humanity.

14 min read

2023-03-14

Explainer

Culture

A montage shows skeletons with lamp shades instead if heads beside a fence-like division.

Transhumanism: eugenics for the digital age

Oliver Dürr

Retracing the history of transhumanist thought, Oliver Dürr peels off the varnish off 'TESCREAL' to find the taint of eugenics.

2023-08-30

Have our worries changed over time?

Katherine Amphlett

A pep talk to teachers reveals whether our fears are age-old or not.

2024-03-13

Temperance: neurotic vice or self-control for future benefit?

Barnabas Aspray

We’re better at bravery than temperance, just when we need that self-control more than ever.

6 min read

2024-03-15

Article

Culture

An angel of death lays a hand of a humanioid robot that has died amid a data centre

What AI needs to learn about dying and why it will save it

Andrew Steane

Those programming truthfulness can learn a lot from mortality.

5 min read

2024-03-14

Essay

Culture

In the style of an icon of the Council of Nicea, theologians look on as a cyborg and humanoid AI shake hands

Here’s why AI needs a theology of tech

Oliver Dürr

As AI takes on tasks once exclusively human, we start to doubt ourselves. We need to set the balance right.

2024-03-19

Asylum row pits Church against State

Steve Dew-Jones

From Westminster to Weymouth, the church incurs the wrath of statesmen.

2024-03-13

Always under pressure

Belle Tindall

Now condemned, the latest incidents of church burning in Pakistan are indicative of a continuing deeper pressure Christian communities face.

3 min read

2023-08-25

Editor's pick

Explore more on artificial intelligence and living

Nick Jones

As AI constructs our future, explore its impact and understand its key themes.

1 min read

2024-03-12

Editor's pick

Politics

A TV roundtable discussion with five people against a backdrop of Parliament.

The beliefs that made Jane Austen and her world

Beatrice Scudeler

A ‘fashionable goodness’ lay at the heart of the author and her writing.

2024-03-22

Letter from the Balkans

George Pitcher

An audience with a crown prince tells the story of troubled lands and resilient inhabitants.

2024-03-21

Removing pain’s barriers to healing

Katherine Amphlett

How do we open the window to let the air in?

1 min read

2024-03-25

Article

Culture

Two construction workers stand and talk with a humanoid AI colleague.

We’ll learn to live with AI: here’s how

Andrew Briggs

AI might just help us with life’s dilemmas, if we are responsible.

2024-03-26

Perpetually present in Palm Springs

Beatrice Scudeler

A movie's time loop explores the meaning in the mundane.

2024-03-06

The Zone of Interest’s peripheral vision of evil

Yaroslav Walker

Director Jonathan Glazer bests Spielberg thanks to a quality of attention.

2024-03-08

Don't try and cope on your own

Katherine Amphlett

The company of those who care helps when handling traumas.

2024-04-02

Scorsese’s fusion

Sonny Tindall

The director's whole canon is infused with religion.

2024-04-09

Remembering red on red

Simon Burton-Jones

The cultural revolution's factions have a disconcertingly contemporary feel.

2024-04-04

Pilate: a lord of misrule

George Pitcher

Agents of chaos still inhabit our world today.

2024-03-28

Life before death

Julie Canlis

Embracing death, parading it down streets, and even downplaying their egos, Julie Canlis contemplates why Christians do death.

2023-04-05

Identifying as human has deadly implications

Barnabas Aspray

The incarnation and an execution impacts humanity.

2024-02-14

Raw politics: any room for hope?

Owen Gallacher

The high stakes of Easter can confront the natural order.

2024-03-21

Moments of empathy and expectation

Nick Jones

As Easter approaches, many contemplate the critical events of Holy Week. These have inspired historic artists, from Da Vinci to anonymous sculptors, and modern creatives. Understand more about their work. Watch this set of short videos from the Visual Commentary on Scripture.

2023-04-04

Fremans and foretelling

Jessica Norman

Dune's world can help us understand messiahship.

2024-03-29

Faith, chaos and carnage

Graham Tomlin

Remembered rituals comforted many who mourn. As Easter comes around again, Graham Tomlin examines the underlying hope found when all is carnage and chaos.

2023-04-06

Anger: the dragon’s wrath

James Mumford

In the fifth of a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, James Mumford encounters Anger, and reflects that its object is no mere object.

2023-08-07

How to be (un)successful

Pete Portal

Could busyness really be the counterfeit of significance?

2024-04-12

Cynical twists that make wars unjust

George Pitcher

The dodgy deals and human shields of a past war still disgust George Pitcher, who questions if just war criteria remain fit for today.

2023-09-21

The harsh reminder of our common humanity

Krish Kandiah

Iran’s latest sanctions on protestors are a harsh reminder of the importance of diversity, solidarity and our common humanity, writes Krish Kandiah.

2023-09-27

How much is a human life worth?

Ryan Gilfeather

Concerned by the conditional responses to deaths in the Israel-Hamas war, Ryan Gilfeather considers why we should value all human lives.

2023-11-07

Love is easy to say but hard to live

Elizabeth Wainwright

Love is not a one-time event. It is a practice.

2024-04-18

How to face the space of death

Natalie Garrett

Losing family and friends across a life, leads Natalie Garrett to navigate the space of death we all face. Part of the How to Die Well series.

2023-10-27

Work isn’t working, it’s killing us

Cameron Wiltshire-Plant

We mistake the nature of work and our purpose within it.

2024-04-17

Are we being anxious about anxiety?

Henna Cundill

Haidt's diagnosis of a 'doomed' youth is off. Instead, we should learn from them.

2024-04-29

Blake, imagination and the insight of God

Jonathan Evens

A new exhibition focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.

2024-04-26

My conversation with... Marilynne Robinson

Belle Tindall

Re-Enchanting the human story. Belle Tindall reflects on the nature of her conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning author Marilynne Robinson for Seen and Unseen’s ‘Re-Enchanting’ podcast.

2023-05-26

My conversation with... Molly Worthen

Belle Tindall

Belle TIndall is fascinated by the intellectual fascination that drove Molly Worthen’s inquiry into faith.

2023-10-14

My conversation with... Paul Kingsnorth

Belle Tindall

Re-enchanting... Nature. Belle TIndall reflects on an infectious conversation with Paul Kingsnorth, the celebrated author, poet and environmentalist. Finding him a particularly enjoyable guide through the daunting landscapes of belief, environmentalism and AI.

2023-06-03

My conversation with... Michael Hastings

Belle Tindall

Re-Enchanting… Public Life. Belle Tindall reflects on what is (perhaps surprisingly) her favourite conversation so far.

2023-05-21

How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview

Jonathan Evens

In a visual culture how we gaze becomes more important.

2024-04-05

After the anniversary

Peter Robertson

Ukrainian musician Lyuba Reznichenko reflects on the war’s anniversary and on the aid given in so many ways. Interview by Peter Robertson.

2023-03-30

My conversation with... Jennifer Wiseman

Belle Tindall

Re-enchanting podcast guest Jennifer Wiseman shared an infectious wonder at the universe. Podcast co-host Belle Tindall reflects on their conversation.

2023-04-30

The Devil's perspective

Jonathan Evens

Seeing through a rebel angel’s eyes opens up some surprising new angles on faith. Jonathan Evens interviews author Nicholas Papadopulos.

2024-02-09

Can the economy work for the common good?

Laurence Fletcher

Adrian Pabst on the economic framework that is universal yet particular about people.

2024-04-16

Searching for purpose landed me in an Iranian court

Belle Tindall

Hassan tells how changing his belief is perceived as a threat to Iran’s national security.

2024-02-20

Kelsey Grammer is back in the building

Krish Kandiah

As vintage comedy Frasier reboots, Kelsey Grammer talks with Krish Kandiah about his comeback and the significance of another recent role in Jesus Revolution.

2023-06-30

Iran’s police forced me to leave my country

Belle Tindall

Interrogated and jailed for changing his faith, Medhi tells his story.

2024-02-20

‘They constantly follow us…’

Belle Tindall

Iran’s spies infiltrated my friends and family. Dabrina reports the grim consequences.

2024-02-20

Rediscovering 'ordinary dying'

Robert Wright

On the eve of her Theos annual lecture on 'Death for Beginners', Robert Wright speaks to former palliative care consultant Kathryn Mannix about the need for everyone to re-engage with the process of dying. Part of the Seen & Unseen How to Die Well series.

2023-10-31

Nicaragua in peril

Jane Cacouris

Daniel Ortega's power grab fuels persecution.

2024-05-08

Adapting Doctor Who: it's time for change

Harry Gibbins

The fan debate on associating disability with evil lacks nuance.

2024-05-03

How to react in an era of social media outrage

George Pitcher

Media executions and the quality of mercy.

2024-05-02

Reform votes: what really matters in the end

George Pitcher

Two votes, three decades apart.

2024-05-09

The zeal of Simon Reeve

Steve Dew-Jones

Is personal conviction enough to persuade others to change the world?

2024-05-07

June 3: Esau McCaulley and Graham Tomlin - get tickets now

Belle Tindall

Join us in London as we explore today's cultural moments.

2024-04-29

What makes a journey a pilgrimage?

Graeme Holdsworth

Travel may broaden the mind, but pilgrimage can nourish a soul.

2024-05-13

Leaders wanted for these testing times

Elizabeth Wainwright

We need leadership that is famous for fifteen miles not fifteen minutes.

2024-05-22

Théoden and breaking the spell

Theodore Brun

Bernard Hill’s most famous role sheds light on where humanity needs to be.

2024-05-18

Shardlake: the Disneyfication of the Monasteries

James Cary

What works, and doesn’t, translating from page to screen.

2024-05-21

Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood

Jonathan Evens

Portraying family, memories and counterpoints.

2024-05-17

Life Is more important than art

Jonathan Evens

Recent art exhibitions tackle life’s big questions. Jonathan Evens reviews their themes and the roles creators take.

2023-10-13

Stephen Timms: still on mission

Robert Wright

The MP on five decades trying to prove a Christian Tory wrong.

2024-04-30

Chasing the rains: why gender equality matters in development

Jane Cacouris

An encounter with a Maasai woman, leaves Jane Cacouris pondering another encounter at a well.

2023-05-16

This revolting rich list is a freak show

George Pitcher

What are we to make of this quite nauseating spectacle?

2024-05-23

Everyone comes from somewhere

Roger Standing

Why young people need to understand the religious landscape.

2024-05-24

When a wallflower blossoms

Bex Chapman

Unpicking Bridgerton’s complex coding.

2024-05-26

Our human tribe

Jane Cacouris

A famed photographer's exhibition about Amazonia prompts Jane Cacouris to consider the wider issues.

2023-03-14

Look out for the outliers

Roger Bretherton

Seeing the good qualities in others lifts them, benefits us, and makes the world better.

2024-05-23

The rude guests

Hannah Eves

The Earth Transformed chronicles what happens when civilisation comes up against environmental change. Hannah Eves reviews Peter Frankopan’s analysis.

4 min read

2023-04-13

Essay

Culture

An AI-generated image of a man folding a paper plan in a relaxed lounger, around him are creative tools and screens giving status updates are visible.

Roll on AI, you'll make us more human

Daniel Kim

I’m not necessarily stupidly optimistic about AI, but there’s a tentative case to be so.

2024-05-29

Hip hop’s pantheon rumbles

Nyasha Chiketsani

J. Cole's changing role in the battle for pre-eminence with Drake and Lamar.

2024-05-27

How C.S. Lewis used myth to supercharge storytelling

Simon Horobin

Great stories allow ideas to be experienced rather than merely thought about.

2024-05-28

The power of running together

Jessica Norman

Park Run and the participation principle.

2024-05-31

Reading together helps us read our own lives better

Jessica Brown

The rush and tumble nearly squeezes the life out of the clock’s second hand.

2024-06-17

Seen & Unseen: new episode

Natalie Garrett

This week: how we think. Difference, dialogue and fusion between fans and teams.

2024-06-17

Mercy of any magnitude is scarce

Natalie Williams

Today’s cynicism, means justice really needs tempering.

2024-06-20

‘Let your yeah be yeah’: when style supplants substance

Roger Standing

The frustrating language of politics.

2024-06-13

The tale of two Hindu Prime Ministers

Rahil Patel

June 4th told a brief but bold story of Modi’s India. July 4th will reveal the mind of the UK.

2024-06-18

Give us each day our daily bread

James Cary

Why the political parties cannot understand farming.

2024-06-12

We’re gonna need a bigger ontology

Henna Cundill

Orca attacks prompt questions about being.

2024-06-21

The one thing we won’t bet on

James Sampson-Foster

The election gambling row highlights an odd outlier.

2024-06-21

Who’s right when hurling charges of hypocrisy?

George Pitcher

Accusations highlight the risk of self-deception.

2024-06-07

Are we really our vote?

Jamie Mulvaney

Elections exacerbates the worst of our digital personality.

2024-06-07

Democracy and dairy don't mix

Yaroslav Walker

Let's remember the principles of political engagement.

2024-06-05

What small boats tell us about belonging

George Pitcher

Do I belong to these politics? And do these politics belong to me?

2024-06-20

Let’s not make saviours out of Sunak or Starmer

Cameron Wiltshire-Plant

Politicians do not live up to messianic billing.

2024-05-25

Voting is much more than a token gesture

Joel Pierce

The political practice can capture something heavenly.

2024-06-27

Art makes life worth living

Jonathan Evens

Why society, and churches, need the Arts.

2024-06-28

Ultra-processed politics fails to satisfy

Yaroslav Walker

No-hope manifestos, full of ugly policies, leave us craving something better.

2024-06-25

Browsing our bias

Paula Duncan

Should we curate our feeds for community or for challenge?

5 min read

2024-07-01

Article

Comment

A man staring at a laptop grimmaces and holds his hands to his head.

It's our mistakes that make us human

Silvianne Aspray

What we learn distinguishes us from tech.

4 min read

2024-06-21

Article

Creed

On a conference stage, a seated speaker leans back and opines

Whistleblowing: what if your CEO is a Caesar?

Charles Foster

What are the boundaries of legitimate protest?

2024-07-04

Cross-check what matters when voting

Sam Rylands

Three perspectives to inform how we vote wisely.

2024-07-03

The book Keir Starmer says you must read

John Milbank

Will Hutton’s This Time No Mistakes surveys the thinking that could solve Britain’s ills.

2024-07-05

Looking upon Labour’s "loveless landslide"

Yaroslav Walker

What watching a night that changed the country tells us about its mood.

2024-07-05

Camden: what’s up in Keir’s backyard?

Simon Walsh

The new Prime Minister’s constituency has valuable lessons for the country.

2024-07-08

Why the Prime Minister should swear this new oath

Yaroslav Walker

A proposed new constitutional instrument is a hopeful recognition of the human condition.

2024-07-09

What happens when you lose an election?

Ross Hendry

Spare a thought (and prayer) for the defeated.

2024-07-05

The collective effervescence of sport’s congregation

Jonathan Evens

Art captures how sport and religion are entwined throughout history.

5 min read

2024-07-23

Explainer

Culture

A caveman holding a hammer looks at a bench on which are a broken bicycle and a laptop.

Tech has changed: it’s no longer natural or neutral

James Lawrence

The first in a three-part series exploring the implications of technology.

2024-07-16

Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d

Jonathan Evens

Artist Richard Kenton Webb converses with the blind poet in his former home.

2024-07-26

Why I teach over my students’ heads

James K.A. Smith

Successful teaching is a work of empathy that stretches the mind.

2024-07-26

Deadpool and Wolverine admit there’s only one story worth telling

James Lawrence

Here's why a knowing take on post-modernity's void strikes a chord.

2024-08-07

Dying well: what is neglected needs to be put right

Matthew Hutton

How each of us can prepare ourselves and those we leave behind.

2024-08-07

Controversial art: can the critic love their neighbour?

Jonathan Evens

What to do when confronted with contentious culture.

2024-08-02

When medal mania strikes

Paul Valler

What turns a healthy motivation to excel into a toxic desperation to achieve?

2024-08-07

Help for the Heelers

From Mockingbird

The benevolent butterfly effect in Bluey’s season finale.

2024-08-09

Music and religion belong together

Oliver Wright

The connections between music and faith and the mystery within.

2024-08-14

Canada’s long hot summer of decline

Emerson Csorba

Courage is needed when a country starts to fall apart.

2024-08-19

The questions that nobody can escape

Silvianne and Barnabas Aspray

Seeking answers about beginning, meaning, and of the end, explain why religion refuses to disappear.

2024-08-22

What’s Simone Biles doing today?

Julia Kendal

How to live with winning and losing.

2024-08-20

We’ve been seeking that festival feeling for millennia

Jamie Mulvaney

Why else do we endure discomfort, queues, and sleep deprivation?

4 min read

2024-08-20

Explainer

Culture

How tech harvests our humanity

James Lawrence

The second in a three-part series exploring the implications of technology.

2024-07-30

10 things I learned from Reading Festival's teenagers

Krish Kandiah

Some uplifting down time.

7 min read

2024-08-28

Article

Belief

A person wearing a heavy backpack of tech, connected by tangled cables to other technology behind him, walks towards a simpler space.

When tech holds us captive, here’s how to find liberation

James Lawrence

The last of a three-part series exploring the implications of technology.

2024-08-28

To troll or be trolled?

Roger Bretherton

Laughing at others conceals a terror of being laughed at ourselves.

2024-08-29

My problem with the polls

Jean Kabasomi

Chasing the polls hobbles the leadership we really need.

2024-08-30

What it takes to travel from ceasefire to peace

Kevin Hargaden

With Bertie Ahern, Kevin Hargaden explores an unlikely journey.

2024-08-30

Letter from Amman: discovering resilience around the dinner table

Belle Tindall

Dining in a different culture lets Belle TIndall contemplate struggle and belonging across the heartlands of the Middle East.

2023-11-21

Recovery came softly

From Mockingbird

A vision of grace amid an eating disorder.

2024-08-27

Democracy and the authorities that exist

Andrew Thompson

Should we insist on democracy in the Gulf?

2024-04-24

Last Christmas in Bethlehem

Christy Anastas

With its Christmas displays cancelled, Bethlehem resident Christy Anastas writes about a bleak future for its Christian Palestinian community.

2023-12-16

Christianity’s big PR problem

Lauren Windle

Dancing for the Devil is just the latest shock-jock exposé.

2024-09-02

Experiencing Tbilisi's cold shoulder

Steve Dew-Jones

Georgia’s warm welcome doesn't extend to refugees fleeing Iran.

2024-09-04

Who’s missing from Inside Out’s internal family?

Henna Cundill

Where Riley’s writers could go next.

2024-09-04

Join Seen & Unseen for our next reader lunch

Nick Jones

Back to school? We're discussing new starts. Thursday 19th September. Book now.

2024-09-05

Oasis: If feuding brothers can get together again, maybe the country can too

Krish Kandiah

Some might say Liam and Noel Gallagher’s reunion is reminiscent of Joseph, Prince of Egypt.

2024-09-06

A covering of feathers for the terrors of the night

Katherine Amphlett

How to struggle with the burden of other people's suffering.

2024-09-10

A survivor shares how we can help prevent suicide

Rachael Newham

Allowing people to voice their despair makes space for hope to grow.

2024-09-09

The eclipse of Christianity and what it means

Rupert Shortt

Reversing spiritual climate change.

16 min read

2024-09-16

Review

Art

A darkened art gallery displays images and screens on three walls.

Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions

Jonathan Evens

The digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.

2024-09-14

We need to talk about Nigeria’s brutal war

Chris Wadibia

As Nigerian culture rises globally, why do we ignore seven decades of killing?

2024-09-17

From Blair and Britpop to Starmer and the Oasis comeback: why character, not personality, matters

George Pitcher

We get both the leaders and entertainers we deserve.

2024-09-12

Kate Winslett delivers the performance of her life, in a film that doesn’t look away

George Pitcher

The true quality of witness shines in Lee Miller’s biopic.

2024-09-20

Climate meets politics at UN summits, so who will save us?

Julia Kendal

It's that time of year when commitments to change are sought. Is there a different way to power the energy transition?

2024-09-22

How to encourage a second nature of virtue

Andrew Davison

Cultivating virtue could make you cheerful. Andrew Davison explore the benefits. The first in a five part series for Lent.

2023-03-14

Beauty’s extraordinary masterpiece

Katherine Amphlett

Gathering like figures in a painting, a family grieves.

4 min read

2024-09-23