The Lord is my Light - Lecture with Professor Alister McGrath

Spent some time listening to this lecture by Alister McGrath this morning. He tends to tackle topics that interest me, theology and apologetics among them. I decided to plug my netbook into the radio and listen while doing the ironing downstairs. It's a good way of getting two things done at once but I did find myself hissing occasionally that I did not have a notebook and pen to hand. I know my mind is so full of holes by nature that I cannot rely on my memory.


So, I may need to listen/watch again at some point - with a pen instead of an iron!  Plus, the screen was not in my view as I stood at the ironing board, trying to get the fluff off a T-Shirt.  I did run and get a coat hanger at one point, too.

I liked the ideas of seeing Christianity as light but also something that sheds light on everything else, seeing doctrines as both the glass of a window but also seeing through it to a wider landscape.  McGrath talks of theology as something that informs but also excites, something we do together as we look at scripture, drawing each other's attention to things we had not previously noticed (one of the reasons I love this kind of discussion).

In relation to apologetics, I was struck by the fact that in order to translate something, we need to understand our own meaning - which is often what I'm trying to put across when I bang on about intelligent faith.

 If you're interested in theology, apologetics and thinking deeply about faith this may be worth a look, as McGrath talks about loving God with all our minds - while still allowing for the fact that there are some things beyond our mental grasp, some things words cannot contain and some questions that cannot be resolved in a logical way.

Lecture with Professor Alister McGrath – Lanier Theological Library

Image from Alister McGrath's biography on RZIM website