(St. Patrick statue) Whenever the Church bases its own life and validity of its ministry on a line of succession connecting it with Augustine of Canterbury or Peter of Rome it is committing the same blasphemy against the sovereign freedom of God to choose his people in creative love, from generation to generation. Of course, the claim to an unbroken succession is bad history, but it is worse than that, it is bad theology. John Wesley called the so-called “apostolic... Read more

(Elvet Methodist Church where CKB often preached in Durham) If God had been intending to coerce all human beings into accepting the risen Jesus by a manifestation of unmistakable supernatural power, he might have saved himself the trouble and pain of the Incarnation. Why go through all the motions of the ministry of Jesus if in the end all people were to be dragooned by main force into the right camp? Practically, and that is not quite the same as... Read more

And what matters is this—if you think, and there are no difficulties in this, of a world that has gone wrong, there are two ways of putting things right that simply would not work. One is that God should simply step in and stop all the folly and wickedness at a blow. Of course, he could; but to do so would mean that we human beings were not being treated seriously as moral and responsible beings. The other is that... Read more

(This is Abbey House on Palace Green next to Durham Cathedral. This is where CKB had his office and his seminars) And how do we learn the reality of God and the life of Christ? In the end, there is only one answer, it is one we do well to remind ourselves of today. “Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall by no means enter the Kingdom of God.” If we today are to visit Christ at... Read more

My sister and I and our good friend the tune dude, Jeff James, have a tradition of taking a road trip in the summer and going to see a concert. This summer’s musical road trip was to Columbus to see ‘the last man standing’ of the original Pink Floyd lineup, since David Gilmour is basically done with extensive touring, namely Roger Waters and his enormous visual extravaganza. You’ll soon see what I mean. I’ve been to many hundreds of concerts... Read more

Take a good hard look at what I’ve got in my hand. The pictures do not do it adequate justice at all. This little intricately designed conch shell, or welk is so tiny and yet so beautiful, so artful. And you have to ask yourself— what is the point? Obviously welks don’t float around in the sea admiring each other’s looks. And much of the symmetry and beauty of the spiral design has no real or at least little functional... Read more

Let’s start on the front porch, and work our way through this remarkable house. Notice the detailed stone work. Once inside, you have to turn around and look back towards the front door. Most noticeable is the impressive woodwork with the dragons… But then the woodwork is one of the outstanding features of the entire downstairs… Notice as well the hardwood floors… There are stained glass windows and cut glass windows all over the house…. The wallpaper and the curtains... Read more

Sitting on the corner of St. James Court, at its very entrance way, is the Conrad-Caldwell House. Here, according to the website, is its history…. “Surrounded by a beautiful courtyard neighborhood at the center of the largest collection of Victorian Homes in the US, “Conrad’s Castle” featured all the latest innovations of its day, including interior plumbing and electric lighting. Known for its beautiful woodwork and parquet floors, this massive Bedford limestone home, covered with gargoyles, beautiful archways, and elaborate... Read more

While some of these old homes seem reasonably normal in size and design….. And there is even one three story apartment building (the first of its sort in any proper neighborhood in the town) which was built to house various WWI soldiers recuperating from the ravages of war… This is hardly the ‘normal’ house on these streets where nothing succeeds like excess. The nouveau riche of Louisville loved turrets and towers and elaborate stone tracery work. They liked etched glass,... Read more

In 1873, Louisville, trying to improve the visibility and status and commerce of its city held a gigantic Southern Exposition. This continued to happen well into the 1880s, and the piece of land at which the giant exposition building was built (see below) was in due course turned into stately homes of the Victorian sort. We went to see the neighborhoods of St. James Court and Belgravia Ct. in eastern Louisville, and in particular to go and see the Conrad-Caldwell... Read more