Contents
Editorial
Letters
Bible Study: Faith
Life
Life is a strange and beautiful thing, worthy of much contemplation. In the following few pages of Christis we see our writers considering some crucial questions about this remarkable universe and, more precisely, our interaction with it. If, as the Oracle of Delphi declared, the first step to understanding the universe is to “Know Thyself” then our opening article offers a glimpse at the prospect of at least partial enlightenment. We have a brief explanation of the Myers-Briggs Index, a useful tool in coming to understand some ideas about ourselves. I was very interested when I did this test with a group of young Christians working with teenagers to find that almost half of us were, like me, ENFPs (read the article and this will be more than just a collection of letters). Ellen Wakeham looks at how the test works, its strengths and weaknesses, and suggests why the statistic I have just mentioned might be symptomatic of a worrying trend.
Elsewhere, relationships occupy a couple of pages. Dorian du Richard takes a light-hearted look at the Christian approach to the summer romance, while Kate Harper, our beloved editor, muses on the apparent obsession within the Church with sex.
Hepsie Attwood, meanwhile, flits between Castle Elsinore and the Mediterranean Sea as she explores the many similarities between Shakespeare’s tragic hero Hamlet and St Paul. Great literature, psychological profiling, dangerous obsessions and dating advice? Could only be a Christis “life” section. Enjoy. And remember; God made you special and he loves you very much.
Chris Charlton
Personality Crisis
Let’s Not Talk About Sex
The Courtship Conundrum
To Be Or Not To Be
Mind your Language
Belief
I, along with many Christis readers, have recently undergone final exams. On one of my papers there was a question on the “decline of religion in the west”. Whether or not you agree that religion has “declined” there is no doubt it has changed and there is now much diversity in the garden of faith. A magazine such as Christis publishes articles that are a statement of faith to some; yet heretical to others. Therein lies its greatest strength.
This month’s “belief” section displays this variety and has a distinctly horticultural smell. Victoria Gilbert writes on how faith can blossom and grow in a way not dissimilar to a blooming tree; whilst Lois Cross asks how we can display the fruits of the spirit here on campus. Meanwhile Gino D’Oca puts pen to paper on Pius XII: a man who was a wise as a venerable oak to some and as nutty as a fruitcake to others.
Don’t agree with any of this? Write and tell us, we’d be blooming thrilled.
Ayeesha Bhutta
Fruitcake
How to be a Blooming Tree
The Liturgical Movement
World
The world is quite big, oh, and its almost round. Except for the occasional collision from the celestial pinball game, it is also quite safe. The world is doing its best to protect us. Between its magnetic fields and the atmosphere, the world has a pretty good shield from harmful radiation. The other thing about this world is that its quite hard to conceive of. Just take Australia; somewhere thousands of miles beneath our feet people who think they’re good at cricket are orientated upside-down to us, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Humankind is arrogant. Despite the sciences creating more questions than answers about this world, we are quite happy to assume we know all we need to know (oh, and that it got created by means of a great cosmic coincidence). We’re also quite happy to play games with our protective shield, and destroy each other when we get bored. I work for an arms manufacturer in my spare time, so yes, I’m hypocritical, and, having shot this discussion in its knees you can now happily read the rest of this edition comfortable in the knowledge there are people out there worse than yourself.
I saw this on the t-shirt of someone this week, and thought it neat: “Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river polluted and the last animal caught will humankind realise that it cannot eat money”.
Of course, the t-shirt was probably made with non-renewable fuels for a profit. Our lives are inherantly destructive. Perhaps the solution is less in limiting this harm to humankind and more in balancing this destruction in our lives with constructive moments. Repeat after me, “I promise to do one good turn for humankind every day”. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s send an SOS from us to our politicians; we haven’t got any second chances with this humanoid home.
David Jones
A Prejudiced Pulpit?
Review: What’s a Christian to do with Harry Potter
Review: The Passion of the Christ
Letter from America
Lunacy in Unity
2029
![[Picture of a street including a fish and chip shop called Wesley's Plaice. The caption reads ‘To Cod Be The Glory!']](/graphics/cartoons/to_cod_be_the_glory.jpg)
By Peter Tylor