Putting money in its place
Money can do strange things to people. A few years back, a survey in England asked people to imagine first that the average income was £100,000, but they earned £125,000. Second, they were to imagine that the average income was £200,000, but their income was £175,000. They were then asked which they would prefer. The majority chose £125,000—they would rather have the possibility...
Friendship, rarer than love? | Friendship and honesty
Romantic love is easily hurt and somewhat pretentious, especially when faced with direct honesty. Friendship is more solid.
Is the Bible history?
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. But while people are aware that the Bible exists, these days relatively few know much about it or have taken the time to actually read it.
COVID-19: Could giving up ever be the key to success?
Pray! If not to God, then to a god. Admit that we are defeated, because this is the first step towards victory.
“Dear God”
Life is not just a very cool gift. It is something that a person receives on loan from God. That's the conclusion of Oscar, the child hero of "Oscar and the Lady in Pink," a novel written by Franco-Belgian playwright, short story writer, and novelist Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt.
All or nothing
By the middle of the 17th century, German Protestantism had long ceased to be a burning torch. Accepted by the nobility and the populace, it had become an ecclesiastical, secular, and politicised institution like all the others. In the night of alienation, God brought from the ashes the light of a new dawn.
The emancipation of a free man
Louis Zamperini experienced the bizarre smell of death so many times that he came to the verge of losing his mind. However, he survived, and by choosing to forgive the unforgivable, he was able to breathe life into an entire world.
Between Christiaan Barnard and Nelson Mandela
Dr Peter Landless presents a fascinating history of transformation within his native South Africa, a transformation which has impacted the world.
The sad people at the circus
At night, the main boulevard in Las Vegas is so crowded that in order to move forward you actually have to push your way through the motley crowd. People of all kinds fill the space already suffocated by the construction conglomerate, which is equally diverse.
Did the Church halt the progress of surgery?
An urban legend claims that the Church vehemently opposed the dissection of corpses through medieval decrees of prohibition or limitation of this practice.
Is it monotonous to be monogamous?
The possibility of completely rewriting the rules by which we organise our lives has always captured people's imagination. However, such a reorganisation has materialised, at best, in the pages of a philosophical book and has remained, for the most part, a utopia. But there are exceptions, of course.
Hasty generalisations: Jumping from one to all, and from once to always
We use our experience and knowledge to understand what is unknown or inaccessible to us. We are attracted to patterns and judge the world in terms of what is already familiar to us. However, out of a desire to understand some things more quickly, we often draw conclusions without sufficient evidence. Thus we fall into the trap of the sophism called hasty generalization.
Contemporary with Passion Week
In the frenzy that grips most Christians at this time of year, the coverage of Easter celebrations in the press is a good indication of how people prepare for Easter.
How much do the origins of our errors in judgement matter?
An article in the New Yorker[1] explains why we tend to not change our convictions, not even when faced with contrary evidence.
Understanding ourselves better, by understanding our dreams
Ever since ancient times, people have been interested in the origin and purpose of dreams. The initial theories relied heavily on the supernatural and dreams were seen as mental meeting places for gods and mortals, where gods could express their will to mortals, reveal the future to them, or deliver messages from the afterlife.


























