When William Ewart Gladstone became an MP in the reformed parliament of 1833, a friend told him that he was called upon by providence to be ‘A Witness for the One Truth’. He agreed, and the rest is history. Michael Wheeler’s talk is based on his new book on the spiritual life of Gladstone, whose journey from evangelicalism to a generous high Anglican orthodoxy was underpinned by his faith in divine providence but threatened by a troubled conscience. Michael first looks at life-changing events in Rome in 1832. He then scrolls on to 1874, when the prime minister resigned and reinvented himself as a writer and essayist in defence of the Church of England as a bulwark against ‘unbelief’. The ‘one Truth’ was no longer universally acknowledged.
What does it mean to live a good, whole and fulfilling life? And if the world really is ending, or at least expecting turbulent change, what kind of people will we need when it happens? In Fully Alive Elizabeth Oldfield explores how we can build spiritual core strength for an unstable age.
Drawing on the ancient wisdom of faith and stories from her own life, Oldfield writes about her quest to live a meaningful, fulfilling life, and the niggling questions that bother all of us below the surface.
Elizabeth Oldfield will be in conversation with writer Cathy Rentzenbrink, whose books include How to Feel Better: A Guide to Navigating the Ebb and Flow of Life and A Manual for Heartache.
The mainstream Churches are faltering – or even at risk of dying out – in their European and Middle Eastern heartlands. Surveys confirm that only a minority of people in a country such as Britain now claim Christian allegiance. The pattern is being matched in neighbouring societies. At the same time many opinion formers preach secularist ideology with a self-confidence shading into dogmatism. Others, unsure of their moorings, feel residual attachment to faith, while being sceptical about the existence of God and other articles of belief.
Yet church teaching remains intellectually robust, as well as inspiring a transformative global presence. In this major and wide-ranging international study – both a report on the unsettling consequences of secularisation and a defence of a creed too often belittled by its opponents – Rupert Shortt outlines Christianity’s fading profile in the present, but also argues compellingly that the world’s most prominent spiritual tradition remains critical to the survival of a humane culture.
Rupert Shortt will be in conversation with Dr Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at the think tank, Theos. The event will be recorded for the podcast Reading Our Times.
Rachel Mann (pictured), the author of A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 40 Days with Jane Austen, and Paula Hollingsworth, the author The Spirituality of Jane Austen, discuss the author’s faith with leading cultural historian of the Victorian age Professor Michael Wheeler.
Reflect, listen, and contemplate this song sung at the even point between the active day and the restful night.
No booking required, all are welcome to worship at Winchester Cathedral.
A distinguished speaker reflects on some aspect of public life – is held in honour of our patron and founder, Sir Tony Baldry.
Edward Stourton writes: ‘Read in an age of fragmented truth, Jane Austen’s glittering irony at the opening of Pride and Prejudice carries extra power. Digital technology and the easy access to multiple sources it offers have undermined our confidence in the very existence of truth, and almost nothing can now be taken as “universally acknowledged”. This revolution has coincided with my own career in journalism; when I began at ITN in 1979, broadcast news was trusted by almost everyone; today the “mainstream media” is regarded with scepticism by many and, in some quarters, with outright hostility. In this lecture I shall examine how we meet this challenge, and argue that truth-telling still matters.’
