It was great to see a such a good turnout from St Judes’ people at the recent New College Lectures (about eight of us came to at least one of the lectures). I found it stimulating to hear, on the first evening, of the “transhumanist” movement, which seeks to perfect humanity through technology, and on the second to hear the speaker’s scientific perspective on free will. Using his expertise in genetics, he argued that reports of our genes “determining” us are overblown. Throughout the talks he argued that the Christian doctrine of humans being made in the image of God is the essential safeguard against the de-humanising possibilities of some emerging technologies.
New College also produces a quarterly magazine called CASE, to which I sometimes contribute. I encourage you to subscribe or, if you’re lucky, grab a free copy from our brochure stand!
Another opportunity to go deeper in our thinking about God and his relation to the world is through Marty’s book reading group, which is meeting again on Saturday 20th Oct (note the change of date!) to discuss Delighting in the Trinity.
In case you were not here last week, you will see a beautiful image of a sculpture, which is to be created and placed in the cemetery near Frances St. It is a project to celebrate the ministry of women in our parish throughout its long history. We are making an appeal to parishioners to contribute to the cost of this excellent work.