GK Chesterton wrote that when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing – they believe in anything.  Just a few minutes’ surfing the net proves him right;  but if you’re interested in what main-stream Christians actually believe, why not ask some of them.

He also wrote:  “It’s not true that for most people Christianity has been tried and found wanting:  it’s not been wanted, and so has never been tried.”

These are a few Christian sites which I find useful.  They might just help you to avoid some of the dreadful religious junk in cyberspace.

• A good basic starting-place might be rejesus.co.uk, about “Jesus, his life, spirituality and teaching”.

• You’ve either got to laugh or cry at a lot of what goes on in the churches.  I prefer the former, and find that the Ship of Fools helps me do so.  As, in its better moments, does The Wibsite.

• Keen Christians are in the habit of going off on religious holiday-weekends etc, sorts of ecclesiastical Butlins like ‘Spring Harvest’ or ‘Soul Survivor’.   My favourite is a the self-styled Christian Arts Festival ‘Greenbelt’.  And if you’re into contemporary Christian music, you might try Cross Rhythms.

• An intelligent, broadly evangelical, magazine is Third Way (the title pre-dates the Blairite use of the phrase – or did it inspire it?)   Good Christian reading generally can be hard to find, with the religious sections of mainstream bookshops often stocking some strange stuff, and most specialist Christian bookshops being run by American Baptists (nothing wrong with that, of course ... except when they wrinkle their noses at the mention of the book I want).   Probably best to buy online (from me, or Amazon, or me on Amazon)

• Christian Socialism predates Marxism and includes some quite different values.  Is its agenda naïve or idealistic – and, anyway, what’s the difference?  If your tastes are otherwise inclined, you might prefer the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, or even the Conservative Christian Fellowship.

• According to its mission statement, “Sojourners is a Christian ministry founded in 1971 whose mission is to proclaim and practise the Biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice”.  (Similar Christian, and non-Christian, organizations can be found on my Justice & Peace page.)

• With so much bad, and badly expressed, religion on the web, it’s a relief to find Nimble Spirit, a site devoted to “Literary Spirituality”.  If (unlike me) you enjoy science-fiction and fantasy, Faith Odyssey gives a Christian slant on that.

• I’ve put a few details about varieties of Christian worship, especially Anglican, on my Church of England pages.

I’ve never been tempted by exotic varieties of church – I’m a very ordinary sort of Christian.  I belong to the Church of England because that’s where I live.

Church of England Links               John’s Home-Page               John & Liz’s Welcome Page

page revised January 2008