http://simonjenkins.com/ Blog of Simon Jenkins, writer and web producer en simon@simonjenkins.com Copyright 2013 2013-06-15T15:35:31+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/a_vicar_crucified/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/a_vicar_crucified/#When:15:35:31Z Simon Parke’s absorbing murder mystery novel "A Vicar, Crucified" has more twists than a hangman’s noose and is written by a former vicar who has the inside story on the many reasons why parishioners might reasonably want to murder their priest. books, church 2013-06-15T15:35:31+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/lives_of_the_coin-operated_saints/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/lives_of_the_coin-operated_saints/#When:14:39:21Z I’ve never seen a saint bashing herself in the face with a pair of pincers before. But as I entered Michael Landy’s Saints Alive exhibition at the National Gallery this morning, there guarding the way in was a 3 metre tall St Apollonia, in a floor-length red dress. 2013-06-01T14:39:21+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/remembering_our_dog_sasha/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/remembering_our_dog_sasha/#When:22:50:25Z She and I walked every weekday in the big spaces of Gunnersbury Park. Her habitual sin was hanging back. She hung back in her endless quest for food. She was one-third Labrador, you see, even though she looked like a large fox. 2013-05-26T22:50:25+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/bring_up_the_bodies/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/bring_up_the_bodies/#When:19:49:37Z A new book came out yesterday... except, hang on, it isn’t new. Publisher Fourth Estate has released the paperback edition of Bring Up the Bodies a full year after the hardback publication, and seven months since Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker. books 2013-05-08T19:49:37+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/heaven_open_on_holy_patmos/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/heaven_open_on_holy_patmos/#When:21:49:46Z High over the town on a hill is the Monastery of St John the Theologian. Late morning a taxi bore us up to the Cave of the Apocalypse, below the monastery. Bible, icons, theology, travel 2013-05-01T21:49:46+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/a_wonder_on_every_corner_of_ephesus/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/a_wonder_on_every_corner_of_ephesus/#When:20:41:39Z Bible, church, travel 2013-04-26T20:41:39+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/demons_and_crosses_in_sardis/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/demons_and_crosses_in_sardis/#When:21:31:29Z The place here which seized my imagination was the ruined Temple of Artemis, which is in a remote field outside town, overlooked by curious hills shaped like pointed hoods. The place is lonely, melancholy and haunted – and maybe a bit dark too. Bible, church, travel 2013-04-25T21:31:29+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/wreck_of_faith_in_philadelphia/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/wreck_of_faith_in_philadelphia/#When:19:28:22Z There’s not much left of Philadelphia, despite it having the most modern-sounding name of all the seven churches of the Apocalypse. All that remains is a piece of ground the size of a postage stamp, and on it the noble wreck of a gigantic church. Bible, church, travel 2013-04-24T19:28:22+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/hydraulic_cranes_of_laodicea/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/hydraulic_cranes_of_laodicea/#When:20:54:14Z But one of the first things we see as we walk here today is a giant hydraulic crane raising and positioning huge blocks of ancient stone. Sending one of those babies back in time would be an untold blessing to the ancient builders, I can’t help thinking. Bible, church, travel 2013-04-23T20:54:14+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/smyrna_on_a_dead_speakerphone/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/smyrna_on_a_dead_speakerphone/#When:20:42:07Z We knocked off two of the seven churches of the Apocalypse yesterday – Pergamum and Thyatira – but we’ve been staying Izmir, which is ancient Smyrna. Our guide took us this morning to a living church, St Polycarp’s on Necatibey Boulevard, just a few blocks from where we were staying. Bible, church, travel 2013-04-22T20:42:07+00:00