http://simonjenkins.com/ Blog of Simon Jenkins, writer and web producer en simon@simonjenkins.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-10T12:43:26+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/holy_haute_couture/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/holy_haute_couture/#When:12:43:26Z The fashion show was called Clergy on the Catwalk, and a collection of haute couture vestments was taken for a swish along the runway before an admiring audience. Which is how I got to dress up in a crisp white cassock alb and put myself about a bit in three ecclesiastical creations. church, design 2012-05-10T12:43:26+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/my_friend_paul_clowney/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/my_friend_paul_clowney/#When:00:29:55Z Paul is the only person I know who would bring a set of chisels with him on a weekend break to Lyme Regis. He used them to crack open rocks on Lyme’s Jurassic beach and expose fossils which last saw the light of the sun 180 million years ago. He was a magician of that sort of thing. art 2012-04-17T00:29:55+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/psalm_surprise/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/psalm_surprise/#When:23:29:35Z It’s not often that my mouth hangs open in slack-jawed astonishment, but when I turned to the back of the book, with its section of metrical Psalms, I encountered Psalm 8 in a version I’ve never seen before (and which I snapped above). The first few lines tell the story. books, church, typography 2012-04-04T23:29:35+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/cheer_up_it_might_never_happen/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/cheer_up_it_might_never_happen/#When:20:46:57Z It doesn't help your mood when your Sony remote is sitting on a nearby shelf looking mightily pissed off. It's been glaring at me for a few weeks now, so I've decided to turn it round. pictures, random 2012-03-27T20:46:57+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/baptist_on_a_bridge_joke/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/baptist_on_a_bridge_joke/#When:00:54:49Z We asked our readers to send us their favourite religious jokes in two categories: funniest and most offensive. The winner of the funniest religious joke was a gag created by American comic Emo Philips. church 2012-03-23T00:54:49+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/red_bull_gives_up_on_jesus/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/red_bull_gives_up_on_jesus/#When:22:38:58Z A Red Bull advert being screened on South African TV was pulled a few days ago when Christians (with Muslim backup) said it was deeply offensive. A cardinal has said that Catholics should fast from consuming the drink until Easter. advertising, Bible, cartoons, JC, offence 2012-03-16T22:38:58+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/90_minutes_with_moltmann/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/90_minutes_with_moltmann/#When:01:21:24Z The French and then German countryside unfolding outside my train window was beautiful in the early spring sunshine, but I had my head stuck in a book most of the way, like an undergraduate with a late essay to submit. icons, theology, travel 2012-03-14T01:21:24+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/interview_with_a_theologian/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/interview_with_a_theologian/#When:00:19:36Z It’s not every day you get to meet a 24 carat theologian, but next week I’m off to Tübingen in Germany to interview Jürgen Moltmann, who’s up there with Bonhoeffer, Barth, Bultmann and the other pin-ups of 20th century theology. church, theology 2012-03-02T00:19:36+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/prayers_from_a_dark_cellar/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/prayers_from_a_dark_cellar/#When:00:19:31Z Once I’d cleared out the wood, brushed down the flaking walls and swept the floor, I looked round the cellar for bits and pieces which would work as basic furniture for a would-be hermit. icons 2012-02-28T00:19:31+00:00 http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/the_satanic_tweets/ http://simonjenkins.com/blog/entry/the_satanic_tweets/#When:22:21:08Z When Salman Rushdie was given his very own fatwa calling for his death back in 1989, it was because he had written a large novel, The Satanic Verses. But now it seems, you only need to post three tweets to get yourself a blasphemy trial and death sentence in Saudi Arabia. offence 2012-02-15T22:21:08+00:00