Simon Cross

522 When I first met Magna Carta I wept— for it was a weekend in Salisbury March 2014 and after annexing Crimea unmarked Russian soldiers were stirring up the Donbas in eastern Ukraine but in the UK there was peace and habeas corpus and access to Justice or Right by the Law of the land and it was in gratitude I wept. This weekend I wept— for Millicent Fawcett from her plinth in Parliament Square had witnessed 522 peaceful protestors carted off by the Met for the crime of free speech by means of placards in contravention of Article 13 of the Terrorism Act. Unlucky for some. Unlucky for the 50% over 60 or 70 or 80 years old and the 50% years from claiming their pensions. Unlucky for the roll call of the principled Sir former government advisor and the professor of poetry emerita and the son of a Holocaust survivor. Unlucky for the 2.1 starving millions disproportionately penned in Gaza. From her grave Hannah Arendt proclaims the banality of evil is again on the rise. The Met and soldiers and spies were only following orders. © Clare Bryden, 10 August 2025

My small offering, for Jyoti and the other peaceful protestors arrested under #Article13 of the #TACT2000, and for environmental campaigners willing to risk the same. Respect. This what it is coming to.

#Poetry #Poem

Numbers (522/532) and individuals taken from www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

well now...

some more on their way?

Flourishing? Women’s bodies and the history of Christianity | St Paul's Cathedral

Speaking in this series at St Paul’s Cathedral this lunchtime. Up early to compensate for any travel delays! www.stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/flo...

Agreed x1000.
This is much worse.

Episode 112: The uncontrolling God - Simon Cross and Thomas Oord — Beer Christianity Is God all-powerful? How does that square with ***gestures to everything happening***? Simon Cross and Thomas Oord talk to Beer Christianity about Process theology, Open theology and relational theol...

@thomasjayoord.bsky.social and I spoke with the good people at @shibbolethmag.bsky.social for their Beer Christianity podcast - we covered a lot of ground!
www.beerchristianity.co.uk/episodes/unc...

Hey! Thanks for this.
nice to reconnect :)

I spoke to the nice people at Reform magazine about progressive Christianity and other things, including my addiction to writing... you can listen to it here. creators.spotify.com/pod/show/the...

Progressive reflections on the lectionary #65 John 5: 1-9 The healing at Bethesda

The story of Jesus' healing at Bethesda is not about an historical 'event', like John's other 'signs' this is part of the wider narrative. Here Asclepius, the god of healing, represents the power of the empire - while John's Jesus represents it's opposite. simonjcross.substack.com/p/progressiv...

YouTube video by Joint Public Issues Team Episode 156 with Simon Cross for Sunday 4th May

No lectionary substack from me this week, but I did record this a few days ago.
youtu.be/o04Gz_Fu9-k?...

7 actions to take now to defend our right to protest After the meeting for worship outside New Scotland Yard, ​Joe Cox suggests 7 things people can do next.

We have been uplifted by the incredible reaction to the police raid on Westminster Meeting House.

Many Friends have asked us what actions they could now take to push back against the erosion of protest rights in the UK.

Here are 7 ideas 👇

www.quaker.org.uk/blog/7-actio...

It's very hard to say, because so far as I can tell that particular research hasn't been done.

More importantly, though, this lacks the context of an upsurge in engagement with a variety of other community groups. Post covid, and in an era of growing military and economic 'threat', young people are engaging more with groups that offer a sense of belonging and purpose.

I agree that this is an issue - although class is such a tricky concept to navigate in this sense. Certainly large charismatic evangelical churches report strong engagement with Gen Z (they always do). Ethnicity is a factor: African heritage people are strongly represented in church going figures.

It's a really interesting and important report, and put together by very smart, highly questioning people.
What it lacks, perhaps, is some context. Churches are not the only community organisations that are seeing a big upsurge in Gen Z engagement. Alienation seems likely to be a key driver here.

Progressive reflections on the lectionary #61 Luke 19:28-40 Even Luke can't disguise the skulduggery and theatrics as Jesus pulls an audacious move; (and what 'the stones' really refers to).

In Luke's story of Jesus' spectacular theatrical protest against Roman occupation there's a cryptic phrase: "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out." What if this one remark is intended to demonstrate that the Jesus way was one of non violence? open.substack.com/pub/simonjcr...

The Palindrome of “Bolton”Would Be “Notlob!” - Center for Open & Relational Theology The Palindrome of “Bolton”Would Be “Notlob!” By Simon Cross Amipotence is welcome as a “half-truth,” but we must not give it the misplaced concreteness we gave its predecessor. The scene … Continue re...

Something that I wrote about @thomasjayoord.bsky.social 's idea of amipotence - is the parrot alive, or not?

c4ort.com/essays/the-p...

Looking forward to the first of three live #poetry events to celebrate #worldpoetryday - tonight the hilarious Paul Cookson is in Cottingham, East Yorkshire. Tickets available on the door, or book in advance if you want. www.eventbrite.com/e/1244785750...

A picture of a solid gold toilet which was stolen from Blenheim palace.

All that money for a toilet, and yet still the loo roll is on the wrong way around. Evidently there are still some things that money can't buy.

A decent review of a thoroughly readable and very well developed book. One of a few really good popular/accessible scholarly titles last year, see also: God's Ghostwriters by @candidamoss.bsky.social

I've not heard that joke since I was 18-years-old

I didn't even know it was for sale. How much is it, exactly?

I think there's a couple of other possibilities: Greenland as a strategic military bulwark could lessen the need to have US troops on 'foreign'/EU soil; perhaps even more obvious though are the mineral deposits, inc. rare earth minerals - which are abundant there, and which are vital for new tech.

Thanks for this, Ryan. Your work is always interesting and trustworthy, which is no mean feat these days. Where might we find a more detailed version of your findings?

People had excellent names in those days, didn't they.

Generally speaking I'm with Crossan in terms of 'there are parables by Jesus, and parables about Jesus' - I wouldn't see detail as a sign of historicity, necessarily. Luke tends to belabour the detail, but he's always telling figurative stories - e.g. the Transfiguration.

I suppose the question is whether one starts with an assumption of some sort of historicity or not. I tend towards an assumption of parable, particularly when there are evident legendary or mythical elements. But that's my bias!

Thanks for reading! I've always found it a striking story for many of the same reasons. The problem is that we just don't have a source, I find myself drawn to the idea that this is a Jewish story - it makes sense to me.

Progressive reflections on the lectionary #56 Luke 4: 1-13 Lent begins with a retelling of the old temptation story

I have a 'go-to' take on the story of Jesus being 'tempted' in the wilderness, but it doesn't necessarily account for the bigger question of 'where does this story come from?' What if this Christian story isn't really a Christian story at all?
open.substack.com/pub/simonjcr...