Old Paths - Thomas Cranmer

We are coming to the end of this series, and though there are many amazing figures of recent church history I would love to cover we will just choose some of the key ones. Last night we told the story of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, architect of the Church of England and Martyr for his faith.
The video of his words and wisdom is above, his recent Biography by Diarmaid MacCulloch is excellent or you can listen to a lecture on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of his death by my old church history lecturer (yes it is all his fault!) from Bible College.

Old Paths - Martin Luther

More has been written on Martin Luther than any other figure in Church History. He stands between the medieval and modern worlds, and on one of the great faultlines of Christianity, and his thinking defines protestant theology to this day.
Lots of good online media on the subject. Melvin Bragg on Radio 4's 'In our time' discussing Luther at the Diet of Worms. There is the webpage of a US TV series on Luther with a dramatic introduction to the man and some interviews with people including Alistar McGrath. An interesting listen is David Starkey's abject attempt to suggest that Luther killed christianity which is shot down by his own witnesses.

Old Paths - Thomas Aquinas

Scholar, mystic, politican. You can download the whole of his epic 'Summa theologica' here. But perhaps just a taste is all you need - here is his 'Sacred Doctrine'

Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi is well known for his love of nature and his simple peaceful lifestyle, and his founding of the radical Franciscan order of Monks. He is one of the most Christlike figures in History, but the aspect of his life which is more pertinant to our day than any other is his relationship with the world of Islam. A good introduction here

The cost of life

I found this excellent 'game' today. I say 'game' because actually it is a bit traumatic. You have a little family who you need to keep alive, feed and educate. And it is really hard. They kept dying on me. It is sponsored by unicef and if has a very serious point about how hard life is in the developing world - and just when you think you are doing ok disaster strikes. Have a go and tell me how you do. I was beginning to thing it was rigged, but it turns out you can do okay: All alive, 2577 goud and 6 diplomas - beat that!