These things had to come to you and you to accept them, This is your share of the eternal burden, The perpetual glory. This is one moment, But know that another Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy When the figure of God’s purpose is made complete. You shall forget these things, toiling in the household, You shall remember them, droning by the fire, When age and forgetfulness sweeten memory Only like a dream that has often been told And often changed in the telling. They will seem unreal. Human kind cannot bear much reality. From Murder in the Cathedral, by T S Eliot Welcome to the website The project began life as an experiment in creating an interactive ‘dictionary of theology’. It soon became clear that this was far too pretentious an aim. I hope that those who venture further will be willing to accept these pages instead as a series of essays and review articles, some long, some short. It is now in a form that can grow—and grow it will. Others resort to blogs. Here there is a connecting thread. Whether this is an advantage or otherwise must be for others to decide. The subject-matter in hand is human experience and how we make sense of it. Christian faith claims to be a key to that understanding. But it often appears like that dream, that has been often told and often changed, so that it seems now unreal. Can we reconnect? Somewhere in our journey of learning we will attempt to build bridges between them -- between Christian Faith and everyday human experience. It is important, in this journey, that we are allowed to make the connections for ourselves. These pages are a personal perspective, offered in the hope that they willl assist some in their quest for understanding. The content of these pages, and the way it has been expressed, are the responsibility of the author to whom any comments may be emailed. While many Christians would endorse or at least acknowledge these views, many would not. The personal character of these pages will be apparent from the use of the first person, perhaps more frequently than some would find comfortable. If this gets in the way, then of course I apologise. But in part these pages are personal testimony as well as a summary of what I have learned from books and from experience. How to use this website The aim of this website is to provide an introduction to the Christian faith for a variety of people. I have to admit that it won't suit everyone. For a start it's mostly words (at the moment) so people who aren't naturally bookish might feel at a bit of a disadvantage. That said, the approach is intended to be very interactive. When you read a book, by and large you follow the sequence of thought in the author's mind; you read the book from beginning to end. That isn't always helpful; questions keep on cropping up that take you down side-turnings, and that's hard to keep track of in a conventional book. Moreover, people start from different points. The writer of a conventional book has to persuade or cajole the reader into joining him (or her) on a very particular journey of discovery, namely, the one that underlies that particular sequence of presentation in the book. The advantage of a website is that it is possible to cater for a wide variety of approaches. For example, some people may start from a basic question about the Christian religion, such as "will everyone go to heaven?". Others may start with an acute sense of where they are in their life-story, which may be a very uncomfortable place. Others are content to "be taught". At present only a few journeys are available. The first is largely for development purposes. It summarises the files, organised by folders. The beginnings of a seriesof journeys can be found on a page devoted to the Big Questions. Soon there will also be a General Index page, which is set to grow. At the moment you have to use the Back button of your browser to retrace your steps. There will soon be a navigation bar