Prominent in much Theology of Religions is the concept of fulfilment (the extension of the fulfilment of the Old Covenant by Christ, to the fulfilment of other religions by Christ). The three Catholic theologians who are the subject of this article – Jean Daniélou, Karl Rahner and Jacques Dupuis – rely heavily on the fulfilment concept in their understanding of the relationship between other religions and Christianity. However, each uses the concept differently. This article outlines and then compares the use of the fulfilment concept in the theology of these three prominent theologians, and in doing so develops a fulfilment typology.

John Paul II's “Letter to Artists” identified two ways artists, particularly literary artists, can help reveal the nature of man to himself by showing both 1) the threat to human dignity from humans themselves, as well as 2) the possibility of transcendence and redemption as achievement and divine gift breaking into this life. We offer close readings of two contemporary novels as examples. The first way is illustrated by Robert Clark's In the Deep Midwinter, a novel at whose centre is an illegal abortion in the 1950's. We argue that the novel's portrait of suffering and abiding loss effectively shows the devastating effects of moral evil. The characters are conflicted in their desires and chosen actions, and they defend different positions; however, the plot in particular underscores the harm humans can inflict on themselves and others. The second way is illustrated using Hansen's Atticus. We argue that the character of Atticus serves both as an example of a virtuous Christian everyman and as an allegorical representation of God the Father. Redemption becomes possible for the dissolute son Scott when he turns to Atticus, his loving father, for forgiveness.

Failure to attend to the claims of theology as a public form of discourse has made us blind to the true causes of our attachment to the university. In what follows I want to explore why it is that liberal societies continue to value the university but increasingly find it difficult to articulate coherent reasons for its defence. I shall argue that any plausible defence of the value of the university within Western societies requires the concomitant recognition of two propositions: first, of the moral value of the search into the meaning of human freedom and, secondly, of the certainty that human freedom can only properly be exercised in obedience to the objective order of truth. I shall further argue that, for all its strengths, Liberalism as a political doctrine cannot conceptually unite these two propositions because of its commitment to a voluntaristic interpretation of freedom. As a modest proposal for constructive progress in this debate, in my concluding remarks I suggest three ways that St. Augustine's early educational thought makes more intelligible our own educational ideals than do major competing accounts.

Like the Messianic Banquet, the Messianic Torah is a concept frequently encountered among New Testament scholars. It seems to be presupposed as a category well known to first century Judaism and, therefore, to be a yardstick against which Jesus’ ‘legislative’ activity could and can be measured. An examination of this concept begins with the tension in Jewish thought between the eternity of the Mosaic Law and the various strategies designed to supplement its inadequacy to deal with contemporary situations. Given that the unique circumstances of the Messianic Age involve a further complication, the relevant texts are reviewed for their contributions to the problem. The Old Testament writers look to a deepening of observance of the Mosaic Law in the eschatological times. The Pseudepigrapha offer little more apart from a hint of Messianic legislation in Psalms of Solomon 17. Even the gospels do not show us a Jesus who fits readily into the model of a Messianic legislator. In fact St John probably pictures him as the embodiment of the Torah, the Word made flesh. The conclusion is that, whatever the later rabbinic teaching on the subject, the idea of the Messianic Torah is a scholarly construct as far as the New Testament is concerned.

Recent debate on the relationship between morality and religious belief has tended to cast the role of religion in a negative light. While there are certain facts that may support this view, a philosophical investigation of the link between ethics and religion can contribute to the debate by focusing on certain fundamental issues. Noting the importance of the debate and showing the implications of whichever side one takes, this article argues that the claims for a purely humanistic ethics can be supported by an empirical observation, a philosophical argument and even on theological grounds. At the same time, however, it defends the view that religious belief in a personal God can have a positive contribution to morality by way of vision and motivation.

On Christmas Day 2007, Channel Four took its viewers for two hours on an alleged search for ‘the real Jesus’. The programme largely failed to introduce any real experts; there were errors and painful gaps in the ‘information’ provided; there was hardly any recognition that, over and over again, there was another side to the positions being presented. Among the fantasies once again trotted out was Jesus’ supposed life and death in India, a ‘thesis’ that was invented without a shred of evidence in the 1890s. The presenter repeatedly pushed theories about early followers of Jesus reworking beliefs and practices from Gnostic and other sources. St Paul was portrayed as the ‘real’ founder of Christianity, without a word being said about this view being proposed and long ago refuted. The poor quality of this programme was astounding. One expects something much better, especially on Christmas Day.

Reputable reports about climate change are grim. Unless radical mitigation and adaptation is implemented immediately the future of the present planetary biosystem, including humanity, is bleak. As Christians we have considerable resources in our living tradition to guide our own lives and to assist the whole earth community. Genesis, the historical books, wisdom, and the psalms all teach respect for climate as God's gift. Human hubris or idolatry results in climate nemesis. God creates the earth with its climate through his Word. In Jesus God lives in the earth community, experiencing and walking within the restraints of climate in first century Galilee. Jesus’ baptism, his lifestyle, especially his teaching and meals, his passion, death, and resurrection are all climate related. Jesus, in modern parlance lived and died sustainably. We are Jesus risen as sustainable community today.

Contra Swinburne I argue that God cannot exist within time. There is a sufficient condition for its being now now. Because the conception of God existing within time cannot account for this condition, it has to be rejected. Based on Priest I argue that God's creative act is this: to cause the actuality of the universe within the soul.