Steve Holmes
@steverholmes.bsky.social
Baptist Minister. Presently teaching theology at the University of St Andrews at least most of the time. Writing on Baptist history and the doctrine of God, and striving to fail as adequately as I can.
'Go litel book...' (Cambridge Element arguing for a theological account of prayer--all prayer--being answered.
October 20, 2025 at 7:13 PM
'Go litel book...' (Cambridge Element arguing for a theological account of prayer--all prayer--being answered.
The harvest Moon between cathedral towers. This is an experiment, rather more edited than I usually do. Essentially, I combined two shots, one exposed for the Moon, making the rest black, and one exposed for the building, with a burnt-out blob in the middle. Does it look fake? I can't decide.
October 7, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The harvest Moon between cathedral towers. This is an experiment, rather more edited than I usually do. Essentially, I combined two shots, one exposed for the Moon, making the rest black, and one exposed for the building, with a burnt-out blob in the middle. Does it look fake? I can't decide.
Baptising C this morning at the very spot on the beach where she once came intending suicide. She testified that that day she heard God’s voice thunder “I will write a different story”
September 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Baptising C this morning at the very spot on the beach where she once came intending suicide. She testified that that day she heard God’s voice thunder “I will write a different story”
Has anyone told the VAR folk at Stockley Park about this?
September 6, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Has anyone told the VAR folk at Stockley Park about this?
Such stats aren't published of course, but every time I read about someone who has defected from the Tories to Reform I get the sense that the average IQ of both parties is increasing slightly as a result.
September 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Such stats aren't published of course, but every time I read about someone who has defected from the Tories to Reform I get the sense that the average IQ of both parties is increasing slightly as a result.
Reposted by Steve Holmes
Ele é capaz de se borrar em debate.
March 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Ele é capaz de se borrar em debate.
This may be the least helpful line I've ever found in a Biblical commentary, and that is a hotly-contested title: 'The contrast is made all the more vivid by the antithetical parallelism and asyndeton which characterize the structure of the verse.'
March 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
This may be the least helpful line I've ever found in a Biblical commentary, and that is a hotly-contested title: 'The contrast is made all the more vivid by the antithetical parallelism and asyndeton which characterize the structure of the verse.'
Just booked tickets to see Suzanne Vega in Edinburgh. Youngest asked 'Who is Suzanne Vega?' I suggested 'who Taylor Swift wants to be when she grows up'.
March 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Just booked tickets to see Suzanne Vega in Edinburgh. Youngest asked 'Who is Suzanne Vega?' I suggested 'who Taylor Swift wants to be when she grows up'.
16yo asked me to look over her Higher English essay. Apparently my suggesting that she could 'use a gerund here' was not helpful.
February 23, 2025 at 1:39 PM
16yo asked me to look over her Higher English essay. Apparently my suggesting that she could 'use a gerund here' was not helpful.
Not a difficult one, but guess the source (my tr.):
'Without equity, then, nations are just massive criminal conspiracies … A group of people with a leader is bound together by a shared commitment; and they divide their riches by their shared rules. If utterly reprobate people are involved... 1/2
'Without equity, then, nations are just massive criminal conspiracies … A group of people with a leader is bound together by a shared commitment; and they divide their riches by their shared rules. If utterly reprobate people are involved... 1/2
February 21, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Not a difficult one, but guess the source (my tr.):
'Without equity, then, nations are just massive criminal conspiracies … A group of people with a leader is bound together by a shared commitment; and they divide their riches by their shared rules. If utterly reprobate people are involved... 1/2
'Without equity, then, nations are just massive criminal conspiracies … A group of people with a leader is bound together by a shared commitment; and they divide their riches by their shared rules. If utterly reprobate people are involved... 1/2
Asked a daughter who happened to be home to check over something I'd written in her area of expertise. She made several useful suggestions, and then at one point corrected my grammar. I can't quite work out whether to be utterly overjoyed or deeply offended.
February 13, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Asked a daughter who happened to be home to check over something I'd written in her area of expertise. She made several useful suggestions, and then at one point corrected my grammar. I can't quite work out whether to be utterly overjoyed or deeply offended.
Excellent seminar this morning from Simon Burton (Edinburgh), including several quotations from Cotton Mather, who was rather more direct in discussing matters theological than I had realised. I particularly liked 'metaphysics is the excrement of all the disciplines'.
February 12, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Excellent seminar this morning from Simon Burton (Edinburgh), including several quotations from Cotton Mather, who was rather more direct in discussing matters theological than I had realised. I particularly liked 'metaphysics is the excrement of all the disciplines'.
I was totally committed to a trip down south this weekend. I said ‘no man may stop me’. The storm Eowyn appeared saying ‘I am no man’…
January 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I was totally committed to a trip down south this weekend. I said ‘no man may stop me’. The storm Eowyn appeared saying ‘I am no man’…
The English who fled to Frankfurt to escape Mary's persecutions had a disagreement over liturgy. They formed a theological commission, as you do. They chose Calvin, Bullinger, Peter Martyr, Viret, and Musculus. That's some intellectual firepower for a question about the liturgy of one congregation!
January 20, 2025 at 10:19 PM
The English who fled to Frankfurt to escape Mary's persecutions had a disagreement over liturgy. They formed a theological commission, as you do. They chose Calvin, Bullinger, Peter Martyr, Viret, and Musculus. That's some intellectual firepower for a question about the liturgy of one congregation!
Forced by Uni directives to think about branding ourselves. I offered 'St Andrews Theological Academics Network,' but apparently 'SATAN' doesn't work as an acronym...
January 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Forced by Uni directives to think about branding ourselves. I offered 'St Andrews Theological Academics Network,' but apparently 'SATAN' doesn't work as an acronym...
Thermal under trousers, as advertised by Marks & Spencer. I may be missing something here, but…
January 5, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Thermal under trousers, as advertised by Marks & Spencer. I may be missing something here, but…
You mean all *that* was him sitting on the fence?
December 21, 2024 at 10:35 AM
You mean all *that* was him sitting on the fence?
This book is very good but, if I was analysing evidence for how many fell victim to a demand that heretics be burnt at the stake, I would avoid 'no smoke without fire' type metaphors...
December 11, 2024 at 3:31 PM
This book is very good but, if I was analysing evidence for how many fell victim to a demand that heretics be burnt at the stake, I would avoid 'no smoke without fire' type metaphors...
As tomorrow is advent Sunday, could I get in early and note that it was the bit of the home where the animals lived, and the only possible word we have for that in English is 'stable'...
November 30, 2024 at 9:32 PM
As tomorrow is advent Sunday, could I get in early and note that it was the bit of the home where the animals lived, and the only possible word we have for that in English is 'stable'...
I'm all for pedantry, but what if the Mary Shelley character finds the word 'monster' offensive and demeaning, and actually would rather be known simply as 'Frankenstein'?
November 27, 2024 at 11:06 PM
I'm all for pedantry, but what if the Mary Shelley character finds the word 'monster' offensive and demeaning, and actually would rather be known simply as 'Frankenstein'?
Trying to write something on Hebrew manuscripts and my word processor keeps autocorrecting 'Masoretes' to 'Majorettes'. The images this suggests are not helping my concentration...
November 24, 2024 at 10:32 PM
Trying to write something on Hebrew manuscripts and my word processor keeps autocorrecting 'Masoretes' to 'Majorettes'. The images this suggests are not helping my concentration...
All my Man City supporting friends began the season saying they were looking for record breaking scores & an unprecedented five-in-a-row…
November 23, 2024 at 7:27 PM
All my Man City supporting friends began the season saying they were looking for record breaking scores & an unprecedented five-in-a-row…
An Erasmus exchange student from Germany asked me today what the German equivalent of 'Theory' (capital T!) might be. I confess I have no idea, and I'm not even sure there is one--the idea might itself be an Anglo-American construct. Can anyone advise?
November 21, 2024 at 8:48 PM
An Erasmus exchange student from Germany asked me today what the German equivalent of 'Theory' (capital T!) might be. I confess I have no idea, and I'm not even sure there is one--the idea might itself be an Anglo-American construct. Can anyone advise?
Coire Gabhail, the 'Lost Valley', Glenshee, Scotland
November 21, 2024 at 8:39 PM
Coire Gabhail, the 'Lost Valley', Glenshee, Scotland
Re-reading something I wrote quickly some years ago in preparation for a doctoral viva, I discover I once described the task of theological scholarship as 'striving to fail as adequately as [we] can'.
November 17, 2024 at 10:26 PM
Re-reading something I wrote quickly some years ago in preparation for a doctoral viva, I discover I once described the task of theological scholarship as 'striving to fail as adequately as [we] can'.