In a hundred years, Christianity will have mutated into something utterly unpredictable which, nevertheless, we'd recognize immediately. And same-sex marriage will be one of the fine old God-given traditions that conservatives leap to defend. Francis Spufford christianityconservativedefend share on social
Libraries are public treasuries. They're ways in which well-meaning societies leave the wealth of the past arranged A to Z so that anyone walking past can find it. Francis Spufford arrangefindleave Change image and share on social
I was never argued out of faith; it was much more passive than that - and I wasn't argued back in, either. Francis Spufford arguebackfaith Change image and share on social
Self-awareness is not the same thing as self-approval, any more than imagination is the same thing as day-dreaming. Francis Spufford approvalawarenessday Change image and share on social
It's always struck me as unfair that writing has so little sensation when it's going well. Francis Spufford sensationstrikeunfair Change image and share on social
Why do I write? From selfishness. Because this state of liquefied, complex concentration, however faintly and dimly I'm able to perceive it, is the greatest pleasure I know. Francis Spufford complexconcentrationdimly Change image and share on social
Christianity is a religion of continuity and discontinuity as well. It's about what stays the same and what changes in the twinkling of an eye. Both are necessary truths, but sometimes it's important to accentuate the discontinuity, the sudden leap, the way you go up a tree, Zacchaeus, and come down a saint. Francis Spufford accentuatechristianitycontinuity share on social
You don't have to become an investment banker as a way of demonstrating that education has worked for you. But librarians have to believe in the values of high culture. Not just high culture but middle culture, low culture, kinds of exciting eye-catching crap of all kinds. Everyone needs that. Francis Spufford bankercatchcrap share on social
I am a fairly orthodox Christian. Every Sunday, I say and do my best to mean the whole of the Creed, which is a series of propositions. But it is still a mistake to suppose that it is assent to the propositions that makes you a believer. It is the feelings that are primary. Francis Spufford assentbelieverchristian share on social
Despite the best efforts of apologists like William Lane Craig, the 'evidence' for Christianity's truth is, in truth, not the kind that science will or should ever admit. We believers mean something different by the word: something that puts faith permanently in the category of irreproducible results. Francis Spufford admitapologistbeliever share on social