It's true that when Christianity is socially powerful, faith can look from the outside as if it is mainly a matter of membership, of participation in the vast synchronised swim of institutions. Francis Spufford christianityfaithinstitution Change image and share on social
I want to know why I read as a child with such a frantic appetite, why I sucked the words off the page with such an edge of desperation. Francis Spufford appetitechilddesperation Change image and share on social
The emotions that sustain religious belief are all, in fact, deeply ordinary and deeply recognisable to anybody who has ever made their way across the common ground of human experience as an adult. Francis Spufford adultbeliefcommon Change image and share on social
If you based your knowledge of the human species exclusively on adverts, you'd think that the normal condition of humanity was to be a good-looking single person between 20 and 35, with excellent muscle-definition and/or an excellent figure, and a large disposable income. Francis Spufford advertbasecondition share on social
What I absolutely want is to suggest that before it's anything else, redemption is God mending the bicycle of our souls; God bringing out the puncture repair kit, re-inflating the tires, taking off the rust, making us roadworthy once more. Not so that we can take flight into ecstasy, but so that we can do the next needful mile of our lives. Francis Spufford absolutelybicyclebring 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
Belief demands that you dispense with illusion after illusion, while contemporary common sense requires continual, fluffy pretending - pretending that might as well be systematic, it's so thoroughly incentivised by our culture. Francis Spufford beliefcommoncontemporary share on social
Emotions can certainly be misleading: they can fool you into believing stuff that is definitely, demonstrably untrue. Francis Spufford believedemonstrablyemotion Change image and share on social
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
Anyone can be self-educated if they find the loose end of something to care about passionately. Francis Spufford careeducateend Change image and share on social