Welcome to Ragged Theology!

Welcome to my blog Ragged Theology!  It has taken me many years to finally join the blogosphere but thanks to my lovely wife Kirsteen who is a seasoned blogger, I have finally launched into this exciting (if slightly daunting) online world.

As you will see as you read this blog, I am no theologian but have a passion to know God better and see him honoured in every area of life.  William Perkins, the father of English Puritanism once said that theology is ‘the science of living blessedly for ever’.  I believe that our problem as Christians is not that we desire pleasure, but that we do not desire it enough, and that we seek it in the wrong places.  The preacher and pastor John Piper has said ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him’ (John Piper, Desiring God, Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, Sisters: Multonomah Press, 1996).  It is my hope that through this blog I can encourage a few others to find help in the places where I have found help over the years and that together we can enjoy God better.

Living as a Christian husband, father, son and leader in 21^st Century Scotland is tough going but I have found tremendous help in the lives of other great leaders particularly my great hero Thomas Guthrie (1803 – 1873).  His statue stands resplendently in Princess Street Gardens, Edinburgh as a memory to one of the greatest preachers and social reformers Scotland has ever seen.  It is sad that such little is known about Thomas Guthrie today even in Edinburgh where so much of his influence was felt in the 19^th Century.  Hopefully this blog will do a little to change that!

Why Ragged Theology?  Thomas Guthrie was the 'Apostle' of the the Ragged School movement (as Mr Smiles in 'Self Help' called him) which opened its first school in 1847 in Edinburgh.  Inspired by the Industrial Feeding School of Sheriff Watson in Aberdeen which had been operating from 1841 Guthrie used all his skills as an orator, writer and organiser to turn the idea in to a national movement.  Called from a rural parish in Fife, Guthrie came to Old Greyfriars in Edinburgh as an assistant from 1837-1840 when he established a new church called St John's in Victoria Street.  Guthrie was appalled by what he saw around him an pioneered what would now be called 'early intervention.'  His vibrant theology was no ivory tower teaching but Biblical truth set on fire with activism and engagement.  Social intervention and sound doctrine were not enemies to Guthrie but the very essence of Biblical theology.

It is my hope that some of Guthries 'Ragged Theology' can be rediscovered through this blog.  I would be delighted to hear from you and would love for you to leave your comments after any posts you find interesting.