Anna Jones Buttimore

This post is the third in a series. Click here to read part 1 , and here to read part 2. I'm saved already! The Evangelical message of salvation (from death, sin, hell and separation from God) is that everyone must to repent, turn to Christ and accept him as Lord of their lives. Thus far it is the same as the message the LDS Missionaries preach (see Article of Faith 4 .) However, in the Evangelical version, salvation is then guaranteed for life. As a teenager I clarified that with my sister – did this really mean that I was saved eternally, whatever I might do in future? She assured me that it did; salvation is a gift, and God does not take a gift away once it is given.  [Quick aside here: The Mormon version of salvation is slightly different. We believe that salvation is a covenant. That in order to be saved we must repent of our sins, turn to Christ and follow him. Following him includes enduring to the end and striving to live righteously.   W...

First off, go here to read part 1. And now that you've read that, here's the first reason I am not an Evangelical. 1. Jamie Bulger and the Bible Study Group While living in Criccieth, North Wales, and attending the Criccieth Family Church (an independent evangelical church run by some Scripture Union Beach Mission staff) I went along to their evening Bible Study group for almost a year, which was held in a hotel owned by the church. I rather enjoyed it, and I learned a lot and took part in some interesting discussions. One one occasion we were having a discussion about the recent (then) news that the teenage killers of toddler Jamie Bulger had been released from prison. One of the ladies present remarked how sad it all was but that the poor little boy was now in heaven. The pastor corrected her, saying that since Jamie Bulger had not been old enough to make a confession of faith in Jesus, he was therefore in hell. The ensuing debate made it quite clear that Evangeli...

I found this document on my computer recently. I wrote it a couple of years ago to clarify why I have made the decisions I have, and chosen the path I am following, rather than the oh-so-easier one of being part of the biggest and most dynamic and popular Christian movement today. I think I wrote it with Betrand Russell's 1927 essay, "Why I am not a Christian" in mind, although of course I am  a Christian, however much people may try to claim otherwise. I'm sorry that it's so long that it has to be posted in seven parts. Well, not all that sorry, as it gives me a break from having to come up with topics to blog about each week, and I need that time to actually write and edit at the moment as I have a deadline looming. Comments welcome, although I reserve the right to gleefully delete any I don't like. Introduction Since becoming a Christian at the age of 14, I have attended various churches. Starting off with the Brethren congregation where I attend...

In writing, as in so many areas of life, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Even a really good writer will have elements of the craft that he or she is not particularly good at. Tolkien, for example, wasn't very good at battle scenes, and the film-makers charged with bringing his books to life for the big screen reported that they relished the opportunity to fully create a dramatic and authentic fight because there was so little to work with in the books. A friend of mine is currently editing a book. She says that the writer is extremely good at writing interpersonal relationships and she is often moved to tears as she read these powerful sections, but is very poor at creating a fully visualised and relatable setting. I'm not particularly good at characterisation or dialogue, but readers of my books have said that they like my descriptive scenes. I'm also a bit of a horror for writing myself into a corner. I'll have my character say something like, "I...

Like most writers, I have a day job. I love my job, and I'm very happy that it affords me the opportunity to use my writing skills. As an example I present exhibit A, which I think is some of my best work. Specifically, note just how many kettle puns I have managed to squeeze into just the first two sentences.

There seems to have a been a rise recently in people writing books about crazy things they did. From Yes Man (saying Yes to every proposal) to The Year of Living Biblically  and Round Ireland with a Fridge (you figure it out) it's a fun way to have an adventure, write a book and make some money. It's given me a new idea for a book: The Year of No Tax .  Unfortunately I can't write this book (you'll see why later) but I am happy for someone else to take up this idea and run with it, and maybe even make a good (taxable) income from the resulting book.  Whoever that person might be, the premise is that the author has to live for a whole year without paying tax. Not just income tax, but other taxes too. Here's the demographic of the person who might be able to pull this off: He would have to have earnings of under £10,000 per year, or whatever the current tax-free allowance is. (That rules me out.) He couldn't run a car. From road tax to fuel duty, motori...

On Sunday as we sat in church waiting for the service to begin, I asked my husband how he was getting on with reading Wool  by Hugh Howey, a book I have been raving about recently and had enthusiastically recommended to him. "I'm struggling with it," he admitted, "Because I can't get past all the swearing." Swearing?  I didn't remember any swearing, and told him so. He opened his Kindle and showed me and indeed one character swears constantly. I was shocked that I hadn't noticed. Only a couple of months ago I refused to finish reading one of our book club assigned books because of all the bad language in the first couple of chapters. (If you want to know why I object to swearing, read this post .) My first thought was that the fact that I hadn't noticed the swearing in Wool  was testament to how well written it was. I must have been completely engrossed if my brain glossed over it. Maybe, like an addict in denial, my mind had refused to...