John Bell webinar looks at war, poverty and the climate crisis

In the latest of our Questions of Our Times webinars, John Bell, the acclaimed hymnwriter and activist, considers the question: The world is broken – what would Jesus do? The webinar is the tenth in the series and follows on from our previous webinars in early 2022 and in 2021 – find all 10 videos on our YouTube playlist.

In this conversation with Major Nigel Bovey, which took place in November 2022 (play above to view, or find the video on our YouTube channel), John talks about how Jesus might react to war, poverty, suffering and the climate crisis. He also examines the accuracy of the Victorian depiction of Jesus as ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’, which still influences how people think about Jesus.

The webinar also includes questions from viewers, which include ‘What do you think ordinary people should be doing about climate change?’ and ‘What hope would you offer young people who are fearful of the future?’

John Bell is a minister of the Church of Scotland and a member of the Iona Community. He has worked for over 30 years in the areas of music, worship, spirituality and social justice. A prolific hymn writer, John has published 17 collections of original and global songs, and numerous collections of liturgical material. His most recent books are:

10 Things They Never Told Me About Jesus (2022)
Living with the Psalms (2020)
All That Matters (2010)
Thinking Out Loud (2008)

The host for Questions of our Times is Major Nigel Bovey, former editor of the Salvation Army magazine The War Cry, and the author of several books. His latest book, Browsing the Bible is a guide for anyone who wants to get started (or who wants to keep on reading) the Bible. Find our review of the book here: A guide to browsing the Bible.

Main image: Saikiran Kesari on Unsplash