• Grace growing at a pace
• The Commentary
  Making economies
• Paul's Place
  How a ministry is growing out of family tragedy
• Teamwork!
  How the church should avoid shooting itself in the foot
• How to visit holiday churches
  Some challenges
• Thrown out of the church
  Joseph Alleine and the Great Ejection from the Church of England
• Skateboarding to God's glory
• Chuck Colson, 1931-2012
  Obituary
• India: Good Shepherd Ministries
• Unapologetic Christianity
  Bible blunders?
• The Music Exchange
  Music from elsewhere
• Crossing the culture
  You say you want a revolution...
• Notes to growing Christians
  Ongoing commitment
• The Third Degree
  UCCF hi-tech
• Letter from America
  Simeon in the USA
• Monthly youth leaders column
  The quiet ones

other articles

• Salmon fishing in the Yemen
• Engaging with Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• The church, women bishops & provision
• CO2.1 - Beyond the EU's Emissions Trading System
• The renewed pastor - Writings in honour of Philip Hacking
• His blood works - The meaning of the word 'blood' in Scripture
• Excellence in preaching
• 20 first dates - My search for Mr. Right
• Travel through Rome - City of empire, Christendom and culture
• Religion for atheists
• Fighting fear with faith
• Making sanity out of vanity - Christian realism in the Book of Ecclesiastes
• Bringing the gospel home - Sharing your faith with family and friends
• Wigglesworth, the complete story
• The power to save - A history of the gospel in China

The incomplete angler

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Cert: 12A
Running time: 107 minutes

The project seems ridiculous. In an effort to be associated with some positive publicity from the Middle East, the British government backs the idea of a wealthy sheikh constructing an environment for Scottish salmon in the desolate wastes of the Yemen.

Fred (Ewan McGregor), a scientist from the Department of Fisheries, and Harriet (Emily Blunt) from the firm which represents the sheikh’s business interests in London, are pushed together to make the project work. The viability of the impossible project becomes a metaphor for faith that, despite all obstacles and disappointment in life, good things can happen.

Faith in faith

Can science unite with religion? Can there be a way out of a bad marriage into fulfilling love? Can people of acutely diverse cultures live in peace? In a failing secular world the film gently suggests that we need to believe such things can be done.

As human beings we have no problem in accepting the psychological benefits of faith. It tends to uplift us with hope. But the film, in true postmodern style, seems to deliberately shy away from asking whether or not faith is founded in reality. What is missing is any mention of the object of faith, even for the Muslim billionaire ruler.

What separates us from the film’s outlook is that as evangelical Christians we are quite willing to give a reason for the hope that is in us. (An interesting film, but note there is some awfully bad language.)

John Benton