Vestigia Dei
Wycliffe College Blog

Vestigia Dei  – is a Latin term meaning “traces of God.” As a theological term it is associated with natural theology – that is, the view that there are vestiges of God within creation. We’ve chosen this term as the title of the Wycliffe College blog because our hope is that through these writings, readers might glimpse evidences for God as our writers interact with the wider world.

Transitions Into Darkness

Lissa M. Wray Beal
Sometimes transitions lead us into dark territory. Dipping into the book of Jeremiah, Professor Lissa Wray Beal offers insight into how we may all find comfort and hope, even in those transitions. Read more

Walking the Second Half of Life

Lissa M. Wray Beal
Professor of Old Testament, Lissa Wray Beal, analyses how vocation, beauty and trust can fuel the vigour for our Christian journey, and how turning to the examples of leaders in the faith, we can find role models to help lead the way.

Journeying as Pilgrims

Lissa M. Wray Beal

“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.” So begins William Williams’ hymn in which Christian life is a pilgrimage along which the believer’s weakness is exposed, and God’s provision abounds. Pilgrimage is a deeply embedded description of the Christian life.

Suffering and Hope

John Franklin, Executive Director of IMAGO

The most common challenge to Christian faith is the presence of pain, evil, and suffering in the world. We ask, if there is a God, why are these things allowed? Some suffering is the result of our own folly but there is also the suffering that seems to be woven into the fabric of life in ways we

What is Love Anyway?

Wanda Malcolm

It’s Valentine’s Day and as the saying goes, “love is in the air,” but what is love anyway? Ask a few different people what love is, and you will quickly discover that love, like ice cream, comes in different flavors that can be enjoyed on their own or mixed together for an extraordinary treat.

What is “discipleship”?

John Bowen

A friend told me she once preached about discipleship. After the service, a parishioner came up to her and said, irately, “I am not a disciple. I am a member.” Oh well, I guess it was better than no reaction at all, and certainly better than, “Lovely sermon.”

Why I am not “a person of faith”

John Bowen

I do not consider myself “a person of faith.” There, I said it. Are you shocked? 

Yes, I attend my parish church regularly. I say the creed without crossing my fingers. I renew my baptismal vows at least once a year. So what could it possibly mean to say I am not “a person of faith”?

Meanings matter: clarifying “mission” and “gospel”

John Bowen

I remember seminary students who were hoping to be ordained warning one another of the kind of questions they were likely to be asked in the selection process. “It used to be,” they said, “that you had to say something about the importance of the sacraments.

Tips for dealing with pandemic anxiety

Wanda Malcolm

To say that COVID-19 has brought many unwanted challenges into our lives is a blindingly obvious statement. We are weary of the isolation and loneliness.

The hard work of forgiveness and reconciliation

Wanda Malcolm

We are a people who have been made right in our relationship with God through the sacrificial life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The path we’ve travelled in being made right is the path of forgiveness and reconciliation; it’s what it means to be Christians.