"What is the meaning of it, Watson?"

Every so often, I'll go on a bit of an audiobook kick. At the moment, I'm listening to the Sherlock Holmes Definitive Collection, narrated by Stephen Fry. I'm not sure I'll manage to listen to all 72 hours, but for now I'm enjoying some of Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories about the world's most famous fictional detective.

One part that made me sit up and take notice while falling asleep one night was the conclusion to The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. (It's more exciting than it sounds — the cardboard box in question contains two severed ears). After the solving of a double murder, the story concludes with a profound question.

'"What is the meaning of it, Watson?" said Holmes solemnly as he laid down the paper. "What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end?

For Holmes, there are two possibilities. Either our world has a purpose and things happen for a reason — or the universe is ruled by chance. The latter is unthinkable.

I've given a similar answer when I've been asked why I believe that God exists (as I often am during lunchtime slots in Stranraer Academy). One part of my answer is that, if there's no God, it's all meaningless. And yet as human beings we naturally look for meaning and purpose — and have a clear sense of right and wrong — which all fits with the Bible's explanation that we are made in God's image. We think in terms of right and wrong because God is a moral being. And we look for meaning and purpose, because God has a purpose in all that he does.

Indeed, Holmes believes in more than Intelligent Design, or even simply a Creator — he believes in a good God. In The Naval Treaty he says:

'"Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence [ie God] seems to me to rest in the flowers"'.

His reasoning was that everything else is necessary for existence:

'"But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.'"

In other words, the fact that we have flowers shows that God is good. He didn't need to make them for our survival. He could have made the world black and white. The fact that instead it's overflowing with colours and smells and good things to eat points to the existence of a good and generous God.

That doesn't mean we always know the reason God does things. Just because we believe in a good God who does all things for a purpose, doesn't mean we know what that purpose is. Hence Holmes asks: "But what end?"

We can answer his question in general terms. But when confronted with tragedy, we don't need to pretend to know all the reasons. It's enough to know that God is in control, and that he is good.

But one day we will know. Holmes also believed in a day of judgement, when everyone would stand before their Creator. In The Boscombe Valley Mystery he tells a dying man who has just committed murder: '"You are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes"'

A day of reckoning awaits. But Holmes also believes in salvation. In The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle he says: '"I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul'".

And if people are saved, ultimately it's God that does it. As the detective comments at one point: "There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes".

Until Judgement Day, we wait. And we trust. Indeed a passage in The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger is particularly relevant to the so-called "Assisted Dying" debate. Holmes successful persuades a disfigured woman not to end her own life:

"Your life is not your own," he said. "Keep your hands off it."

She responds, as many still do: "What use is it to anyone?"

Holmes replies: "How can you tell? The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world."

That, then, is the theology of Sherlock Holmes. We don't always know what God is doing, but he's good and he's in control. The alternative is unthinkable. But belief in a good God isn't just wishful thinking, because he's provided evidence of his goodness in Creation. There is a day of judgement coming, ahead of which souls will either be lost or saved. And until then, we keep going, never forgetting that life itself is a gift.

As usual, it’s obvious once Holmes points it out!

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 10th September 2026

New Book by Stranraer Minister

The Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press contained the following report on 30th July:

June saw the publication of a new book entitled "Written on the Heart" by Stranraer minister Rev. Stephen Steele. The book is part of the Grassmarket Press series, named after the spot in Edinburgh where many Covenanters were executed in the seventeenth century. Grassmarket books aim at introducing key Christian doctrines to the ordinary person. Other books in the series cover topics such as love, generosity, the worship of God, the church, etc. Steele's contribution seeks to introduce the law of God. He told the Free Press: "The law of God is a topic that many Christians are confused about. There are some laws in the Bible that almost all Christians agree no longer apply — but how do we know which do and which don't? The new Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, has accused Christians of picking and choosing which laws to follow. Is that the case? The New Testament can be very positive about the ongoing role of the Old Testament law, but also says 'we are not under law, but under grace'. My book seeks to show that it is possible to avoid legalism — trying to obey the law to earn salvation — but still have a high regard for God's law, as lived out perfectly by Jesus Christ." Copies of the book are available from Galilee Books in Glasgow, Covenanter Books in Belfast, or the author. It is also available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle.

(American readers can buy direct from Crown & Covenant)

The following review appeared in the July/August Covenanter Witness:

Grassmarket Press has provided many timely and helpful volumes. The trend continues with Written on the Heart. Rev. Stephen Steele has been writing regular blog posts and journal articles for many years and his accessible and persuasive style is very much to the fore in this, his first book. He deals with a crucially important subject: the question of a Christian's relationship to the Law of God. Recent decades have seen a great deal of debate and confusion on this subject. Many Christians, whilst perhaps vaguely persuaded of the need to observe nine of the Ten Commandments, nonetheless claim there are reasons to discount the Fourth Commandment altogether. Others seem determined to impose various codes of conduct on the Church for which there is no biblical requirement.

Stephen has provided us with a wonderful resource to navigate this tricky terrain. The first chapter - Road Map' - traces the importance of God's Law throughout the "big story' of the Bible, from creation to consummation. Further chapters outline why Reformed, confessional Christians hold to the "Threefold Division of the Law”, seeing the ongoing significance of the Ten Commandments whilst understanding the ceremonial and judicial laws of the Old Testament as having served their purpose. A right understanding of the relationship between Law and Gospel is also laid out, as well as very concise, applicable chapters on Legalism and the Lord's Day.

Few subjects need to be so urgently addressed in the Church today as this one. Stephen has done so with clarity, readability and enthusiasm. His breadth of study is evident in a strikingly wide variety of authors cited, from the Early Church Fathers, to Covenanters, Puritans and modern-day theologians. Yet he also includes plenty of relatable illustrations to bring home his arguments.

This is a book to be read thoughtfully, one that will help disciples of Christ to love him, and his Law, more than we did

The same issue contained the following interview with Stephen:

You can read a review by Daniel Sturgeon, pastor of Stranraer Baptist Church, here.

Baby names and the Bible's reliability

Image: Donnie Ray Jones

Each summer, the most popular baby names for the previous year are revealed. In Scotland, Freya replaced Olivia as the top name for girls, with Noah holding on to the number 1 slot for boys. In England, Olivia was the most popular name for girls for the tenth year in a row, with Muhammad the most popular boys' name for the third successive year.

As Clare Green, an expert who writes for baby-naming website Nameberry, explained to the BBC, "Names can build momentum - the more people give their child a name, the more other parents hear it and like the sound of it, so it snowballs."

You'll know this if you have a child at school. There might be 25 people in their class, but there won't be 25 different names. Or I think of the people I've played football with on Friday nights over the years — even if it's only 5-a-side there can be multiple Iains, Alans, Davids, etc. My friend Josiah played for the first time last week and it was clearly a name people weren't using to shouting in the middle of a match!

And in fact, one of the quiet indications that the Bible is accurately reporting real events is its use of names.

For a start, the Bible has lots of people with the same names! Works of fiction generally don't. But in the New Testament there are 8 Simons, 6 or 7 Marys, 6 Josephs, 6 Judases, etc. Having some baby names be more popular than others is nothing new — and this is reflected in the New Testament documents.

But more than that, the most popular names in the New Testament were also the most popular names in Palestine at the time. The top 7 most popular Jewish names in Palestine at the time were Simon, Joseph, Lazarus, Judas, John, Jesus, and Ananias. These also just happen to all be some of the most popular names in the New Testament. Why does that matter? Because if someone living elsewhere had been making up the contents of the gospels, they wouldn't have been able to come up with authentic character names. Even in Jewish communities elsewhere, like in Egypt, the most popular names were very different. Lazarus and Joseph were popular names in both places — but the 2nd most popular name in Egpyt, Sabbataius, was only number 68 in Palestine. Pappus and Ptolemaius were #4 and #6 among Jews in Egypt, but only #39 and #50 in Palestine. In other words, a Jew writing in Egypt couldn't have come up with either the right names, or the right distribution of those names. Even someone making up the gospels in Palestine would be unlikely to make the most popular names in society the most popular names in their book. If the book was long enough, they might contain two characters with the same names, but unlikely 6 or 7!

Furthermore, when the gospels use the most popular names, a qualifier or nickname is often used. When Matthew lists the 12 disciples, the most popular names come with nicknames/clarifications: Simon called Peter, James the son of Zebedee, John his brother, Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him. Those names are all in the top 11. But the other names of the disciples are much less popular, and so don't need nicknames: Thaddeus (#39), Bartholomew (#50), Philip (#61), along with Thomas (outside the top 100). So even if someone living in Palestine was making up the gospels, and even if they got the right proportion of most popular names, they would still have to remember to reflect that in ordinary conversation. At some point it's just easier to believe that the gospels were written at the time and in the place they claim to be written.

Now someone might say: "Ok fine, the names of the people are accurate, but the miracles and so on are made up". The accusation is often made that the events recorded in the gospels have become garbled over the years, like in the game that the Americans call the Telephone Game, known over here as Chinese Whispers.

There are many problems with that analogy; for a start, the whole game is set up to try and confuse the message. But it also just doesn't fit the evidence. In one sense, the truth of the gospels doesn't depend on the names being accurate. They're incidental. But if even the names of the people involved have been accurately passed down over these past 2,000 years — does it not give us confidence that the most important events have also been passed on accurately too?

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 6th August 2026

"Bodies not Bucks" — a renewal effort in South West Scotland

The following article, introducing the Stranraer Renewal Cooperative, appears in the current issue of the Banner of Truth Magazine (August-September 2026). Another article, introducing the SRC to Gentle Reformation readers, has recently been written by Kyle Borg: Give Us Scotland Again: The Stranraer Renewal Cooperative

UK pastors have a long history of going to the USA to fundraise. The Irish Reformed Presbyterian minister Robert Nevin spent almost six months in America in the mid-19th century, travelling 3,291 miles to raise funds for the construction of a new church building in Londonderry. (The building was sold during the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and now, rather galling, is to be turned into a mosque.) While not averse to doing the same, our focus in Stranraer recently has been on trying to encourage mature Christians from the US to come and be part of the congregation here for at least a month. The response has blown us away, and there is scope for other churches to do the same.

Stranraer has a rich evangelical history through men like John Livingstone, Alexander Smellie and William Symington. Yet today less than 0.1% of the population are evangelical Christians. My own congregation went 30 years without a full-time pastor. In my decade here we’ve seen conversions, but we lack mature Christians. Attempts to try and persuade Christian folk to move here have met with limited success – but in 2025 we had five retired American couples (and one young family) come for between one and three months. Most of 2026 is also filled.

Those who’ve come have taught Sunday School, led Bible studies, offered hospitality, helped in evangelism, carried out practical work, supported young families, and just got alongside people who know very few other Christians. They have been role models for our children and for young believers. A generous donation is now covering the cost of a rental house for those coming. As well as those from our sister denomination in the States, we’ve had couples from the OPC and PCA. Those coming don’t need any particular skills, just a heart for people and a willingness to serve. For those interested in coming — or replicating this approach in their own situation — more information can be found at www.stranraerrpcs.org/renewal

What's Missing from Ch--rch?

Every so often I'll see a sign or a facebook post asking "What's missing from ch--ch?" The answer? "U R" (you are). It's a mildly humorous attempt to encourage people to come back to church, or to start attending for the first time.

And yet there is something more than people missing from many churches in Scotland. What's often missing today is what the Reformers described as the "marks" of the church. Men like John Knox identified three marks of the church: the preaching of the gospel, the pure administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of church discipline. In other words, a church is not just an organisation that calls itself a church, it must have the marks of the church. Certainly, there are other attributes of healthy churches, but these three were singled out because they are visible as well as foundational. A church missing these marks may still meet, it may still organise lots of activities — but it may not be a true church. It may once have been a true church. It might not have been turned into a restaurant or flats or a carpet showroom. People may still meet there on Sundays, sing hymns, and listen to someone speak from the front — but it may no longer Biblically qualify as a church.

These three marks weren't just randomly plucked from the air: they were drawn from Biblical passages such as Acts 2:42 where we're told that the first Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers".

The Reformers agreed that the foundational mark of the church was the right preaching of the gospel. Just because someone speaks from a pulpit does not mean they are preaching the gospel. The Bible is often used to give moral lessons — along the lines of Aesop's fables. But men, women, boys and girls are not confronted with their need, as Jesus himself put it, to be "born again" — "to repent and believe in the gospel". One place where the lack of true gospel preaching is often seen is at funerals. The Christian hope in the face of death is wrongly applied to those whose lives demonstrated that they had no interest in Jesus Christ. Those present are left with the impression that everyone will get to heaven in the end. It might not have been said in so many words, but the heresy of universalism has been proclaimed. An opportunity to graciously and lovingly preach the gospel to (perhaps) hundreds of people is missed.

The Reformers identified the second mark of the church as the right administration of the sacraments. They began by identifying two (and only two) sacraments — baptism and the Lord's Supper. But these sacraments had to be rightly administered: baptism is not to be given to everyone who asks for it — it is only for believers and their children. Likewise, the elders of the church are to exercise oversight as to who comes to the Lord's Table. Yes, a person is to examine themselves (1 Cor. 11:28), but the elders also have the responsibility to "purge the evil person from among you" (1 Cor. 5:12).

This brings us to the third mark of the church: the exercise of church discipline. It has been said: “When discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it". "Discipline" can sound scary, but we tend to recognise that it's not a good thing for children to be brought up without it. In the church it's simply part of pastoral care — the recognition that every sheep needs a shepherd. A shepherd who cares for you so much that if you go astray, they'll come after you, rather than leaving you to wander. Or if you get hurt by someone, they'll come alongside you.

For this mark to be present, the church needs elders who meet the biblical qualifications set down in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Tragically, however, eldership in many Scottish churches has become a way of honouring people who've been around for a while — or been given to those who are respected in the community — irrespective of whether they have faith in Jesus. Someone once told me that their elders had never talked to them about the Bible. When it gets to the point that most of the elders shouldn't even be church members, it's clear that this mark was lost long ago.

So what's missing from church? Often the reason that people have deserted a congregation is due to the missing marks. For example, if people don't hear anything different on a Sunday than they could hear on the news or from a self-help book, why go? If public sin goes unchallenged, why invest your energies? The lack of these three marks has very practical consequences. The Reformers weren't motivated to talk about “true” and “false” churches by ego or arrogance, but by a sincere desire for the spiritual health of God's people and their communities — and his glory.

Certainly, there can be true Christians in churches where these marks are missing. But God himself would say to them, "Come out of her, my people" (Rev. 18:4).

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 9th July 2026

NOTE: James Bannerman identifies a progression from “the somewhat loose and popular definitions of the Church visible, commonly given at the Reformation, to the stricter and more scientific definitions of the seventeenth century”. He makes a distinction between things which are necessary for the church’s existence, and its well being. It is, he argues: “apostolic doctrine which alone marks out a Church of Christ".