NSW high school students will be taught in English classes to question the meaning of life through a new resource from Christian educators aimed at promoting ‘values-based' education in schools.

The thesis of Archbishop Peter Carnley's book Reflections in the Glass relies heavily on a caricature of his opponents, "Sydney Anglicans", and a highly selective and indeed, puzzling - reading of the Anglican tradition. Although he faintly protests about labelling (p.25), it is really a matter of labelling that is Carnley's concern: he wants to re-badge himself as "progressive orthodox", eschewing the outdated term "liberal" and he wants to apply the label "fundamentalis" to evangelical Anglicans.

The hunger of the Christian reading public for books on Islam seems almost insatiable, which is thoroughly understandable. There is no issue of more contemporary concern than militant Islam. Every one, from government leaders to ordinary people in the street, is anxious to understand the true character of Islam. No question is more pressing than, to what extent is the theology, and consequent practice, of those Muslims who commit acts of violence an expression of true Islam, or to what extent is it a nefarious aberration?

Every couple of years an academic or pseudoacademic text is published which alleges to have discovered a new insight that will undermine the entire Christian faith. Some are attempts to reinvent Jesus while others are simply rehashing old theories and heresies. Certain to be given the Hollywood treatment, The Da Vinci Code capitalises on the marketability of reimagining Jesus by immersing its theories into a Ludlum-style novel.

Archbishop Peter Carnley says John Woodhouse made ‘quite serious mistakes' in his review of the Primate's latest book, Reflections in Glass.

One night on a recent camping trip with a mate, I found myself lying in a clearing of soft short grass staring up at the stars. or the briefest of seconds, even though my puny brain couldn't quite grasp the enormity of it, I got a perspective of the bigness – the absolute mind-boggling vastness – of space. No matter which way you look at it, space is really, really big.