How evangelical doctrine and Biblical inerrancy can distort the Bible and Jesus
August 1st, 2019
Most christians have been taught to reverence the Bible. This has been especially true of Protestant christianity. The Reformation was built on the doctrine of sola scriptura (by scripture alone). And when conservative christianity felt threatened by evolution, liberal theology and modernist thinking in the 19th century, it developed a statement of “the fundamentals”, one […]
Larry Hurtado
July 15th, 2019
Larry Hurtado is retired New Testament scholar, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has continued hs scholarly work since retiring.
Losing my religion
July 1st, 2019
The word “religion” can have different meanings. At its simplest, it means “belief in and worship of God or gods” (Oxford Dictionary). But more precisely, religion is often seen as a designated set of beliefs and rituals by which people relate to a god. Thus religion (implying dogma and restrictions) is often contrasted to spirituality […]
Evangelical, Liberal and Progressive Christianity – three diverging paths
June 16th, 2019
There’s a lot of new, and sometimes scary, ideas flying around the christian scene these days. What are we to make of them?? Where is Protestant christianity heading? If you have doubts and questions about your form of christian belief, perhaps another form has something to offer. Check out a few ideas here.
Christians and politics – a deep devastation or glorious triumph?
May 27th, 2019
Just over a week ago was election day in Australia. After being behind in the polls for years, the Government was returned with a small majority. This was seen by most pundits as an important election, charting a course for Australia’s future. Christians seemed to be more active than in any previous election that I […]
Homophobia, Biblical truth and Israel Folau
May 16th, 2019
This is a post about what christians believe, how we should express our belief and how cultures can clash. This is a post about an unfortunate episode in Australian sport and culture, from which no-one is likely to emerge a winner. And hopefully this is a post that won’t add, even in a small way, […]
Modern western evangelicalism – easy religion for comfortable christians?
May 3rd, 2019
I’ve been thinking for a while about modern western evangelical christianity. Not what some people may see as the worst of this belief system – televangelists, conservative politics and a focus on sexual ethics – but the mainstream. My initial christian experience was in this culture and belief, and while I have moved on in […]
Can I say anything new about the resurrection of Jesus?
April 18th, 2019
I have been re-reading NT Wright’s chapter on the “The Surprise of Resurrection” in Jesus: the final days, where he corrects some doubtful christian ideas about the resurrection, and offers reasons why we should regard the gospel accounts as basically historical.
Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1:20)
March 25th, 2019
It is no news that people seem to becoming more polarised politically these days. But it is sad, unhelpful and unnecessary. It is particularly sad when christians fall into this. And it seems to be particularly common when discussing issues relating to terrorism and Islam. Like this last week …..
Evangelism – learning from unbelievers
March 13th, 2019
There’s a saying in chess that, if you are in doubt about your next move, choose the move your opponent would like least. I reckon a similar, but opposite, saying might apply to christian evangelism: if you are wanting to evangelise, try to choose the behaviour your friend would most appreciate. A recent study by […]
A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.