Cambridge Papers are published once a quarter (or thereabouts) and address a wide range of topics, offering ‘Christian reflection on contemporary issues’.
The latest paper is available online here (from where a pdf can be downloaded here):
David McIlroy, ‘Abuse Within Evangelical Churches and Organisations: Addressing the Vulnerabilities’, Cambridge Papers (April 2025).
Here is the summary:
‘The responses of evangelical churches and organisations to allegations of abuse have been vitiated by five factors: wrong expectations, wrong priorities, a wrong reading of biblical stories, a wrong approach to sin and crime, and a wrong view of love and justice. First, evangelical institutions have fallen prey to the cult of the charismatic leader. Second, when abuse has been exposed, it has been dealt with privately and/or with a focus on rehabilitating the offender rather than vindicating the victims and preventing others from being victimised. Third, the ugly truths of sexual and other forms of abuse with which the Bible deals have been replaced by narratives which protect the powerful. Fourth, the reality that we are all sinners has been used to obscure the truth that some sins are deeply destructive and amount to crimes meriting public action. Fifth, love has been wrongly separated from justice.’
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