Kirsten Birkett on Class and Evangelicalism in Britain

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):

Kirsten Birkett, ‘Class and evangelicalism in Britain’, Cambridge Papers 35, 1 (March 2026).

Here is the summary:

‘Class in Britain is easy to understand in broad outline but very complicated in practice. This paper surveys ways in which class can be understood in twenty-first-century Britain, and some of the biblical material concerning class and wealth. It identifies a problem for British evangelicals: their evangelism is not reaching the working classes. It is suggested that there is a need to challenge existing evangelical church culture as well as making a concerted effort to plant more churches for working-class people.’

Foundations 74 (Spring 2018)

Issue 74 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available (here in its entirety as a pdf), with the following contributions:

Martin Salter

Editorial

Jamie A. Grant

Crisis, Cursing and the Christian: Reading Imprecatory Psalms in the Twenty-First Century

Many Christian readers of the Psalter balk at the psalms that call down curses on particular people in response to wrongs that have been perpetrated by them. We are uncomfortable both with the language and the ethical implications. Effectively, these psalms are omitted from the life and worship of the church. This article argues that this should not be the case. When understood in the light of the constraints of genre and when understood as prayers offered to the Sovereign, these psalms provide us with a spiritual vocabulary which enables us to deal with the horrific injustices of life before the throne of God.

Heather R.F. Harper

The Book of Job as a Theology of Isolation

Suffering is an inescapable part of life. As Christians it is difficult to comprehend that a God who is both omnipotent and benevolent could allow his people to endure such agony. This raises the issue of how Christians should respond to suffering. To answer the question this paper will firstly reflect on the aspects of isolation caused by suffering in the book of Job, paying particular attention to chapters 2, 3, 29, 30 and 31. Secondly, it will consider Job’s response to isolation caused by suffering, with particular attention to his lament and Job 42:7-17, and use this as a paradigm of how Christians should respond to God, our own thoughts and emotions, and others during times of suffering.

Jon Putt

Culture, Class and Ethnicity: A Theological Exploration

Christian discussion of culture, class and ethnicity are as important as they are heated. Often they fail to properly define terms or reflect deeply within theological categories. This paper is a theological exploration of the ways in which the concepts of class, culture and ethnicity are understood in biblical terms and subsequently interrelated. It is part of an attempt to uncover and confront our own cultural blind spots and biases, and in turn value the other more highly than ourselves.

Fiona R. Gibson

Overcoming Listlessness: Learning from Evagrius of Pontus

Early and medieval Christian writers cautioned believers against the Seven Deadly Sins. Even today most Christians could probably name most of them. However, the one that was considered one of the most deadly and complex – acedia – is now virtually unknown and little understood. This paper will briefly examine the nature of acedia by engaging with the writings of Evagrius of Pontus, who was one of the first theologians to deal extensively with what acedia is, and how to overcome it. Some of his remedies may be surprising, and have unexpected contemporary applications.

Daniel Stevens

Review Article: The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge

Book Reviews

The Great British Class Calculator

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the research behind this, but the BBC today posted a fascinating piece saying that ‘people in the UK now fit into seven social classes’.

‘Class has traditionally been defined by occupation, wealth and education. But this research argues that this is too simplistic, suggesting that class has three dimensions – economic, social and cultural.’

This being the case, the new classes are defined as:

• Elite – the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals.

• Established middle class – the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital.

• Technical middle class – a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy.

• New affluent workers – a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital.

• Traditional working class – scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66.

• Emergent service workers – a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.

• Precariat, or precarious proletariat – the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital.

A link to a ‘calculator’ allows readers to see where they might fit.