Theos Report on Assisted Dying

The latest report from Theos has just been published:

Andrew Grey, The Meaning of Dignity: What’s Beneath the Assisted Dying Debate? (London: Theos, 2024).

As it happens, this is a revision of a report first published in 2018, now revised and reissued in the light of the publication of the Assisted Dying Bill earlier this month.

Here is the blurb:

‘The question of assisted dying is never far away and is now back somewhere near the top of the political agenda. It’s a serious and sensitive debate, about which well-meaning people can disagree profoundly.

‘Much of that disagreement can be traced to conflicting ideas about the meaning of human “dignity”. “Dignity” is used in two subtly different ways – one to do with autonomy and choice, the other with care and relationships – and how we understand the term shapes how we think people should be treated at the end of life.

‘This essay, by Andrew Grey, a fully revised and extended version of Theos’ 2018 report on Dignity in Dying, explores both meanings of “dignity” and argues that the idea of “dignity-through-care” gives a better account of what it means to be human.

‘More pressingly, it also argues that if dignity is understood as personal autonomy expressed through choice, society no longer has any deep reason to deny an individual their choice to die, even if they are not in a terminal condition, not in unbearable pain, or indeed not even in physical ill-health.’

A pdf of the full report is available here.

Evangelical Review of Theology 48, 3 (August 2024)

The latest Evangelical Review of Theology is now online and available in its entirety as a pdf here.

Bruce Barron

Introduction to the Lausanne Articles and to This Issue

Hannes Wiher

50 Years of the Lausanne Movement

The Lausanne Movement is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year by holding its fourth global congress, in Incheon, Korea, on 22–28 September. In July 1974, 2,400 delegates from 150 countries met in Lausanne, Switzerland. Subsequently, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) was formed, from which the Lausanne Movement emerged. In this article, I trace the historical background of the Lausanne Movement, including the circumstances of its birth and its development. I then set out its main theological positions, which are considered today as the basis of the evangelical identity. Finally, I evaluate the movement’s impact.

David W. Bennett

A Movement in Motion: A View from the Inside

What, exactly, is the Lausanne Movement? As it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and prepares for the Fourth Lausanne Congress, to be held this September in Incheon, South Korea, how has the Lausanne Movement changed since the Third Lausanne Congress, which convened in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010? What are some of the trends emerging within the movement, and the priorities shaping its direction?

Richard J. Mouw

Some Thoughts about a Divine Command Approach to Ethics

Christians treat the Ten Commandments as God’s law because he gave them to us. But is that a sufficient justification for ethics? Is God an arbitrary lawmaker to whom we must blindly submit because of his power and authority? Is it reasonable to trust God’s expertise? In this article, a long-respected evangelical ethicist offers mature reflections on these questions and more.

Thomas Paul Schirrmacher

Reflections on the Use and Misuse of Spiritual Gifts

Christians are often encouraged to figure out which spiritual gifts they do or do not have, so that they can function most effectively within the body of Christ. But we do not apply this concept consistently; for example, many churches make no effort to balance the gifts of various leaders or treat the head pastor as if he or she should possess all gifts. This article seeks to enhance our practical deployment of the diversity of abilities among believers.

Perry Shaw

Towards Indigenous Cosmopolitanism in Theological Education

Cross-cultural communication is difficult in any context due to conflicting worldviews, intellectual frameworks and cultural assumptions. It is even more difficult without sympathetic appreciation of the problem. Through acknowledgement, acceptance, appreciation and adaptation, it is possible to move to a posture of mutual enrichment in multicultural engagement.

Jill E. Nelson

Three Important Questions in Ministering to LGBTQ+ Persons

Evangelical Christians and congregations must deal with highly sensitive, practical questions on how to serve and minister to people with same-sex attraction while upholding the traditional biblical view of marriage and sexuality. This article presents a well-grounded approach to three such issues.

Worring Kashung

The Nagas’ Lohe Shawl and Galatians 3:28

The four Naga tribes of northeast India, regardless of their tribe, socio-economic status or gender, all wear the same type of shawl, known as the Lohe Shawl. This inclusive tradition could be a contemporary life illustration of Galatians 3:28 – except that the Nagas do not fully live out the shawl’s implications or properly apply Paul’s climactic declaration that ‘all are one in Christ Jesus.’ This article carefully pairs real-life and biblical exegesis to deepen the power of a classic Pauline lesson.

Evaluating Kwame Bediako’s Legacy

Book Reviews

David Sandifer on the Ethic of Innocence

Cambridge Papers are published once a quarter 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 Sandifer, ‘The Ethic of Innocence: Lessons From Early Nineteenth-Century Christian Moral Reformers’, Cambridge Papers 33, 1 (March 2024).

Here is the summary:

‘Apart from costume dramas, Victorianism has on the whole not aged well. In particular, its moral posture is often associated with rigidity and propriety, not to mention hypocrisy. This paper will seek to retrieve for closer examination one aspect of ‘Victorian values’ – the ‘ethic of innocence’ – which animated Christian reformers of the Wilberforce generation, and motivated many of their efforts. It will further attempt to draw some lessons from this mentality for Christians seeking to life faithful lives in the often bewildering cultural context of the twenty-first century.’

Keith R. Fox on Integrity in Scientific Research

Cambridge Papers are published once a quarter 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):

Keith R. Fox, ‘Integrity in Scientific Research: A Christian Perspective’, Cambridge Papers 32, 3 (September 2023).

Here is the summary:

‘Misconduct and a lack of personal integrity is increasingly detected within scientific research, as it is in many other areas of public life. Examples include fraud, data manipulation, bias, conflicts of interest and plagiarism. This can lead to public mistrust of science, as well as being a waste of resources. This paper considers some of the causes of the problem and describes how scientists should follow principles of honesty, humility and truth-seeking, values that are integral to Christian ethics. These principles apply not just to scientific research but to all aspects of human endeavour and our approach to research should be the same as the principles that govern every aspect of Christian behaviour.’

Ethics in Conversation on Artificial Intelligence and the Christian Faith

The latest Ethics in Conversation (formerly Ethics in Brief), from the Kirby Laing Centre is a review by Jennifer George of John Wyatt and Stephen N. Williams (eds.), The Robot Will See You Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Christian Faith (London: SPCK, 2021). It’s available as a pdf here.

Refuge Reimagined

Brothers Mark and Luke Glanville, one an expert in biblical studies and the other in international relations, have teamed up to write the recently-published Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics (Downers Grove: IVP, 2021).

According to the publisher, they ‘offer a new approach to compassion for displaced people: a biblical ethic of kinship’, in which ‘God’s people… are consistently called to extend kinship – a mutual responsibility and solidarity – to those who are marginalized and without a home’.

They spoke about the book on a recent OnScript podcast (here), and were also interviewed (here) by Justine Toh of the Centre for Public Christianity ‘about how the plight of the Tamil family from Biloela is making Australians rethink the kind of welcome we might offer to vulnerable people’.

Centre for Public Christianity (April 2021)

The Centre for Public Christianity has posted two ‘Life and Faith’ podcasts: one (here) with atheist philosopher Julian Baggini and New Testament scholar Jonathan Pennington, asking, ‘if Jesus offers wisdom for how to live, how necessary is the “Son of God” stuff?’, and one (here) with John G. Stackhouse Jr. and Nathan Campbell ‘about the chaos surrounding the recent U.S. presidential election, and the place of Christian faith in politics and public life’.

The Kirby Laing Centre (February 2021)

The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE) has become an independent charity now called The Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge (KLC).

According to their website, ‘KLC is committed to foster and nurture public theology and Christian scholarship, rooted in spirituality, practiced in community, oriented toward the question how then shall we live?’

In the latest article in their Nuances in Public Theology series, KLC’s Director, Craig Bartholomew, reflects on the tools we need to integrate our scholarship and our Christian faith. The article (‘The Bible and Other Texts: The Character of Scripture and its Role in our Scholarship’) is available as a pdf here.

In addition, Ethics in Conversation (formerly Ethics in Brief) ‘offers succinct, insightful Christian perspectives on a range of contemporary ethical issues’. In the February 2021 edition, Matthew Wiley engages with Vernon White’s book, Purpose and Providence: Taking Soundings in Western Thought, Literature, and Theology. The review is available as a pdf here.

On Qualities for Living Well in a Pandemic

The below is an excerpt from an email written for the congregation where I am one of the pastors.

A few weeks back, the BBC’s ‘Rethink’ programme asked people who they describe as ‘six great minds’ – from chef Nisha Katona to philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah – ‘to share the qualities they believe will help us weather the pandemic and thrive in the world beyond’. You can check out the feature here.

Before you read on, you might like to pause to ask yourself the question: what qualities do we need in order to live well at this time? How would you respond if they asked you?

Their answers? Compassion. Gratitude (for healthy bodies). Consistency of small actions. Engagement. Empathy. Hospitality.

I don’t know anything about the faith commitment or otherwise of those who were asked, but it strikes me that those qualities are not at all out of place with the sorts of qualities Christians would be happy to endorse.

It got me thinking about what lies behind the moral judgments of people in society. All of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, approach ethical issues from a particular way of viewing the world, or what we sometimes call our ‘worldview’. (We were thinking about this as a church on Sunday evenings before lockdown started.)

Given this, I’d like to propose that qualities such as compassion, gratitude, empathy, and hospitality make best sense from a perspective that, at the very least, resembles a biblical worldview, grounded in a God who is himself good.

Of course, it’s not true to say that non-believers don’t recognise moral values or live good lives. They clearly do. But that’s not the same as having a consistent basis for doing so.

That’s perhaps especially the case for dedicated atheists. It’s very difficult to make sense of a commitment to values in the absence of God. Where atheists hold to a view that there is nothing in the universe other than matter and energy, that we are a random collection of atoms and molecules, and that moral beliefs are pressed upon us by our evolutionary history, then nothing and no-one has any rightful claim on us and we can live as we please. One of the most famous atheists, Friedrich Nietzsche, recognised this: if there is no God there can be ‘no moral facts whatsoever’.

As Justin Brierley puts it in his book, Unbelievable?, ‘Most atheists I meet are passionate about equality and justice, so of course you don’t need to believe in God to be a moral person. The problem is that you can’t make sense of those moral beliefs without there being a God.’ The question is not whether there might be people who are good without God, but whether they have a strong-enough framework – or a coherent-enough story – in order to hold those views consistently.

The good news for our non-believing friends is that there is a story which is not only consistent with the world they long for and the values to which they aspire, but which undergirds them, and a Saviour who stands at the heart of it for when we fail.

The challenge for us as as Christians is to live as if we ourselves believe that to be case, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, living lives that point to Christ. As the writer to the Hebrews prays (13:20-21), ‘may the God of peace... equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’

Themelios 44, 2 (August 2019)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial

Brian J. Tabb

Fulfill Your Ministry

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

Never Say ‘the Phones Are Quiet’

Jason DeRouchie

The Mystery Revealed: A Biblical case for Christ-Centered Old Testament Interpretation

This study provides a biblical-theological foundation for a Christ-centered hermeneutic. It overviews both Old and New Testament texts that identify how the primary audience that would receive blessing and not condemnation from OT instruction would be Christians enjoying the benefits of Christ’s eschatological, redemptive work. Jesus himself provides both the light for enabling us to see and savor what is in the OT and the necessary lens that influences and guides our reading by filling out the meaning – at times by supplying unknown interpretation and other times by clarifying, expanding, and deepening the human authors’ implications. For us to grasp the full meaning of the OT’s history, laws, poems, and prophecies, we must read them through the light and lens of Christ.

Peter R. Schemm Jr. and Andreas J. Köstenberger

The Gospel as Interpretive Key to 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:16: On Christian Worship, Head Coverings, and the Trinity

God’s good design for man and woman is to be practiced in all of life, especially in the worship of the church. Apparently, the behavior of some women in the Corinthian church was dishonoring both to God and their husbands. Whatever the exact nature of the problem, it had now become a gospel matter in public worship. Therefore, Paul seeks to apply the gospel – especially the idea of giving glory and honor to God, as Christ did – directly to the issue at hand. The purpose of the article is to show how the gospel itself is the interpretive key to this particular section of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (10:31–11:16).

Mark L. Strauss

A Review of the Christian Standard Bible

The Christian Standard Bible (CSB) is a 2017 revision and replacement of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), first published in 2004. The Translation Oversight Committee was co-chaired by Thomas Schreiner and David Allen. The CSB follows the same basic translation philosophy as the HCSB, a mediating approach between formal and functional equivalence, similar to versions like the NIV, the NET Bible and the CEB. The CSB removes a number of the HCSB’s idiosyncracies, such as the use of “Yahweh” for the tetragrammaton (YHWH). Most significantly, the CSB departs from its predecessor by positively embracing “gender-accurate” language, for example, by translating the Greek ἀδελφοί as “brothers and sisters” when the referent includes both men and women. In general, the CSB is a significant improvement over the HCSB in terms to both accuracy and style.

Coleman M. Ford

“Striving for Glory with God”: Humility as the Good Life in Basil of Caesarea’s Homily 20

Basil of Caesarea (c. AD 330–379) presents humility as the essence of the good life in his Homily 20. Humility was the chief virtue based on Christ’s own humility. Thus, true happiness was only possible through a life of humility. In this essay, I first assess the biblical and theological rationale for humility according to Basil in contrast with prior Greek and Roman notions of humility. Next, I analyze how Basil depicts humility in terms of “glory” in his Homily 20. The bestowal of glory is a gift of God and can only be achieved through a life of humble imitation of Christ. This notion gives Basil’s hearers the proper perspective to understand how the good life is lived in Christian perspective. I conclude with some practical implications for understanding Basil’s conception of humility as the good life.

C.J. Moore

Can We Hasten the Parousia?An Examination of Matt 24:14 and Its Implications for Missional Practice

Among the many possible motivations for mission participation, the eschatological motivation for missions has recently grown in prevalence. Many missionaries speak of their work as “hastening” or “causing” the Parousia. Because of a desire to see Christ come back “sooner,” the eschatological motivation has often led to missional malpractice, due to a lack of nuance and humility in biblical exegesis. Particularly, the eschatological motivation frequently leads to pragmatic practices that should be avoided, practices that hurt rather than help the Church’s mission. In this article, I examine Matt 24:14, the verse used most often in defense of the eschatological motivation for missions. Along the way, I offer my modified view, one that frees the missionary to simply proclaim the gospel of Christ with a proper recognition of God’s sovereignty over both salvation and the Parousia; and still – in some mysterious way – we can be sure that our gospel proclamation indeed plays some role in the second coming of Christ.

Jackson Wu

The Doctrine of Scripture and Biblical Contextualization: Inspiration, Authority, Inerrancy, and the Canon

This essay explores the relationship between contextualization and an evangelical doctrine of the Bible, with a special emphasis on biblical inspiration, biblical authority, biblical inerrancy, and the biblical canon. Readers will see how the doctrine of Scripture leads to a biblical view of contextualization. How might a robust doctrine of Scripture practically improve our approach to contextualization, both in principle and practice? This article not only affirms the importance of contextualization; it also identifies biblical boundaries for contextualization. In the process, readers consider specific ways to apply one’s doctrine of the Bible.

Zachary Breitenbach

The Insights and Shortcomings of Kantian Ethics: Signposts Signaling the Truthfulness of Christian Ethics 

Immanuel Kant proposed what he considered to be the one true ethical system – a system rooted in pure reason, without recourse to grounding morality in God, that sought to explain universal moral truth. This article argues that Kant’s ethical system, despite grounding morality purely in reason and in light of its own philosophical failures, contains significant insights that serve to illuminate the philosophical attractiveness of key biblical ethical principles. The article highlights three insightful objectives of Kant’s ethical view and compares them to three crucial ethical principles that are taught in the Bible. It then contends that Kant’s view of ethics fails to accomplish his desired objectives and makes the case that a biblical understanding of ethics succeeds. The shortcomings of Kantian ethics serve as a signpost to the truth of Christian ethics.

Drew Hunter

Hebrews and the Typology of Jonathan Edwards 

In appreciation for the recent resurgence of interest in biblical theology and typological interpretation, this article considers Jonathan Edwards’s typological interpretive practices and principles. The article examines what Jonathan Edwards’s interpretive reflections on Hebrews reveal about his typological interpretation of the Old Testament. The article then shows the unique contribution that Edwards’s principled typological method makes to current discussions about typology and the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

Book Reviews

John G. Stackhouse Jr. on Why You’re Here

I wrote the following mini review for July 2018’s edition of Highlights, produced by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

John G. Stackhouse Jr., Why You’re Here: Ethics for the Real World (Oxford: OUP, 2018).

In short, ‘why you’re here’ is about vocation, understood as applicable to ‘everyone, everything, everywhere, in every moment’. There is the call of God on every human being, what we were made for. And there is the distinctive call God gives to Christians. Our human calling is to make shalom, our Christian calling is to make disciples. And the sphere in which we work out those callings is, as Stackhouse so helpfully reminds us, the ‘real world’. Living in a time where wheat and weeds grow together until the final harvest, a ‘Christian realism’ trusts God that will work through the various means he has given us, bringing as much shalom as possible but without thinking it’s down to us to build the New Jerusalem. Compelling and accessible, this is essential reading for all those who want to respond in hopeful faithfulness to the call of God on their lives.

Theos Report on Assisted Dying

The latest report from Theos has just been published:

Andrew Grey, Dignity at the End of Life: What’s Beneath the Assisted Dying Debate? (London: Theos, 2018).

Here is the summary blurb:

‘In spite of Parliament’s emphatic rejection of a “right to die” bill in 2015, the issue of assisted dying remains a live one. Central to both sides of the debate is the idea of “dignity”. This essay examines the different meanings of the word and then outlines what an understanding of dignity as being loved and valued would look like for the terminally ill.’

As Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff writes in the foreword:

‘This report… examines concepts of dignity in living, particularly in the face of deteriorating health, and develops a more informed view of what dignity really is, how it is respected and enhanced, and what it can and should look like for everyone.’

A pdf of the full report is available here.

Ethics in Brief Volume 22, No. 2 (2017)

The latest issue of Ethics in Brief, published by The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, is now available online:

Mark Glanville, ‘Ancient Laws for New Challenges: The Ten Commandments as a Critique of Inequality’, Ethics in Brief 22, 2 (2017).

Here is the summary:

‘This article argues that the Ten Commandments summoned ancient Israel to live as a community of mutual care where every person could flourish, especially the most vulnerable. Interpreting the Ten Commandments in their narrative context of oppression in Egypt and the exodus event and also in its relation to the law corpora of the Pentateuch clarifies that this text functions as a critique of Egypt’s oppressive economic regime and thereby of any economic practice that privileges wealth and consolidated power. Giving allegiance to Yahweh must include living in the ethical trajectory of exodus, through which Yahweh has birthed the community.’

Ethics in Brief Volume 21, Nos. 5 & 6 (2016)

Two issues from Volume 21 of Ethics in Brief, published by The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, are now available online:

Julian Rivers

Fundamental British Values and the Virtues of Civic Loyalty

This paper reflects the rise of ‘fundamental British values’ as a core part of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy. It identifies several problems with the idea of FBVs, and suggests that we need to recover the concept of civic loyalty instead. It is appropriate to promote this through education, which should in part seek to form pupils and students into virtuous citizens.

Kirsty Jones

Dementia: Living in the Memories of God – A Review

[From the Conclusion:] Offering an original and carefully constructed theology of dementia, Memories is essential reading for academic and pastoral work on disability and anthropology. Swinton effectively shows why the church should care about people living with dementia, and how it can care well. God, he emphasises, cares because he remembers persons as they were, are and will be, holding their reality in his hands and cherishing each moment of joy and sorrow. Remembering, for God, is purposeful and powerful; his memory is the foundation of humanity and each human life. Inspired by such a vision, the book moves us cognitively beyond narrow conceptions, emotively beyond apathy, and practically into action.

Ethics in Brief Volume 21, Nos. 3 & 4 (2016)

Two issues from Volume 21 of Ethics in Brief, published by The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, are now available online:

Philip J. Sampson

Evangelical Spirituality and Hunting

This article examines the current indifference of British evangelicals towards the ethical issues raised by hunting for sport. It calls for a retrieval of an older, Reformation tradition in which such hunting was seen as not only unethical but also spiritually dangerous. 

Andrew Sloane

‘Male and Female He Created Them’? Theological Reflections on Gender, Biology and Identity

This paper reflects theologically on gender, biology and identity in light of ambiguous sexual biology (‘intersex’) and psychology (‘gender dysphoria’). It affirms the goodness and diversity of bodily, sexed and gendered existence, while acknowledging the brokenness of the world and human experience of it. It closes with some suggested responses to these realities.

Harvey McMahon on Neuroscience and Free Will

The latest Cambridge Paper from the Jubilee Centre is available online, this one by Harvey McMahon:

Harvey McMahon, ‘How Free is Our Free-Will? Reflections from a Neuroscientist’, Cambridge Papers 25, 2 (June 2016).

Here is the summary:

‘Free-will is fundamental to our sense of wellbeing, and underwrites our sense of morality, our judicial system and the Judeo-Christian faith. However, science has provided evidence that free-will may be an illusion. In this paper I explore how the brain functions as the seat of our individual free-will and how we are also part of a collective-will expressed by cultural or religious groupings. In both cases free-will is an emergent property where decisions are expressed creatively rather than simply responsively. Yet we may not be as free as we like to think, but within boundaries shaped by our individual histories, our genetics and our environment we can make decisions that determine our character, relationships and future.’

Ethics in Brief Volume 20, Nos. 5 & 6 (2015)

Two issues from Volume 20 of Ethics in Brief, published by The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, are now available online:

Stephen Williams, ‘Reason, Law and Religious Freedom’, Ethics in Brief 20, 5 (2015)

Judgement on the proper place of religious freedom in relation to law is affected by the perception of how religion stands in relation to rationality. Seven consequences of the supposition that religious belief is irrational are briefly set out, and their bearing noted on the question of conscience.

Amy Ross, Creation Care in Africa: Theology, Practice and Intercultural Dialogue, Ethics in Brief 20, 6 (2015)

This article reports on a recent ‘Creation Care’- themed conference for evangelical church leaders and environmental practitioners in East and Central Africa. It offers some reflections regarding ecotheology and Western Christian responses to the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation. The importance of international, faith-based dialogue about these issues is becoming increasingly recognised, and Christians have a crucial role to play both in the dialogue and the practical response that must result from it.

Ethics in Brief Volume 20, Nos. 3 & 4 (2015)

Two issues from Volume 20 of Ethics in Brief, published by The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, are now available online:

Philip Sampson, ‘The Curious Case of the Kind Evangelicals’, Ethics in Brief 20, 3 (2015).

Most Christians believe in kindness to animals, but few see it as an ethical priority. By contrast, evangelicals of the past showed a passionate kindness towards ‘God’s beasts’, and were pioneers of animal welfare reform from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Today, Christians in general, and evangelical Christians in particular, are more likely to be seen as part of the problem than as pioneering solutions. This article discusses the theological differences behind this contrast, and the practical implications for evangelism in a world of growing animal advocacy.

Andrew Basden, ‘The Rise and Demise of Thomas Cook Travel: A Case Study of the Relevance of a Christian Approach to Business’, Ethics in Brief 20, 4 (2015).

This article examines the rise of the Thomas Cook travel company, founded 150 years ago on Christian foundations, and its recent demise. We find that having Christians in charge of a business is not enough. Rather, what is required is an approach that is sensitive to the diversity and complexity of human social life. One such approach is deployed in analysing why Thomas Cook was originally successful but has now got into trouble. It is significant that it emerges from a Christian root.

Jon Thompson on Conscience and the Common Good

The latest Cambridge Paper from the Jubilee Centre is available online, this one by Jon Thompson:

Jon Thompson, ‘“Here I stand”: Conscience and the Common Good’, Cambridge Papers 24, 2 (June 2015).

Here is the summary:

‘The Christian’s conscience is increasingly set in opposition to some of the values and political aims of wider Western culture. This fact is evidenced by an increase in ‘conscience cases’, where Christians are sued or dismissed for acting in accordance with their conscience. This paper outlines a liberal conception of conscience. It then explores a distinctly Christian conception of conscience – as a faculty which involves both emotion and discernment of the requirements of God’s law. It then argues that Christian conscientious objection is similarly distinct from the liberal version of conscientious objection. Finally, it gestures towards justifications for conscience protections in the political sphere.’

James K.A. Smith on an Evangelical Public Theology

There’s a nice piece here on Comment from Jamie Smith, effectively providing a look at his work in progress for the third volume of his ‘Cultural Liturgies’ project.

He begins:

‘A lot that traffics under the banner of “Christian” public theology has little to do with the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our imaginations have been sufficiently disciplined by the assumptions of liberalism to be uncomfortable and embarrassed by forthrightly Christian hopes for temporal government.’

He looks at Oliver O’Donovan and helpfully summarises some of his key contributions – the significance of Jesus’ resurrection as ‘the confirmation of the world-order which God has made’, and the importance for evangelical public theology to be ‘nourished by the specificity of God’s revelation in Christ, which is bound up in the canonical story unfolded in the Scriptures – the story of Israel’.

Some other excerpts:

‘Because creation is reaffirmed in Christ’s resurrection, and because “nature” is only known “in Christ,” then any Christian account of even “this-worldly” life has to be unapologetically evangelical, rooted in what we know in – and because of – the Gospel.’

‘[P]olitical theology is unashamedly rooted in the specificity and particularity of God’s self-revelation in Christ and the equally particular history of his covenant with his people Israel and the new covenant people that are the church. The body of Christ is that polis in which we participate in Christ, in which our perception is sanctified by the Spirit so that we might be able to discern the reign of God and thus be equipped for public proclamation of good but disconcerting news that submission to Yhwh’s reign is the way humanity is liberated.’