International Journal for Religious Freedom

I recently came across the International Journal for Religious Freedom, the journal of the International Institute for Religious Freedom.

The IJRF ‘aims to provide a platform for scholarly discourse on religious freedom and persecution. It is an interdisciplinary, international, peer reviewed journal, serving the dissemination of new research on religious freedom and contains research articles, documentation, book reviews, academic news and other relevant items’.

Individual articles or the full copy of the latest issue can be downloaded free of charge here.

Centre for Public Christianity (May 2019)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio interview with Os Guinness ‘about religious freedom, the public square, and whether we’re living in a post-truth world’.

Judd Birdsall on Religious Persecution

The latest Cambridge Paper from the Jubilee Centre is available online here (from where a pdf can be downloaded), this one by Judd Birdsall:

Judd Birdsall, ‘Pitfalls in Combatting Persecution’, Cambridge Papers 27, 4 (December 2018).

Here is the summary:

‘A great number of Western Christians have laudably invested their time, money, and energy to confront the massive global challenge of religious persecution. Sadly, their effectiveness has too often been limited or undermined by several common mistakes. This paper explores seven of these pitfalls and points to Christian principles that enable us to more effectively advance religious freedom for all. My goal in pointing out these dangers is not to condemn any particular organisation or tactical approach, but rather to commend a more considered, capacious, and constructive promotion of religious freedom.’

Christianity in the Workplace: An Employer’s Guide to Christian Beliefs

ADF International, the Evangelical Alliance UK, and the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship have produced what looks like a helpful booklet, Christianity in the Workplace: An Employer’s Guide to Christian Beliefs.

According to the ADF International website:

‘It aims to be a useful and informative reference for employers in the United Kingdom, encouraging them to cultivate an inclusive work environment and giving specific examples on how that might be achieved. It also seeks to equip and inspire Christians with confidence and knowledge of the current legal freedoms they enjoy in the workplace.’

There is more information here, and a pdf of the report can be downloaded here.

Speak Up

The Speak Up resource, produced jointly by the Evangelical Alliance and the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, ‘seeks to help Christians understand the broad freedoms that we currently have under the law to share our faith in different contexts’.

A short and long version of the resource are available to download here, via The Great Commission, a new project from the Evangelical Alliance.

The short 16-page booklet (available as a pdf here) ‘outlines the key aspects of the full report, setting out the freedoms we have in different parts of our lives, from talking about Jesus in our homes, to street evangelism, to sharing our faith at work or online’.

The full report is available as a pdf here.

Centre for Public Christianity (May 2015)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio download with Simon Smart and Justine Toh reflecting on how so many recent and current TV series (think Breaking Bad, House of Cards, True Detective, Game of Thrones) ‘hold up a truly bleak mirror to human nature’, and what this trend tells us about ‘our attitude to ourselves, the society we live in, and our hopes for the future’.

Also posted is a video interview with Geoff Broughton, talking about his work on the streets and in inner-city churches, and his new book, Restorative Christ, and a video interview with Brian Grim on the persecution of Christians around the world and why he’s optimistic about the future of religious freedom.

Theos Report on Religious Freedom

Nick Spencer, How to Think About Religious Freedom (London: Theos, 2014).

Yet another new report from Theos...

Here’s part of Jonathan Chaplin’s recommendation:

‘In this report, Nick Spencer cuts through the complexities and offers us a wonderfully clear and judicious overview of what is at stake, why religious freedom is so important to human beings and can’t be taken for granted, and how it can be more intelligently and fairly balanced with the legitimate claims for equal treatment and nondiscrimination of which our society is justly proud.’

More information is available here, and the full report is available for download here.