Thoughts on faith, culture, and public life.
The sudden death of Neville George Callam on 16 August marks the passing of a singular figure who significantly reshaped global Baptist self-understanding and contributed to contemporary ecumenical theology. As General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) from 2007 to 2017, he guided the principal global Baptist body through institutional transition, helping to reimagine …
Continue reading "Neville Callam: Baptist statesman, theologian and ecumenist"
When my youngest son was five years old, his mother and I became concerned about his physical development. We took him to a GP, who dismissed our concerns. Many doctors excel in their practice of medicine, but there are a small number whose professional advice is not worth the plastic plate on their door. We took …
Part 1 of the Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is a recent Christian observance inviting churches to give sustained attention to God as Creator, the goodness and vulnerability of creation, and our responsibilities as humans within it. Usually observed from 1 September to 4 October, it has developed into a significant ecumenical movement embracing Orthodox, Catholic, …
Continue reading "Worship, climate justice and Christian hope"
Negotiating challenges and change in Christian marriage In the previous four articles, I argued that faithful love is best understood as a lifelong practice in which affection, friendship, desire and altruism are shaped by compatibility, commitment, companionship and character. I suggested that Christian marriage embodies this love as adaptive fidelity: a covenant in which two persons …
What sustains a contemporary Christian marriage? In Part 1, I explored C. S. Lewis’s four kinds of human love, arguing that each flourishes when received as a finite good, shaped by mutuality and respect, and transformed by divine love into generous, courageous and non-possessive relationships. In Part 2, I proposed that compatibility, commitment, companionship and character …
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