Articles by Rod Benson on theology, spirituality, literature, philosophy, ethics, academic research, and professional life.
Exploring ecumenism
The ecumenical call to Christian unity (30 Jun 2026)
Ecumenism as a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ (30 Jun 2026)
Was Jesus the first ecumenist? (20 Mar 2025)
Contemporary forms of ecumenism (30 Jun 2026)
Ecumenism across the Christian traditions (30 Jun 2026)
Denominational perspectives on the ecumenical movement (30 Jun 2026)
Why some Churches decline formal ecumenical membership (30 Jun 2026)
What is local ecumenism? (30 Jun 2026)
Ecumenical perspectives
01 Was Jesus the first ecumenist? (20 Mar 2025)
02 Ecumenical perspectives: George Fox (12 Jan 2026)
03 Ecumenical perspectives: World Religion Day (2 Feb 2026)
Introduction to Christian ethics
What is Christian ethics? (10 Jun 2026)
Catholic and Protestant approaches to ethics (10 Jun 2026)
Thoughts on vocation
01 Why am I here? (17 Oct 2024)
02 Vocation and the way of Jesus (17 Oct 2024)
03 Vocation in the Hebrew Bible: examples (19 October 2024)
04 Vocation and the Hebrew Bible: principles (20 October 2024)
05 The vocation and mission of Jesus (10 Nov 2024)
06 Vocation in the New Testament: examples
07 Vocation in the New Testament: principles
08 How to find your vocation
09 Is my career my vocation?
10 Personal reflections on vocation
Reflections on the Christian creeds
01 No creed but the Bible (24 Jun 2023)
02 What is a creed? (25 Jun 2023)
03 The danger of dogma (2 Jul 2023)
04 Creeds in the Hebrew Bible (7 Jul 2023)
05 The first Christian creeds (10 Jul 2023)
06 Are there creeds in the New Testament? (23 Jul 2023)
07 To creed or not to creed (22 Jun 2023)
08 Church traditions and the creeds (1) (6 Jul 2023)
09 Church traditions and the creeds (2) (6 Jul 2023)
10 Should churches enforce conformity to creeds? (6 Jul 2023)
11 A statement of beliefs commonly held by Baptists (21 Aug 2023)
12 Three core purposes of creeds (25 Aug 2023)
13 Four more purposes of creeds (26 Aug 2023)
14 Less power, more grace: final words on creeds (27 August 2023)
Writing on literature
Who’d be on your literary dinner list? (21 Mar 2012)
Who is Mother Goose? (28 Jul 2021)
Questions for book club discussions (29 Mar 2025)
50 best first lines from novels (2 Nov 2025)
50 more best first lines from novels (2 Nov 2025)
The turn of the screw (AI-generated short story) (21 Sep 2025)
Theology and imagination in Robert Musil’s work (26 May 2026)
What 1984 teaches us in 2026 (3 Jun 2026)
What would George do? Reflections on suffering and faith
01 Suffering and grief in the life of G H Morling (6 Apr 2020)
02 Morling on the causes of suffering (24 Apr 2020)
03 Morling on further causes of suffering (26 Apr 2020)
04 Morling on the purposes of suffering (4 May 2020)
05 Morling on further purposes of suffering (8 May 2020)
06 Morling on suffering and divine providence (12 May 2020)
07 Morling on suffering, providence, and freedom (12 Jul 2020)
08 Morling on suffering, healing and grace (19 Jul 2020)
09 Morling on suffering and glory (3 Aug 2020)
The theology whisperer
01 What is theological education? (20 Feb 2020)
02 Everyone is a theologian (24 Feb 2020)
03 Have faith, will think (27 Feb 2020)
04 Who invented theology? (5 Mar 2020)
05 The joy of theological learning (6 Mar 2020)
06 What makes Christian theology distinctive? (11 Mar 2020)
07 The descriptive task of theology (21 Mar 2020)
08 Isn’t theology supposed to be prescriptive? (25 Mar 2020)
09 The critical task of theology (31 Mar 2020)
10 The constructive task of theology (Part 1) (14 May 2020)
11 The constructive task of theology (Part 2) (25 May 2020)
12 The moral task of theology (26 May 2020)
13 The purpose of theology (part 1) (17 Jun 2020)
14 The purpose of theology (part 2) (29 Jun 2020)
15 The purpose of theology (part 3) (29 Jun 2020)
16 Six rewards of theological study (9 Aug 2020)
17 Six risks of theological study (12 Aug 2020)
18 What we bring to theology (20 Aug 2020)
19 Should theology make objective claims? (5 Sep 2020)
20 Facts or opinions? (11 Sep 2020)
26 What is critical thinking? (3 Sep 2020)
27 Developing my critical thinking skills (4 September 2020)
39 What are logical fallacies? 16 Apr 2020)
40 How to avoid logical fallacies (16 Apr 2020)
41 Five logical fallacies to avoid (29 May 2020)
65 What is academic research? (24 Jun 2020)
67 Five ways to improve focus while studying (31 Aug 2020)
68 Five steps to better memory recall (1 Sep 2020)
69 Five more steps to better memory recall (2 Sep 2020)
Why theological method matters (2 Jan 2013)
Scoping the academic literature (22 April 2021)
12 tips for better academic reading (22 Jul 2024)
Reading theology well: Eight habits of effective academic reading (10 July 2026)
Writing theology well: Eight habits of effective academic writing (10 Jul 2026)
How to do your own fact-checking (16 Apr 2026)
18 common myths about essay writing (18 Nov 2020)
Ten tips for better referencing (7 Jun 2024)
How to improve your essay marks (30 Aug 2021)
The five pillars of writing (4 Jun 2024)
How to catalogue your home library (15 October 2021)
15 great book cataloguing apps (15 October 2021)
So you want to write a literature review (19 April 2020)
Should I use Google Scholar? (5 Sep 2022)
How to grow as a reader (1 Jan 2023)
How to find your place on the page (8 Nov 2025)
Ten tips for a successful research project (7 Aug 2023)
How to balance family and thesis writing (11 August 2013)
Occasional articles on academic subjects
The philosophy and theology of René Girard (30 Jun 2026)
Reception of René Girard’s intriguing ideas (30 Jun 2026)
Does redemptive suffering change us? (30 Jun 2026)
What 1984 teaches us in 2026 (3 Jun 2026)
Theology and imagination in Robert Musil’s work (26 May 2026)
Christian Zionism, antisemitism, and theology (16 Feb 2026)
The use of Scripture in Dilexit nos (8 Jan 2026)
20 Christian mystics often regarded as “Great Souls” (23 Dec 2025)
Christian mystics as “Great Souls” (23 Dec 2025)
Resources on biblical aphorisms (1 Dec 2025)
Ten spiritual disciplines to grow deeper in faith (7 Nov 2025)
The Sacred Heart and the social miracle (30 Aug 2025)
Nicaea and moral theology (23 Aug 2025)
10 poetry websites you must visit before you die (29 Jul 2025)
The iconic end of Alasdair MacIntyre’s most famous book (24 May 2025)
Nine reasons why people embrace atheism (13 Apr 2025)
How to be a philosopher (20 Nov 2024)
Who was Arthur Stace (Part 2) (2 Nov 2024)
Who was Arthur Stace? (Part 1) (2 Nov 2024)
Six awesome blogs for research students (5 Oct 2024)
Joseph Fletcher and situation ethics (19 Sep 2024)
12 tips for better academic reading (22 Jul 2024)
Seven tips for giving criticism (16 Jul 2024)
A short history of the NSW Baptist Social Issues Committee (9 Jul 2024)
An assessment of emotionally focused therapy (8 Jul 2024)
Why Australia should not reintroduce the death penalty (8 Jul 2024)
Constructing the theology of G. H. Morling (Aug 2022)
25 books and articles on Martin Luther’s theology (Oct 2020)
Joy Connor on Baptist social issues (Aug 2020)
12 books on productivity and time management (Dec 2019)
The use of the Bible in Laudato Si (2015)
Grey care: perspectives on ageing (10 Aug 2013)
Growth in grace as a control belief for theological method (2 Jul 2013)
Should we design our descendants? (28 May 2013)
Reflections on theological formation (part 1) (18 Dec 2012)
The Labyrinth of the World (10 Dec 2012)
Jesus or the Bible (15 October 2012)
Immigration and asylum and Baptists (7 Sep 2012)
The significance of Jesus for faith and ethics (5 Sep 2012)
Melinda Tankard Reist and the feminism debate (23 Jan 2012)
A biblical context for workplace relations (24 October 2011)
J.R.R. Tolkien on anarchism (20 Aug 2011)
Six quick thoughts on marriage (25 Jun 2011)
Royal Wedding sermon by Archbishop Rowan Williams (29 Apr 2011)
Why I will continue using Twitter (29 Sep 2010)
A biblical view of death (27 Mar 2010)
Cooperation and cobelligerence between NSW Baptists and other faith communities (17 Jul 2009)
A Christian response to the economic crisis (28 Feb 2009)
What is public theology? (Victorian Baptist Witness, Mar 2008)
Joseph Fletcher and situation ethics (2002)
Principles for Christians in politics (guest post by David Gushee) (30 Mar 2000)
Soundings (opinion pieces on ethics)
71 Religious freedom and the secular state (9 Mar 2009)
45 Does Jesus love Osama? (1 Feb 2007)
All Told 