Why Australia should not reintroduce the death penalty

By Dr Rod Benson Melbourne prison escapee Ronald Ryan is taken to police headquarters in Sydney after his recapture, 5 January 1966. Ryan was hanged on 3 February 1967, the last person to be killed by the state in Australia. There are strong arguments for and against capital punishment.ย ย Some claim that crimes such as terrorism, …

An assessment of emotionally focused therapy

By Dr Rod Benson, October 2002 At their best, counselling and counsellors facilitate healing, growth and wholeness in every field of human experience. The efficacy and goals of relationship counselling in general, and emotionally focused therapy, are usually more modest. In my experience healing is always a relative process, and absolute wholeness is an elusive …

Mountains of Scripture (4): Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb, is twice called โ€œthe mountain of Godโ€ in Scripture. Unlike most other mountains where significant events in salvation history occurred, we are not given any definite information about the mountainโ€™s precise location, height above the surrounding region, or physical appearance.  From the biblical references, we can say that …

The Bible in the Early Church

Justo Gonzรกlez, The Bible in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022). 186pp + indexes. ISBN 9780802881748 Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson When Christians and people of other or no faith ask me questions about the Bible, they typically donโ€™t ask why I regard the Bible as trustworthy, or why I shape my life on …

The Doctrine of Election

John Calvin, The Doctrine of Election (trans. from the French by Robert White; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022). 224pp + indexes. ISBN 9781800402652 Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson The biblical doctrine of election is fraught with controversy. The reasons for this are not hard to discover: there is, firstly, an apparent tension between determinism …