By Rod Benson Is there such a thing as Judeo-Christian values”? The term “Judeo-Christian” is a relatively modern expression. Judaism and Christianity are distinct religious traditions, and political appeals to “Judeo-Christian values” may obscure their differences or distinguish supposedly authentic members of Western society from outsiders. Yet it does not follow that Judaism and Christianity …
River healing
Over the past two weeks, we have been immersed in Ezekiel’s visionary account of a futuristic temple where the presence of God is real and the grace of God is palpable and free-flowing in the form of a river emanating from the doors of the temple to restore and replenish the earth that humankind has …
Election is not exemption: Human rights, Scripture and sacred exceptionalism
Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky. By Rod Benson In remarks circulated on video in September 2026, Likud member of the Knesset Hanoch Milwidsky reportedly declared: “We are not like everyone else,” adding that laws applying to others do not apply to the Jewish people. According to the published English translation, he also described the Jewish people …
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Christian faith and the common good
Algernon Talmage RA, "The Founding of Australia. By Capt. Arthur Phillip R.N. Sydney Cove, Jan. 26th 1788," State Library, New South Wales. By Rod Benson If “Judeo-Christian values” inadequately describes a single religious tradition, it is more problematic as a definition of Australian national identity. Australia has unquestionably been shaped by Christianity, which carries an …
Light in the so-called “Dark Ages”
John Moore, "Lindisfarne Castle and Abbey, Holy Island, by Moonlight," oil on canvas, 1877. By Rod Benson When I was ten or eleven years old, Mrs Woodward, one of my teachers, asked us to “do a project” on the “Dark Ages.” I believe I had not heard of this mysterious concept, but I did my …
