Thoughts on faith, culture, and public life.
Human authorship, judgment and voice Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming more capable of producing competent prose. Generative AI can compose grammatical sentences, coherent paragraphs, plausible arguments, useful summaries and serviceable first drafts with remarkable speed. For speechwriters and preachers, this development should be welcomed as a significant extension of the tools available for research, reflection, …
Continue reading "Public Speaking in the Age of AI (Part 1)"
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 …
