Thoughts on faith, culture, and public life.
Ed Sheeran By Rod Benson The controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour eventually reaches a question deeper than celebrity politics: can compassion remain morally credible when it becomes selective? Public culture is saturated with the language of kindness, inclusion, empathy and love. Yet those virtues are tested not when they are universally applauded …
Continue reading "Selective compassion: How would Jesus respond?"
Ed Sheeran and Macklemore. Image Credit: Christopher Polk By Rod Benson If artists possess the freedom to address political questions, what responsibilities accompany that freedom? The dispute surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s American tour illustrates why the answer cannot simply be that celebrities should speak whenever they possess strong convictions. Public platforms magnify both …
Continue reading "When artists speak: Moral responsibility and the limits of celebrity activism"
The Season of Creation Part 3 By Rod Benson Norman Habel’s Earth Bible project and Australian Season of Creation teach Christians to notice dimensions of Scripture that anthropocentric habits of interpretation often obscure. Yet Habel’s work leaves unfinished questions. How should ecological interpretation lead to discipleship? How should Christians committed to biblical authority and the …
Continue reading "Beyond Habel: Creation, eco-justice and Christian discipleship"
Dr. Norman C. Habel, Professor Emeritus, Flinders University of South Australia The Season of Creation Part 2 By Rod Benson Norman C. Habel’s most substantial contribution to ecological biblical scholarship was his leadership in the Earth Bible Project, an international collaborative venture that sought deliberately to read Scripture from the perspective of Earth. Closely related …
Continue reading "Norman Habel and the Earth Bible hermeneutic"
A reflection on the classic hymn, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus Part 3 By Rod Benson O the deep, deep love of Jesus—Love of ev’ry love the best—’Tis an ocean vast of blessing;’Tis a haven sweet of rest.Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;And it lifts me …
