Yesterday was Christmas Day and I thought I'd go to a church service close to where I'm holidaying in Brisbane, Australia. Responding to a text message from my 16-year-old son giving me the start time, I turned up to Unnamed Baptist Church on time, alone, in a car emblazoned with bright yellow interstate number plates, …
People should live in tents
Tonight someone (who shall remain nameless) asked me to argue the case that all people should live in tents. I won't go into what prompted the request, but I thought you'd like to hear my answer. Here it is: 1. It's for good reason that many ancient societies preferred tents to permanent dwellings. They allowed …
A candid friend of historiography
A short commentary on the method employed in Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years “Of making surveys of Christian history, there is no end,” Diarmaid MacCulloch observes in his 1161-page book, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Yet he suggests that his approach stands out as more daunting than certain other notable contemporary accounts.[1] As a historian, MacCulloch …
Grey care: perspectives on ageing
By Rod Benson This article presents biblical, psychospiritual and pastoral perspectives on ageing and older people. It demonstrates the magnitude of the cultural shift from biblical culture to our own, summarises key gerontological theories, and examines problems and issues relating to older people in the context of pastoral care within the setting of a Christian …
Principles for Christians in politics
By David P. Gushee March 30, 2000 The religious bickering between candidates John McCain and George W. Bush and their respective ministerial allies during their primary battles requires careful reflection. There are lessons to be learned here that transcend the politics of the moment. The immediate context of these bitter arguments was the white-hot contest …
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