John Stott’s profound legacy

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Sydney time, one of the twentieth century’s greatest Christian leaders passed away. Time Magazine named him, along with Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates, in its “most influential people” list in 2005.  Billy Graham described him as “the most respected clergyman in the world today.”  His name was John …

John Stott has died

This weekend the evangelical world mourns the loss of one of its greatest leaders and statesmen, John Stott, who died on Wednesday aged 90. John Stott has been described as “a renaissance man with a reformation theology,” intelligent and humble, with a passion for evangelism, Christian unity, and social justice – including care for the …

Religious liberty in the Middle East

We've all seen the extraordinary events unfold in the Middle East and North Africa over the past few months - part political, part religious, partly attempts to force recalcitrant regimes to catch up with the rest of the world, and commit to responsible government, and take human rights a little more seriously. Now the Religious …

Population set to hit ten billion

The United Nations organisation has revised its population projection for the next century, suggesting that Earth's population may reach 10.1 billion people by the year 2100. While we in Australia debate the relative merits of "big Australia," or some smaller version, people elsewhere are seriously procreating. Africa's population, for example, is projected to more than …

Religious responses to climate change

Five years ago the Climate Institute released a landmark publication, Common Belief, in which Australia's faith communities shared their views on environmental responsibility and how these related to action on climate change. There were contributions from Anglican, Baha'i, Baptist, Buddhist, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, Salvation Army, Sikh, Uniting Church, and other faith …