A sermon by Rod Benson 1 Timothy 1:1-7 Some years ago in Brisbane, I shared a taxi with an Indian businessman. As the car pulled away from the kerb we introduced ourselves, and I said I was a pastor. He looked at me with a puzzled expression, unfamiliar with the term. Searching for a synonym, …
A Christian view on capital punishment
There are strong arguments for and against capital punishment. Some claim that crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking or genocide should attract the death penalty. Others view the death penalty as barbaric. In the Old Testament, capital offences included murder (Ex 21:12-14), causing a miscarriage (Ex 21:22-25), cursing one’s parents (Ex 21:15), kidnapping (Ex 21:16), …
Stop the boat!
Matthew 8:18-22 When things are going well, life gives you crowds. Early in Jesus’ public ministry, crowds often accompanied him – out of curiosity, out of boredom, out of intrigue, out of a real thirst for knowledge or spirituality or change (e.g. Mt 5:1; 7:28; 8:1, 18). But as they discovered what it meant to …
Should Christians support the death penalty?
As I write, Australian citizens Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two of the infamous “Bali Nine,” face imminent execution by firing squad in Indonesia on drug trafficking convictions. Other Australians have faced similar fates, including Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, executed in Malaysia in 1986 for drug trafficking; Nguyen Tuong Van, hanged in 2005 for …
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The common good
An occasional article by Rod Benson published on EthicsDaily, 18 Dec 2014 The principle of the common good is prominent in Catholic social teaching and applicable to a wide range of social and ethical issues but is not often articulated in Baptist ethical thought and praxis. The notion of the common good appears to have …
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