G. H. Morling on the causes of suffering One unforeseen development in the present pandemic is the rise of the coronavirus meme, from the hilarious to the deplorable, shared like viruses on social media. Laughter is an important and effective stress reliever in these times, and many of these memes are extraordinarily good at lightening …
The fountain of private prosperity
Open a Bible near the centre, and you will find the Book of Psalms. In many ancient manuscripts, the first psalm in the collection was apparently unnumbered, untitled, and printed in red ink to indicate that it frames and prefaces the whole Psalter, Israel's primary songbook. Psalm 1 is both a wisdom psalm, showing us …
Sex, marriage and social change
A sermon by Rod Benson It’s fair to say that, around the world, marriage is in a mess. Many couples today cohabit for years before marrying, or never marry. Married people divorce, as I have done, and some go on to remarry. Same sex couples want to marry each other, and there is strong political …
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 …