Category: ethics

Paul. Galatians and the end of slavery

In Galatians 3:28, Paul writes: 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. One of the major themes in Galatians is that Christ sets us free from slavery so… Continue reading Paul. Galatians and the end of slavery

The ideal wife?

Sometimes in discussions about the roles of men and women, especially with regards to the debate about complementarianism and egalitarianism, Proverbs 31 is cited as significant.   How relevant exactly is this passage to the debate? That will depend on the purpose of the passage. There are three options. Different commentators have made their case in… Continue reading The ideal wife?

What is contemporary complementarianism responding too?

One of the reasons why we might see both continuity and discontinuity in a thought is because we see contextualisation at work.  This means that we react to and engage with the thinking of the world around us. This can work for both good and ill.  We contextualise for good by considering how to shape… Continue reading What is contemporary complementarianism responding too?

Is Racism a Gospel issue?

This issue became controversial following the death of George Floyd and the resulting #BlackLivesMatter protests.  Quite a few churches sought to take the issue of racism and prejudice seriously  with pastors publicly repenting from sin.  Significant thought leaders such as Tim Keller had been arguing for some time that racism is a gospel issue.  Whilst,… Continue reading Is Racism a Gospel issue?

Complementarianism, Egalitarianism and the messiness of arguing from history/tradition

This is kind of a long footnote to what I wrote the other day about the supposed novelty of complementarianism.  In some respects, you could sum up my response as “it’s more complicated than that.”   More complicated than the claim by some (not all) egalitarians that complementarianism is the novel usurper. It isn’t for the… Continue reading Complementarianism, Egalitarianism and the messiness of arguing from history/tradition

Is Complementarianism novel?

This question crops up from time to time on my social media feed. It’s there at the moment I presume because the Southern Baptist Convention is meeting and in the light of developments at Saddleback Church where it’s former pastor, Rick Warren has now reversed his position and apologised to women, the topic is a… Continue reading Is Complementarianism novel?

Boris Johnson resigns again

Yesterday evening I shared some thoughts about Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.  A Prime Minister can recommend people for honours when they resign from the job. Even as I was writing, Johnson was resigning again, this time as an MP. The reason for Johnson’s resignation was that he had seen the draft outcome of a… Continue reading Boris Johnson resigns again

No AI won’t wipe out humanity -but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ethical issue

The Daily Mail lead with a headline the other day that “AI could wipe out humanity” (cue far too many obvious jokes at the Mail’s expense).  It’s long been the stuff of Science Fiction.  Some of us grew up on films and stories about robots taking over the world.  Things that looked impossible only a… Continue reading No AI won’t wipe out humanity -but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ethical issue

What the Old Testament teaches us about marriage, sex and relationships

This is part two, following on from my attempt to set out the framework of Biblical and Systematic Theology.  I said in that post, that to talk properly and pastorally about marriage, sex and relationships that we would need to dig into a little more detail.  So, here goes, an attempt at a summary of… Continue reading What the Old Testament teaches us about marriage, sex and relationships