Category: ethics

First and second things

At the weekend, the Keswick Convention put out a statement on social media as follows.  It seems that the convention has been subject to a bit of a protest about their stance on women speakers. It’s not the first time that Christians have decided to protest Christian events. In fact, back when we attended Keswick,… Continue reading First and second things

Whose rights? A question of freedom

It looks like the Nigel Farage – Coutts saga is drawing to a close.  It began with Nigel Farage claiming that his account with the bank had been closed because of his political views.  The bank claimed that it was because he dd not meet their financial thresholds but leaked documents showed that in that… Continue reading Whose rights? A question of freedom

Unequally yoked … When the world gets it better than we do

The Farage-Coutts saga continues to intrigue me. The standard attack against Coutts is that they are discriminating against Farage based on his opinions. It is being presented as a denial of his freedom to be anti EU and pro border controls. I’m not sure there is evidence for that. I guess we would have to… Continue reading Unequally yoked … When the world gets it better than we do

What am I paying for if I open a bank account with you?

The Nigel Farage and Coutts saga highlights something significant about our culture.  My friend Steve Kneale also wrote about the saga here and he takes a much stronger line that Coutts were morally wrong to close Farage’s account and were discriminating against him. My position would be that, yes they were discriminating against him but… Continue reading What am I paying for if I open a bank account with you?

Freedom, Nigel Farage and the Coutts dilemma

I don’t know if you’ve been following this particular story or not. I’ve only really just picked up to it so am coming to the party quite late. The story is that Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP and prominent Brexit campaigner had his account with Coutts banks shut down. The  bank claimed that this… Continue reading Freedom, Nigel Farage and the Coutts dilemma

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?