Category: Theology

You are not meant to be autonomous.

Out of recent conversations about church culture in the light of recent abuse scandals we’ve seen a renewed debate about complementarianism.  It’s a little confusing as to how this has happened because in the cases primarily linked to complementarian leaning churches the victims of abuse tended to be young men whereas in at least one… Continue reading You are not meant to be autonomous.

Made for each other

If Genesis 1 introduces us to the creation of humanity, chapter 2 fleshes it out giving us a bit more detail about the creation of man and woman. At this stage we are told that there was no bushes and small plants of the field, a reference here I believe to cultivated plant life because… Continue reading Made for each other

Truth and lies about humanity

What we believe affects how we live.  We’ve seen in previous discussions that we can choose to believe either truth or lies about God, Creation, humanity and New Creation. We can choose to believe either the truth that God is good, love, sovereign, holy, eternal or we can believe that God is unloving, weak, finite… Continue reading Truth and lies about humanity

Being Human – New series on faithroots starts this week

The original (and an ongoing) aim of Faithroots  was to help people think through how doctrine/systematic theology applied to life. My concern was that we seem to separate Christian teaching into heavy weight more academic stuff and practical self help stuff. But if what we believe affects how we live then first of all, the… Continue reading Being Human – New series on faithroots starts this week

Conservative evangelical theology SHOULD mean there is no excuse for abuse

Predictably, one of the responses to two high profile cases of abuse has been for some to identify a specific problem with conservative evangelicalism and therefore with its underlying theology..  conservative evangelical, or more properly, “Reformed Theology” holds that. God is the great and glorious Lord, the Triune God who is love, holy and just. … Continue reading Conservative evangelical theology SHOULD mean there is no excuse for abuse

Why is the doctrine of creation so important?

So far, we have sketched out the story of Creation as we find it in Scripture and we have compared it to other Creation accounts, both historical and contemporary. Now, we can start to think through the implications of Creation. First of all, we want to look at the doctrinal implications. What are the important… Continue reading Why is the doctrine of creation so important?

Is Penal Substitution about redemptive violence?

Penal substitution is an aspect of the doctrine of atonement.  It is the belief that Jesus died in our place ad a substitute bearing the penalty for our sin.  One of the objections to it is that it perpetrates “redemptive violence” so that the violence enacted against Jesus is itself seen as redemptive.  Recently in… Continue reading Is Penal Substitution about redemptive violence?

But now… (Romans 3:21-31)

You are talking with someone about the Gospel and they raise the classic objection. It is arrogant for you to claim that you will be going to heaven and they won’t. On what basis can you make such an outrageous and intolerant claim. You start to share the Gospel further with them. How would you… Continue reading But now… (Romans 3:21-31)