As well as writing letters to churches, Paul wrote to a few individuals. We have three examples in Scripture, though I’m sure he wrote more. He writes to his co-workers Timothy and Titus giving them instructions about how to pastor the churches within their care. The third example, to Philemon is even more personal. Paul… Continue reading Freedom in Christ changes relationships to others
Tag: abolition
What does 1 Corinthians 7 actually say about slavery?
In amongst what Paul has to say about singleness, celibacy, abstinence, non-Christian partners and divorce in 1 Corinthians 7, he talks about the situation that slaves find themselves in. Whilst our focus has been understanding the issue of sexual ethics, I want to pause on this particular example because the question of Paul’s attitude to… Continue reading What does 1 Corinthians 7 actually say about slavery?
Princeton, slaveowners and statues again
Once again, there’s a debate rumbling about what to do with a statue of someone from the past. Once again, the issue is that the person concerned had been a slave owner. This time, we’re talking about John Witherspoon, the former president of Princeton. Students at Princeton have been campaigning for Witherspoon’s statue to be… Continue reading Princeton, slaveowners and statues again
What more do we need?
This is a bit of a follow up to my article regarding the abolition of slavery and “a better ethic than the Bible” earlier this week. A lot of the argument concerning the redemptive-movement-hermeneutic boils down to two questions which Michael Bird helpfully crystalised in a twitter discussion. Is it better for something to be… Continue reading What more do we need?
A better ethic than the Bible?
In this article, Michael Bird picks up on some disturbing comments that John MacArthur made about slavery back in 2012. I agree with Bird, that the comments were troubling. MacArthur’s suggestion that benign slavery was possible is utterly wrong headed. There is of course a fundamental difference between sticking with a good institution like marriage… Continue reading A better ethic than the Bible?
A lens to look through
In this week’s #FaithrootsLive we continued to examine the issue of male and female leadership roles in church by beginning to look at hermeneutics. How do we know that we are interpreting and applying the passages that talk about men and women correctly? In order to answer the question, we are considering a case study… Continue reading A lens to look through
Calvin on slavery
I thought it might be of interest to have a look at one of the Reformers and see how he handled the question of slavery in Scripture. So here’s some commentary on how John Calvin handles Ephesians 6. Calvin is of particular interest because as I’ve argued previously, he seems to argue from Ephesians 5:21… Continue reading Calvin on slavery
Does egalitarianism lead to denominations supporting Same Sex Marriage
Last week, the Methodist Conference voted to change its position on marriage. The decision was that: The Methodist Church believes that marriage is given by God to be a particular channel of God’s grace, and that it is in accord with God’s purposes when a marriage is a life-long union in body, mind and spirit… Continue reading Does egalitarianism lead to denominations supporting Same Sex Marriage
More on slaves and the slave trade
Earlier this week in our #TheDailyDose talks I looked at what Paul had to say to Timothy about slaves and masters (1 Timothy 6:1-2). You can listen back here. As I explain in the talk, the Bible’s handling of ethical questions around keeping and trading slaves has wider implications. If the Bible permits slavery but… Continue reading More on slaves and the slave trade
Douglas Wilson on Slavery and racism
In some up coming posts, I’m going to try and outline the issues concerning Douglas Wilson’s teaching in order to show why it is unhealthy. But to do so, we need to engage properly with what Wilson is actually saying rather than hearsay or exaggeration and that means we need to take a little time… Continue reading Douglas Wilson on Slavery and racism
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