One result of the Enlightenment was that reliance on revelation was replaced with reason as the authoritative source of knowledge. But our society has now largely lost its confidence in reason, and therefore has abandoned the concept of objective truth as applied to the ‘big questions’ of meaning and morality.
We live, accordingly, in an age of subjectivism, of individualism, of personal freedom. I am free: free to think and live as I want. Free to be me. …
Here’s the first instalment of my summary of Vaughan Robert’s short book on this subject:-
Transgender is today’s big social, ethical and cultural issue. Stories of transitioning, debates about which public bathrooms to use, documentaries on transgender children, are impacting us on almost a daily basis.
How are Christians to respond:- not only to the issues, but also to the people involved, as we come into contact with them?
‘Transgender’ covers a range of experiences in which an individual’s sense of gender does not match their biological sex. …
One statement of marriage vows, permissible in the Church of England, runs as follows:-
I, N , take you, N ,
to be my wife/husband,
to have and to hold
from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God’s holy law.
In the presence of God I make this vow.
These are worth pondering carefully.…
It would be easy to bemoan the prevalence, at the present time, the decline of marriage and the negative attitudes that many people hold towards it. But, it seems, marriage is surprisingly good for you.
Here in the UK, Marriage rates are often quoted as being ‘at the lowest rate ever’. The 2011 census showed that married couple households were in the minority for the first time.
Between 2001 and 2011, the number of single people rose by 25%. …
(What follows is based on the teaching of John Stott, Issues Facing Christians Today, 4th ed., 359ff)
Marriage is a divine institution, founded on the natural distinction between male and female, Gen 2:24.
Marriage serves a number of purposes: control of procreation, Gen 1:28 Ps 127:3,5, creation of a stable environment for child-rearing, Pr 5:16-17; mutual support, Gen 2:20-22.
In marriage, two people become one, Mt 19:5-6.
Marriage is honourable, Heb 13:4, but so is the unmarried state, Mt 19:11-12 1 Cor 7.…
There is no denying the universality of the family unit (defined as at least a mother, father, and their children). Attempts to do without the family as a basic socialising agency have been abandoned.
As for marriage, a number of important functions may be identified:-
Marriage has not only sexual, but economic, aspects. …
John Stott:
‘The author of Psalm 139 looks back to the antenatal stage of his existence. Three words sum up what he affirms. First, creation. He seems to liken God both to a potter who “formed” his inmost being and to a weaver who “knit him together” in his mother’s womb (v. 13). Although the Bible makes no claim to be a textbook of embryology, here is a plain affirmation that the growth of the fetus is neither haphazard nor automatic but a divine work of creative skill.…
Mt 8:5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help: 8:6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.” 8:7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8:8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.…
Along with ‘diversity’, ‘inclusion’ is one of the great buzz-words of our time. Everyone shouts ‘Hurrah!’ for inclusion, and ‘Boo!’ for exclusion.
It’s time to ask a few questions, and maybe even find a better bandwagon to jump onto.
What follows is based on Edward Dowler’s Inclusive Gospel? Grove Books, 2015
To be sure the biblical doctrine of adoption (Eph 1:5f) speaks powerfully of our inclusion by God in Christ. And Paul elsewhere teaches that believers are included into Christ himself (1 Cor 12:1).…
Egalitarian writers often claim that male headship did not come about until after the Fall, and is, accordingly, a consequence of the Fall.
This view goes back at least as far as Chrysostom, who represents God as addressing the woman thus:
…‘In the beginning I created you equal in esteem to your husband, and my intention was that in everything you would share with him as an equal, and as I entrusted control of everything to your husband, so did I to you; but you abused your equality of status.
