This short reflection argues that, in the face of natural crises that occur in the world, responsible Christian speech requires a much fuller and more thickly textured understanding of creation than is often presented. Reading the Bible leads us to avoid speculating on the origins or purposes of such crises. Rather, it bears witness to the divine…[Read more]

A chapter on Karl Barth’s doctrine of sanctification.

Deep time comes in many forms, including a range of temporal frames, and various approaches to more ethical engagement with the biosphere. In this paper, I explore the recent use and contestation of history, in light of its legacy as a Christian theo- logical project (from Eusebius and Bede into more recent renderings) and a potent political tool.…[Read more]

From many Aboriginal elders, such as Tjangika Napaltjani, Bob Williams and Djiniyini Gondarra, to painters, such as Arthur Boyd, Pro Hart and John Forrester-Clack, from historians, such as Manning Clark, and poets, such as Maureen Watson, Francis Webb and Henry Lawson, to celebrated novelists, such as Joseph Furphy, Patrick White and Tim Winton,…[Read more]

The Christian faith is concerned not simply with what we might call “ideas” or “beliefs” but is also profoundly attentive to the question “How then shall we live?” This essay suggests ten particular habits and convictions that undergird, make judgements about, and give shape to Christian faith communities committed to pursuing such a question in…[Read more]

This essay attends to the relationship between our ethnic, social, and cultural identities, and the creation of the new communal identity embodied in the Christian community. Drawing upon six New Testament texts – Ephesians 2:11–22; Galatians 3:27–28; 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 and 10:17; 1 Peter 2:9–11; and Revelation 21:24–26 – it is argued that t…[Read more]

This essay takes three aims: (i) to map in brief the theo-historical genesis of the semper reformanda aphorism; (ii) to consider that idea vis-a-vis the Reformed habit of confessing Jesus Christ; and (iii) to suggest one area where the witness of many Reformed communities today might call for urgent
attention in the spirit of the semper.

The present study has been primarily provoked from the inadequacy of both late and present presuppositionalists to sufficiently answer or refute the more philosophical, transcendental challenges levelled against Van Til’s Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (hereafter TAG). Given this shortcoming—which, with it, comes an atm…[Read more]

This is a particular work focusing on an aspect of the Catholic Church in Europe, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, concerning the rise of democracy during the so-called Modernist Crisis. I view the Modernist phenomenon as an historical lens through which to understand the politics, often characterized by artful and dishonest…[Read more]

As a new theory in the humanities and social studies, Queer Theory, as a broad theory encompassing any understanding that is anti-normativity and anti-fixed identity, is often applied to sexual matters. Whereas, others have discussed Queer Theory from the perspective of Identity Politics in sexual matters, I discuss Queer Theory from a…[Read more]

After a general philosophical introduction that outlines my current thinking, I advance the premise that the inverse of traditional Western philosophical understanding, that is, that the concept of divinity as uniquely created through human culture denotes the specific unique status of humanity, and is sustainable in light of contemporary…[Read more]

This paper responds to the question what is the origin and nature of apostolicity and how it is
demonstrated? The investigation examines the meaning of apostolicity found in the New
Testament, its significant transition through the post-apostolic period, and the consequence on
contemporary understanding. The dilemma of the first and second…[Read more]

The purpose of this essay is threefold. First we will attempt to define the problem of supersessionism (also known as ‘Replacement Theology’), both by responding to the calls of the Roman Catholic Church within Vatican II to change theologies of supersession, but likewise by addressing the current weaknesses in eschatological though within the Rom…[Read more]

[Chapter in The Art of Forgiveness, 2018] This paper considers the story of Jacob and Esau’s reconciliation (Gen 32-33) through the lens of my own experience in pastoral ministry and of Family Systems Theory. In one sense it is a psychological reading of the narrative of Gen 32-33. In another it is an attempt to explore the practical and…[Read more]

Entry on Hekhalot literature

Handbook entry on Medieval Jewish Prophecy as a form of prognostication

An entry for the Centre for the Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements’ (CenSAMM) Dictionary: https://www.cdamm.org/

This article will look at the ideology of veganism in the AHIJ. Since the early 1970s their diet has been a core part of their ideology and of their message to the world. Acknowledging that a black/Jewish meat-free diet is far from the exclusive property of the group, let alone a new development on their part, I will argue that it is an expression…[Read more]

An entry for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception on the topic of Name Theology, how this has evolved in different Abrahamic religions from the scriptural origins.

This essay is a précis (for which I take full responsibility) of Chapters One and Two of Leslie
Dewart’s seminal book consisting of Nine Chapters. The perspective he presented here, to my
mind, sets a fresh intellectual trajectory for philosophical contemplation. Written towards the
end of the 20th century the book is not an easy read, bu…[Read more]