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The strategy of God
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 1): Why we don’t
The broken marriage of preaching and pastoring
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Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Ian Carmichael on Sola Gratia - Tahlia's story (20/08/2008).
Cathy McKay on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Gordon Cheng on An interview with Mark Thompson (20/08/2008).
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Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Alex Phillips on A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV (19/08/2008).
Nicole Starling on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Recent posts
An interview with Mark Thompson by Sandy Grant (1 comment). Today we interview Mark Thompson... Mark, how did you come to Christ? I first heard the gospel … more
Sola Gratia - Tahlia’s story by Lionel Windsor (4 comments). Tahlia was born addicted to heroin, thanks to her mum Shae’s addiction. Tahlia (not her real name) lives with … more
“We are poorly dressed” - Part 2 by Nicole Starling (9 comments). Thanks to everyone who contributed comments in answer to the question that I raised in my previous … more
The indivisibility of truth by Tony Payne (4 comments). This Saturday’s classic Briefing extract is about the indivisibility of truth. It’s from Briefing #8, August 1, 1988: If … more
Dread, joy and Morning Prayer by Tony Payne (5 comments). Standing on the 5th tee at St Michael’s, in Sydney’s East, the golfer experiences a mixture of nervousness and dread. Here … more
A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV by Gordon Cheng (10 comments). Here at Matthias Media, we read and recommend the English Standard Version Bible, the ESV, as a superior … more
‘We are poorly dressed…’ - Part 1 by Nicole Starling (15 comments). “We are poorly dressed… Be imitators of me.” (1 Cor 4:11, 16) “All her household are clothed in … more
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Tony Payne
Tony is the Publishing Director at Matthias Media; editor of The Briefing; author of Islam in our Backyard, Fatherhood and numerous other Matthias Media resources; husband to Ali; father of five teenagers; and an avid consumer of books and almost any televised sport.
Sola Panellists
- Tony Payne (convenor)
- Peter Bolt
- Gordon Cheng
- Sandy Grant
- Gavin Perkins
- Ben Pfahlert
- Archie Poulos
- Nicole Starling
- Mark Thompson
- Jean Williams
- Lionel Windsor
This is a point worth reflecting on deeply.
It is at the core of what I repeatedly encountered when doing my study and writing on forgiveness. Biblically, forgiveness is something that happens between two parties.
But, in current western thought, forgiveness is a feeling. It is no longer seen ethically. Rather, forgiveness is needed so that we don’t feel bitter. In Embodying Forgiveness, Jones calls this “therapeutic forgiveness.”
Peter,
if this is the case (I am not disputing it) what are the implications for how we ‘converse’ with society?
Have read a few things this week which caused me to reflect.
In each example church was speaking publicly to its society:
1. Church advised its local community to be more gracious…
2. Marriage (male/female) is best for society……
3. Society please be less greedy so we don’t global over heat……
What is the place of christian ethics when speaking to a non-christian audience?
My perspective is that Western Society has moved from “moral code” ethics to an ethical philosophy where “right” is seen as “freedom, liberty and choice” and “wrong” as “slavery, oppression and restriction”. Therefore, I think our society does have an ethical code on which our society is being built, but it is an ethical code made up of radically different values.
If I’m right, there are a couple of interesting points that follow:
1) The Bible itself agrees that liberty is good and oppression is bad. These are not the primary factors that Christians understand to define “good” and “bad”, but they do provide a shared basis from which we can “converse with society” (albeit with limitations).
2) Young Christians have imbibed and live by these values also, hence the big push for social justice in many parts of the Church (not that there was none before). Where the values of freedom, liberty and choice do not line up with Biblical values, there is a huge tension that many don’t know what to do with, or even why it exists.
I’m not certain, but I’m fairly sure a similar shifts in ethics have happened historically in other societies. It’d be interesting to check out.
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