Articles
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Please don’t label me. Good idea
New billboards have been set up in the UK to coincide with Universal Children's Day. The slogan: "Please don't label me. Let me grow up and choose for myself".
The new billboards have been put up by the creators of the Atheist Bus Campaign. Richard Dawkins, the Vice President of the British Humanist Association, is quoted as saying that children should not be labelled. "Nobody would seriously describe a tiny child as a "Marxist child" or an "Anarchist child" or a "Post-modernist child". Yet children are routinely labelled with the religion of their parents," he said.
Presumably the billboard campaign is directed at infant baptism and other religious ceremonies that purport to give a child a religious identity without their say so. It is perhaps an attempt to promote one of the myths about bringing up children. Maybe a myth of the tabula rasa, the idea that children can maintain an innocent and neutral mind until they are old enough to think for themselves. Like the idea of the neutral upbringing: that the child can be influence-free until it is mature. Or the myth of value-free education. In reality it is a trick to discourage parents from passing on their values and beliefs to their children.
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Christ the King
It is difficult living in a world with multiple authorities. It is not only a matter of who to obey, but also who to trust. Many of us have learnt that most human authorities are unreliable, so we have learnt to rely on ourselves as well. But this learned behaviour tends to interfere with our trust and following of Christ.
Many Christians (and churches) combine reliance on Jesus with reliance on themselves. But in practice it either turns Jesus into a helper not a Lord or imagines us as a kind of self-managed helper to God. It is quite difficult to be merely a servant. Merely a learner-apprentice (what the word disciple means).
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
The Open Hand
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. Ps145.15,16
Giving! It must be one of the most sensitive issues in church life. Appeals for money can stir up congregations like an intruder in an ant nest. "The church is always after money," some say. Even the core members can start feeling defensive when money is the topic. But discussions about giving do not have to start arguments. They could start a revival. Christian giving is a blessing.
Giving is one of God's favourite subjects. It is also an exciting subject. There are riches in this subject that are much greater than money. Giving takes us to the heart of being a Christian. It also brings us up against a very powerful idol.
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Anti-climax?
The so called “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem has become a famous story – re-enacted each Palm Sunday with much noise and celebration. But it has also become self-contained. A kind of isolated episode not really connected with anything.
One of the reasons is that it appears to be a kind of anti-climax. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem after all the fanfare, and then looks around and goes back to Bethany. He doesn’t do anything when he gets there. And even the next day there is no great event. He has a little demo in the Temple and stops proceedings for a while, but nothing changes and then he goes back to Bethany again.
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Helping the poor
How does one help a beggar? Bartimaeus for example, or Lazarus who lay at the rich man’s gate? Lazarus (Lk16) could have been easy to help – he just wanted some food. And maybe some medicines. Usually beggars want money – to buy food to keep alive.
Those of us who have never been a beggar or had much to do with beggars can have a romantic picture of them. The modern picture is not very nice. Protection rackets, gang organised begging, turf wars, quite apart from the intervention of any authorities, are part of the reality in the developing world.
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Book Reviews
Book Review:
TRANSFORMING MISSION: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission.
By David J. Bosch Orbis Books, Maryknoll New York 1991. 519 pages, plus Indices, and Bibliography.
This massive work is Number 16 in the American Society of Missiology Series, written by the Professor of Missiology at the University of South Africa.
Read more: David Bosch: Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission.
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Book Reviews
Book Review
Responsible Dominion: A Christian Approach to Sustainable Development.
By Ian Hore-Lacy. Regent College Publishing. Vancouver. ISBN: 1-57383-342-8
A book by the Director of Public Communications for the Word Nuclear Association may be suspected of being a public relations exercise for the nuclear industry. Certainly nuclear energy is part of the discussion and receives strong support in the book.
But it would be a mistake to write the book off (or buy it) just for that reason. Ian Hore-Lacy is a Christian who has spent most of his working life involved with mining (CRA – Rio Tinto) and environmental issues. His main arguments have to do with Christians pursuing a truthful analysis of the problems we face and seeking solutions that have a biblical foundation – especially solutions that will enable the world to feed its billions of poor and starving inhabitants.
Hore-Lacy takes issue with many of the assumptions and aims of modern environmentalism. He sees the green movement as basically a religious movement which opposes human activity as generally harmful to the environment which is given a kind of semi-sacred status.
He sees much of the debates as a clash of value systems. One of these he defines as a physical construct by which the environment is understood scientifically and rationally, and the other as a moral construct in which ‘nature’ is understood metaphysically, having intrinsic spiritual values. Many people will hold to both these systems in different proportions or in different circumstances.
However one of the great strengths of this book is that it seeks to describe a Christian stewardship of creation. It departs form the Romantic view of the environment and seeks to understand God’s purpose in creation and the ways humans should look after and use the creation they have been given.
The book has an excellent section on creation, the role of science and the nature of human stewardship of the creation. This is a refreshing study that focuses on practical matters and leaves behind the ideological debates about creation and science. Hore-Lacy discusses land use, national parks and mining, food production, GM, water resources and some of the impacts of globalisation.
Because the book aims to discuss sustainable development he has a fair bit to say about minerals, energy and renewable energy sources. He also discusses recycling, waste management and the likely long term availability of fuels. He compares alternatives sources of renewable energy and, yes, he makes a case for nuclear energy as part of the solution to sustaining human life on the planet.
One of the helpful aspects of the book is that it takes issue with the impact of ideology on science. Many assertions are made in the name of science, which are not scientific but rather ideological or religious (in this case green religion).
Overall for those interested in the environment and sustainable development or who want another perspective on the emerging debate about nuclear energy, this is a good book, written from a biblical perspective and challenging many assumptions of the green movement.
UPDATE 2015
A new edition of Ian Hore-lacy’s 2006 Responsible Dominion – a Christian approach to Sustainable Development has just been published in Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YGJTUNE It has a completely rewritten and expanded chapter 1 setting out a Christian perspective on resources and environment.
“The thrust of this chapter is to establish the theological basis of a balance between respect for biodiversity and 'the environment' on the one hand and respect for God's purposes vis a vis people on the other, while steering clear of the kind of anthropocentrism just defined and critiquing ecocentrism.”
The Introduction is recast to include mention of the Ecomodernist Manifesto.
Hore-Lacy brings the debate up to date with respect to both theological and scientific developments. “... a significant counter to the widely-accepted views of contemporary environmentalism was published over the names of 18 individuals known for their environmental stance and writings. 'We call ourselves ecopragmatists and ecomodernists.' ”
“But we do have an evolving consensus regarding God's priorities in the world, expressed for instance in the Lausanne Statement and subsequent Cape Town Commitment from the same source, and stressing the importance of considering the physical needs of people alongside their spiritual needs.”
Updated theological discussion includes Creation and Fall, and the redemption of creation, and interaction with recent discussions by McGrath and Wright for example.
One of the helpful aspects of the book is that it takes issue with the impact of ideology on science. Many assertions are made in the name of science, which are not scientific but rather ideological or religious (in this case green religion).
Overall for those interested in the environment and sustainable development or who want another perspective on the emerging debate about nuclear energy, this is a good book, written from a biblical perspective and challenging many assumptions of the green movement.