Shalom

One of my questions about the place and role of the Church and of local churches in society at large is its attitude towards those on the margins of society. It seems fairly clear from the Gospels that Jesus embodied a view of the world that was predisposed to the poor and marginalised.^[1] It is important to note, for example, that when Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 in the Nazareth synagogue, he stops in the middle of v2, declaring the Year of the Lord's Favour (in resonance with the Jubilee and Sabbath years of Lev. 25) for the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives and the prisoners, but not initiating the day of God's vengeance.^[2]

Here is the real question, though. If the Church, and local faith communities in particular, are going to rise to the challenge of following in the footsteps of Jesus, what should their attitude and praxis be to the poor and to 'sinners'?^[3]

Today is the final episode in my essay on the question of the ecological bankruptcy of Christianity for Advanced Workshop.

Today covers the conclusion of the essay and the full bibliography, for those who are interested in some further reading on the issues raised.

Given that this is the end of this essay, it'd be good to have comments and conversation on the Christianity and ecology forum.

Here's the next installment of my Advanced Workshop essay on Christianity and the ecological crisis.

This section discusses revisionist responses to the accusation of the ecological bankruptcy of Christianity. The word limits of the essay means that this section is limited to the revisionist ecological doctrines of two key theologians: H. Paul Santmire, and Jürgen Moltmann.

Tomorrow is the conclusion of the essay, and the full bibliography, for those interested in some further reading.

Today is the 5th installment of my essay on the culpability of Christianity with regard to the environmental crisis.

This section of the essay covers reconstructionist responses, in particualr the creation spirituality of Matthew Fox, and ecofeminism as represented particularly by Rosemary Radford Ruether.

Hope you enjoy it!

Today is the 4th installment of my Advanced Workshop essay on Christianity and the environmental crisis.

This section covers the first of the three main types of responses - apologetic defenses of Christianity with regard to the allegation of ecological bankruptcy.

Comments are welcome, as ever.

Today I give you part three of my Advanced Workshop essay on the ecological crisis and the ethical guilt of Christianity.

In this section we get to grips with the allegations levelled at Christianity, and the consequent reflection on and clarification and extension of the charges.

As usual, comments are very welcome.

Today is the first installment of my Advanced Workshop essay on the ecological crisis and the culpability of Christianity. I'm gonna tease you and just publish the introduction today, which outlines the structure of the essay. So, you should be able to guess from here what you're going to get for each of the next five days at least.

As always, comments and reflections are most welcome.

Ok, it's been ages since I've posted anything on the site - so very sorry to anyone who's been reading/waiting. I've had a tight deadline for my latest two essays for Advanced Workshop, the undergraduate tehology course I'm currently studying. Submitting these two essays brings me to 10 out of 12 completed - I can hardly believe I've got that far through it! Only two more study weekends and two more essays and it's all finished.

Anyway, I thought I'd publish one of the last two essays here (I feel rather nervous about this, as I've only just submitted it and so haven't had a mark or feedback - so please treat me gently!). I thought the best thing would be to publish it in episodes, so comments and reflections on the issues raised as we go are very welcome.

The essay is about the ecological crisis we find ourselves in and the causes of the impending environmental disaster. The essay title is...

First installment of my essay tomorrow.

Peace church is a way of thinking and understanding; it is a particular focus and response to being a Christian community of faith. It is built upon the complete centrality of Jesus as the incarnation of God’s character and thus the source of all true values.

One of the most significant themes in the Bible is encapsulated in a simple Hebrew word: Shalom.