||Pastoral Passage|| What characterizes New Zealanders? And how does that shape Christian faith in New Zealand?
western culture
||Article|| The MCU’s 2021 Eternals film presents two conflicting visions of human purpose. Does humanity exist for itself, or for something bigger? Eternals echoes and affirms a popular cultural response to this question.
||Extended Book Summary|| An intellectual history of the sexual revolution that still embroils western societies. It helps to answer questions such as, “Why do we celebrate the tearing down of traditional moral codes?” and “Why has sex education for ever-younger children become so important for social progressives?” and “how is it that the idea of ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’ has come to make sense so suddenly to so many and ordinary people?”
||Article|| As you read this, I would like you to imagine how things might be different today if the ideas here were widespread in churches 30-40 years ago. It is unfortunately common for churches to be slow to respond properly to difficult social issues – too often the response has been silence, reactionary, or capitulation. Nevertheless, “late” is better than “never” and churches are increasingly taking these kinds of ideas on board.
||Short Article|| Anthropology shapes ethics. In other words, what we believe about the human person shapes what we think are appropriate behaviours. Our nature as divine image-bearers puts us in a special relationship with our Creator which comes with unique privileges, duties, and responsibilities.
||Book Summary|| Children from families who have immigrated are often said to be caught between two cultures. They belong to their parents’ culture but grow up within another. It can be a tricky tension for them to navigate as they often wish to be faithful to their ‘home culture’ as well as fit in with their adopted culture at school and with their friends.
When it comes to marriage and family formation, religious conservatives want to eat their cake and eat it too.
Is Christianity progressive? It certainly is – it just has its own vision, that sets its own agenda.
The differences between our Christian faith and our culture should not surprise us or be a cause for capitulation.
Our sights are set higher than humanism is allowed to dream.
Chris Northcott 