I came across a reference to this Christian statement against war drafted by Australian Methodist Minister Rev Alan Walker and signed by other clergy in the book Radical Newcastle (2015), page 303n33. The reference there is to the Newcastle Morning Herald and […]
The Lord loves those who hate evil;he preserves the lives of his saints;he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10 (Revised Standard Version) John Calvin’s Commentaries contain many hidden gems. Consider this almost pacifist interpretation of this passage: As […]
In the following paragraph the theologian Duncan Forrester explains how just war thinking is ethical and has become divorced from theological reflection: Just war theory is a way of thinking which has its roots in pre-Christian classical philosophy and Christian metaphysics. It […]
5 November is the anniversary of the invasion of the Maori settlement of Parihaka, Taranaki in 1881. I regularly teach a course called “Violence and Nonviolence in the Christian Tradition” at Pacific Theological College. In this course I include a session on […]
from The Christian Century, December 3, 1947 (who took it from the “Kagawa Calendar” of 1948). We Have Abandoned War By Toyohiko Kagawa A typical modern state, cumbered with its heavy armament but well-nigh bereft of other values, reminds one of nothing […]
Preached by Dr Richard Davis at St Ronan’s Presbyterian Church, Eastbourne, Lower Hutt, NZ, 31 August 2014 Lectionary Readings Exodus 3:1-15 Matthew 16:21-28 Romans 12:9-21 Sermon I think that it’s fair to say that our culture values busy-ness. Being busy is valued […]
As far as reading is concerned, what undoubtedly influenced me most, during the critical months of inner wrestling, to conclude that I could not “bend” the Sermon on the Mount and the whole concept of the Cross and suffering love to accommodate […]
Today I picked up a second hand copy of Men of Faith and Courage: The Official History of the Royal New Zealand Chaplains Department by J. Bryant Haigh (1983). As one would expect of an official history it is full of boring […]
On a recent trip to the Hewitson Library, Knox College, Dunedin, New Zealand, I found that they were giving away some free theology books. I scored a few gems, including The Churches Speak: Statements on Social Issues, 1937-1942. Some of the statements […]