About The Daily Latte
About the intersection of faith with politics, gender, social justice and democracy. I have a passionate interest in the relevance of Jesus’ Gospel today, how the Bible remains relevant in the modern world, and why it’s perfectly rational to believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Son of God.
Many of my posts, as in my book, Jesus and Captain Kirk, will place an emphasis on issues of particular importance today: politics, gender, racial equality and social justice. There have been many great works of apologetics written over the years, but typically they’ve tended to ignore these issues.
However, I believe that any modern, serious work of Christian apologetics must address the issues of the day and how the faith intersects with them.
Why focus on these?
In today’s political climate it is no longer an option to remain politically neutral. When wanna-be autocrats gain power and start attacking democracy in an attempt to consolidate dictatorial power, silence is acquiescence.
As a theologian who cares about the Christian faith, therefore, I have to speak out.
The question of gender equality is no more debatable than slavery, yet tragically some Christian denominations still do not allow women, on the basis of gender, to hold senior leadership positions. As a result, the Christian faith in general comes under attack because of this. Fortunately this is not true of all churches, and many churches support full gender equality. So what does the Bible say? This is a very important question because for many young people today, full equality is non-negotiable. And I completely agree.
Social justice permeates the gospels and letters of the New Testament, yet conservative elements in many churches today would prefer to ignore it. Evangelicals used to be known for their unrelenting focus on the cause of the poor, abolishing slavery, outlawing child labour, and improving prison conditions. Following the commands of Christ, they worked tirelessly on behalf of the oppressed and less fortunate in society.
I believe it is imperative that we bring this back into focus. Evangelical churches have of recent years become better known for their grasping at political power, extreme neo-con views, with an over-weening focus on just two issues - abortion and gays - while resisting attempts to provide a better living, healthcare and education for the poor and working class.
Given today’s climate, it is no longer possible to make a rational and well-rounded defense of the faith without addressing these issues. As Christians, then, who take the New Testament seriously, it is important to understand what it teaches on these subjects. And I believe that the message of the Gospel on these points is truly Good News, as one might expect from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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