The big news in the USA in the last few weeks has been the possibility of the conservative-dominated Supreme Court repealing current federal abortion law (Roe v Wade). This is far from an open-and-shut case for theologians, despite the widespread support for this direction from conservative evangelicals in the US and worldwide. That’s because the… Continue reading America Stumbles Towards Theocracy
Category: Theology
Ecclesiastical Polity: Diversity In Structure & Governance [2] – Episcopal / Presidential / Apostolic Leadership Structure
Carrying on from the first part of this series with a change of title, polity varies a lot between different churches. The early church in the New Testament appears to have had a congregational type of polity. There is not enough detail there to confirm this and there are naturally differing interpretations due to the… Continue reading Ecclesiastical Polity: Diversity In Structure & Governance [2] – Episcopal / Presidential / Apostolic Leadership Structure
Recap: Governance and Accountability [3]
So if we take a closer look at megachurch theology it turns out there is, indeed, a specific branch of it as such. That is, there are theologies that are specifically related to megachurches. Much of this comes from a recently deceased gentleman by the name of C Peter Wagner, who was resident for a… Continue reading Recap: Governance and Accountability [3]
Recap: Governance and Accountability [2]
Just a short update on this, the issues of church governance and accountability are super relevant at present in the wake of current scandals involving a prominent South Pacific megachurch. Most churches of this type have relatively limited accountability because of their leadership structures, which often place one person at the top as an apostolic… Continue reading Recap: Governance and Accountability [2]
Recap: Governance and Accountability [1]
So in the last month there has been a lot of debate in the church worldwide about governance and accountability. This is an ongoing issue that has never not been controversial because these issues really cut to the heart of how churches are run and who they are run for. Jesus spoke very strongly about… Continue reading Recap: Governance and Accountability [1]
NZ Churches Seek Judicial Review of Government Covid Protection Framework (Traffic Lights) [2]
In the first part of this series we briefly examined the circumstances of the establishment of lodging court cases against the Government’s vaccine mandate policies by two separate groups of Christians. These groups are FreeToBeChurch, and the much more widely known Family First. The purpose of this part is to dig into some of the… Continue reading NZ Churches Seek Judicial Review of Government Covid Protection Framework (Traffic Lights) [2]
Christians Vs Conspiracy Theories [1]: Intro
Everyone knows that there are lots of conspiracy theories circulating in the world. While those specifically relating to Covid-19 are prominent at present, conspiracy theory is an ongoing issue for Christians rather than just a current set of events. This post attempts to explain this blog’s views on why Christians should not engage with these… Continue reading Christians Vs Conspiracy Theories [1]: Intro
Theological Controversies Influencing US and NZ Churches [2]
An article in “The Atlantic” in October 2021 highlights huge division in US evangelical churches, which is a high price to pay for years of craven obeisance to conservative politics. The author lays the blame squarely at the feet of Donald Trump in the present term whilst also acknowledging that the issue has been steadily… Continue reading Theological Controversies Influencing US and NZ Churches [2]
Theological Controversies Influencing US and NZ Churches [1]
It’s very plain and has been for many years that churches in New Zealand are theologically influenced by viewpoints that originate from the USA. Whilst these ideas may be mainstream with the overall culture of society in America, they begin to look rather odd when imported into another country where cultural values are very different.… Continue reading Theological Controversies Influencing US and NZ Churches [1]
Anti-vaxxers Polarise NZ Christian Community
We all have heard the arguments against the Coronavirus response worldwide, including vaccines. Much of the opposition to this is coming from within churches, from particular groups of Christians, almost all of whom follow obscure and rather extreme theological viewpoints, generally ones which, like many of the anti-arguments, have been bulk-imported from the USA. Unfortunately… Continue reading Anti-vaxxers Polarise NZ Christian Community