Category: Theology
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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Ecclesiastical Polity: Diversity In Structure & Governance [1] – Intro
Today we want to write the introduction to a new series about church governance and structure. This is a controversial area of discussion within the wider Church as it essentially governs the relationships between leadership and laity, which has important parallels in wider society in what is generally known as the political realm. Church governance…
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Conservativism vs Humanitarianism In Church Theology [3] : Compromise vs Courage
Between 2016 and 2020, the US presidency of Donald Trump divided the Church like no president ever before. Trump proved to be more willing to step over an unconscionable line than any of his wiser Republican predecessors, all of whom (as well as all Democrats) professed at least a nominal level of adherence to the…
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Conservativism vs Humanitarianism In Church Theology [2] : Narrow & Broad Churches
The narrow church / broad church paradigm fits pretty well with the conservative/humanitarian theological split. Conservatives tend to prefer working within their own limited sphere of similar theologies within the Church as a whole, whilst humanitarians are generally more disposed to outreach and working with people from across a range of different denominational and theological…
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Conservativism vs Humanitarianism In Church Theology [1]
For decades, perhaps centuries, it was taken for granted that the wealthy and powerful of society were aligned with conservative political interests. This expectation has been largely captured in old-school political parties like the Tories in the UK, Republicans in the US, and in New Zealand, the National Party and latterly New Conservatives. However, recent…
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Conspiracy Theories and Christian Nationalism Contrarian To Church Growth [5]
This is the longest series of posts ever written on this blog, but that’s not been intentional. It just seems this theme keeps on going with new events and insight, and so a new part is added. The annual Southern Baptist Convention is being held this weekend in Nashville, TN, and will have to address…
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Conspiracy Theories and Christian Nationalism Contrarian To Church Growth [4]
The most important aspect of this discussion is to realise that US dispensationalist theology that points to present and future theocracy, as seen now in the country’s strong support for the present day State of Israel and its expectations of millenial rule as claimed by dispensationalists from the Book of Revelation, is inherently flawed, and…