Blog category – Current Affairs

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• It is time to ditch the celebrity Christian.5th May 2023
  Last month, yet another prominent Christian leader stood back from his role due to allegations relating to safeguarding and abuse. We await the outcome of ongoing investigations, but we all … Read more
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  Bottom of the Well Theology: A Christian Perspective from Ukraine2nd May 2023
  Roman Soloviy reflects from ‘the bottom of the well’ considering the conflict in Ukraine from a Ukrainian Evangelical perspective.
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  In the Presence of Whose Enemies?8th March 2023
  An exploration by Research Student Carolyn Whitnall of the song ‘Raise a Hallelujah’ in its role during the #LetUsWorship ‘protest tour’ arranged by Sean Feucht.
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  The Lure of Violence 31st January 2023
  In this post guest blogger Christine Redwood uses Judges 3 as a way in to asking ourselves the question: Is Violence Ever OK? 
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  Gender-based violence and the Bible – what can we learn from one another?25th July 2022
  Gender-based violence (GBV) is a crime as old, if not older, than the Bible. Yet, it is also a crime that remains endemic today, with almost one in three women … Read more
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  “The things that make for peace”. A reflection for Palm Sunday8th April 2022
  Palm Sunday sermon, based on Mal 3:1-5; Luke 19:35-45, by the director of the CSBV, Helen Paynter.
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  Making Peace in a Violent & Fragmented World14th March 2022
  Research Associate Peter King invites us to consider how the recent Declaration on the “Russian World” Teaching of the Russian Orthodox Church might speak to our own context.
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  Hopelessness in the Wilderness of War9th March 2022
  In this guest post, Will Moore shares his sermon on Lent, preached on 6th March 2022.
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  A Violent Fast6th March 2022
  This sermon on Isaiah 58 was preached by CSBV director Helen Paynter during Lent of 2022.
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  National Churches & Trans-National God28th February 2022
  Research associate Peter King considers the role of the national church in contributing to nationalism, and offers practical solutions for the church to instead reflect a trans-national God.
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  Canadian Residential Schools – one Canadian Christian responds28th June 2021
  If someone told me of the discovery of an unmarked mass burial site, containing 215 (or 104 or 751) little bodies disposed of like so much garbage, I would guess … Read more
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  Save me from bloody men: a Maundy Thursday reflection.1st April 2021
  This reflection from CSBV Director Helen Paynter is based on Psalm 59 (see also 1 Sam 19:11), and Luke 22:39-53.
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  The violent turn in Christian politics: what is to be done?3rd March 2021
  By guest blogger Paul Lusk Extremist political ideas are like a virus nurtured in a laboratory. Stored safely, they may do no harm. But transmitted to where defences are weak, … Read more
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  What Now for American Christians?13th January 2021
  By guest blogger Steven Harmon In November 2013 when our son was 7, we made a family trip to Washington, D.C. for me to attend the American Academy of Religion … Read more
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  QAnon, Christian apocalypticism and the threat to US Democracy12th January 2021
  By Valerie Hobbs and Helen Paynter In the wake of the violence carried out by a white supremacist mob at the United States Capitol last week, fascist rhetoric has multiplied … Read more
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  The (American) Civil War as a Crisis of Theology30th November 2020
  Review of Mark Noll’s book, by Helen Paynter. Noll, Mark E. The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era).  University of … Read more
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  What The Biblical Authors Skipped And Why It Matters Today23rd November 2020
  By CSBV research associate Brandon Hurlbert What The Biblical Authors Skipped And Why It Matters Today Readers of the Bible may be shocked to discover that an important historical event … Read more
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  Response to the UK government’s ‘Declaration of Humanity’19th November 2020
  This week the UK Government has published a ‘Declaration of Humanity’ by Faith and Belief Leaders in the UK, to condemn all forms of sexual violence. Here is our response, … Read more
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  Will America Resemble what it Reveres? The Debate About Celebrating and Confronting History1st November 2020
  Guest blog by Matthew Rowley For all the debate over the public commemoration of statues, there is considerable common ground on one issue: monuments mould the societies that they preside … Read more
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  Women’s Holy Burden and Patriarchy20th July 2020
  Guest blog by Valerie Hobbs Women’s Holy Burden and Patriarchy A few weeks ago, an anonymous blogger published a website called Genevan Commons Screenshots, an archive of images and discussion … Read more
• Responsible Scholarship: Moral and Ethical Considerations26th June 2020
  Guest blog post by Hannah Capey Four days have elapsed since the news broke in the French press that Professor Jan Joosten had been convicted of possession of child pornography. … Read more
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  A Bible, a Statue, and a Whip of Cords: Can symbolic violence be prophetic?21st June 2020
  By CSBV director Helen Paynter On 1st June 2020, Donald Trump walked out of the White House accompanied by his entire entourage, including the chair of the Joint Chiefs of … Read more
• Trump’s White Supremacist Bible: A Christian Leader and an Atheist Respond.3rd June 2020
  Following recent events in Washington, CSBV director Helen Paynter and atheist biblical scholar Katie Edwards decided to put out a joint statement on President Trump’s use of the Bible. An … Read more