It’s been said that America, as South Africa did, must confront its past, especially in terms of white supremacy and racism, and hopefully through honest, deep dialogue across the chasm of race. How do you do that? Well, maybe a
Black and “Blue”
Canadian Residential Schools – one Canadian Christian responds
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 that perhaps it was done by the Nazis. Or the
The Holocaust: Church Complicity and Indifference
Guest blogger Revd Bruce D. Thompson reflects on church compicity with antisemitism, and the role that the Bible sometimes plays. I had long suspected it be the case. The confirmation however, came at a time, and in a way, I
Preaching Judas
“The Chernobyl of Christian anti-semitism” This is how the late Israeli writer Amos Oz described the figure of Judas in the gospel stories. As we approach Easter, and our annual retelling of the passion story, maybe it is time to
The (American) Civil War as a Crisis of Theology
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 North Carolina Press, 2006. A time of great crisis. A
Will America Resemble what it Reveres? The Debate About Celebrating and Confronting History
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 over. Neither side looks at them as merely neutral or
A Bible, a Statue, and a Whip of Cords: Can symbolic violence be prophetic?
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 Staff. He took a short walk across Lafayette Square, and
The Christian imagination: Theology and the origins of Race
The Christian imagination: Theology and the origins of Race, by Willie James Jennings. London: Yale University Press, 2010. Book review by Sara Améstegui Deik Introduction Willie Jennings is an associate professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity
Sermon: The Way of Jesus in a World on Fire
Sermon on 1 Peter 3:8-22, preached at St Nic’s, Durham, by CSBV Research Associate Brandon Hurlbert, on 7th June 2020, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests in the USA and across the world. Sermon transcript is as
Trump’s White Supremacist Bible: A Christian Leader and an Atheist Respond.
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 abbreviated version of our article appeared in the Independent online