Today, I am responding to a number of people’s requests and giving some thoughts on the recent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel.
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Author: Alastair Roberts
Alastair Roberts (PhD, Durham University) writes in the areas of biblical theology and ethics, but frequently trespasses beyond these bounds. He participates in the weekly Mere Fidelity podcast, blogs at Alastair’s Adversaria, and tweets at @zugzwanged.
How Should We Understand Formal Leadership Within the Church?
What is “ordained”, formal, leadership in the Church? How do you understand the NT’s “episkopoi” and “diakonoi”? What is the connection between these offices/roles/functions and both preaching and liturgy in worship?
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John Hughes’ ‘The End of Work: Theological Critiques of Capitalism’
On today’s video, I give a lengthy summary and discussion of the argument of John Hughes’ stimulating book, The End of Work: Theological Critiques of Capitalism.
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What is the Case Against Women’s Ordination?
How would you summarize the argument against the ordination of women?
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Are Young Elders a Contradiction in Terms?
What are your thoughts on ‘young elders’ in the church? Is there an age restriction for the office of elder?
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Videos from the THINK Conference on the Future of Complementarity
A couple of months ago, I spoke at the THINK Conference on the Future of Complementarity, along with Andrew Wilson and Hannah Anderson. It was a wonderful few days of Christian fellowship, stimulating conversation, and shared worship. I thoroughly appreciated the change to meet both Andrew and Hannah for the second times; they have been such great friends and interlocutors (and in Andrew’s case a co-author!) for me online and it is always great to bring such friendships into the concreteness of the physical world. I also enjoyed the chance to make many new friends over the course of the conference.
All of the videos of the main sessions have been published now. We all prepared our talks independently and didn’t hear what each other had to say until the day itself. In my talks I am sharing my own judgment of matters, not necessarily viewpoints that are shared by the other participants. The same is true of Hannah and Andrew’s talks. Also, either Hannah’s or my talks can be taken by themselves, or alongside the other’s. The videos of the talks are posted in order below. I delivered the third, fifth, and seventh.
Enjoy!
Session 1: Introduction (Andrew Wilson and Livy Gibbs)
Session 2: Society, History, and Culture (Hannah Anderson)
Session 3: Creation (Alastair Roberts)
Session 4: Anthropology (Hannah Anderson)
Session 5: Redemption (Alastair Roberts)
Session 6: Ecclesiology (Hannah Anderson)
Session 7: Sexuality, Marriage, and Singleness (Alastair Roberts)
Session 8: Summary and Conclusion (Andrew Wilson)
Why is the Tribe of Dan Excluded in Revelation 7?
Why is the tribe of Dan excluded in Revelation 7’s list of Israel?
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Should We Be Using the Lectionary?
Do you commend the use of a lectionary for preaching? If so, what advantages does this approach have over preaching through whole books of the Bible? How should we think about preaching in churches where we can no longer take basic biblical literacy for granted and even face a bit of skepticism towards the Bible?
Bumper Q&A Episode!!
Today’s questions:
- Does the Scripture teach that the Holy Spirit indwells believers individually or corporately?
- What do you think about ghosts, UFOs, bigfoot, etc?
- You mentioned you like to listen to the Bible. Do you have a recommendations on recordings?
- Which translation of scripture do you use for memorization?
- You wrote a series in 2006 called “Election, Etc.” which I have found very interesting and helpful. But 12 years is a long time, so I was wondering to what extent it still represents your views on election.
- Reading a recent article by a rabbi, I noted that the interpretation of various aspects of OT is quite different from ours. If the Torah was given to them, shouldn’t we let Jewish scholars teach us Christians?
- Do you generally read from a “Reader’s bible” or from a “regular” bible with chapter and verse references?
- Have you engaged much with the Radical Orthodoxy crowd, like John Milbank and company?
Was Israel Wrong to Ask for a King?
Was it a sin for Israel to ask for a king? 1 Sam 8 makes it seem so. But then Deut 17 seemingly gives permission for Israel to ask for a king. How should we think about Israel’s monarchy? Should it have happened, or is it an example of an evil that God used for good?
Adversaria Videos and Podcasts 