John Mark Ministries

Theology

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‘Let no one who is not eager for truth and peace enter here’ (Plato)

Articles on this site express varying points of view, to encourage mature thinking on serious issues. The assumption is that you will want to study a controversial topic from various angles before you arrive at a conclusion, rather than simply believe what someone told you when you were impressionable! (So some stuff here is ‘hot’. Proceed at your own risk!). See the Statement of Faith for John Mark Ministries' theological stance.

10 POLITICAL Things You Can’t Do While Following Jesus

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 23, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

by Mark Sandlin 06-12-2013 In response to my last article, ¢â‚¬Å“10 Things You Can’t Do While Following Jesus, ¢â‚¬ I was accused multiple times of being political. All I was trying to do was follow Jesus. So, I thought it’d be interesting (and generate tons more hate mail) to show what a list would actually look like if […]

Huston Smith: Religion in the Twenty-first Century

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 10, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Religion in the Twenty-First Century [See also here for an excellent series of essays from a wide range of scholars on this broad topic]. By Huston Smith Huston Smith is a philosopher, film producer, and author. He is widely regarded as the most eloquent and accessible contemporary authority on the history of religions. Born in […]

Liberals and Conservatives (Richard Rohr)

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 9, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation Seven Themes of an Alternative Orthodoxy Seventh Theme: Reality is paradoxical and complementary. Non-dual thinking is the highest level of consciousness. Divine union, not private perfection, is the goal of all religion (Goal). Liberals Versus Conservatives Meditation 21 of 52 At this time in history, the contemporary choice offered most Americans […]

Miroslav Volf: Embracing the ‘other’ in love, truth and grace

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 9, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

¢â‚¬â€¹Prof Miroslav Volf says his parents gave him an amazing gift of hospitality. 4/05/2014 by Gordon Preece Christians must practise a ¢â‚¬Ëœhermeneutic of hospitality ¢â‚¬â„¢ to those who are ¢â‚¬Ëœother ¢â‚¬â„¢, including Muslims and non-believers, argues Professor Miroslav Volf, Director of the Centre for Faith and Culture at Yale University. The renowned theologian and author of Exclusion and […]

Review: Head to Toe: Men and Their Roles in the First Two Generations of Christianity

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 6, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Head to Toe: Men and Their Roles in the First Two Generations of Christianity, by Ross Saunders, Acorn Press, 2014 This is an interesting book: its twin, published earlier, is Outrageous Women, Outrageous God: Women in the First Two Generations of Christianity. In both books Ross Saunders unpacks the idea that Jesus upended ancient Mediterranean […]

One more time: What the Bible really says about homosexuality

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 5, 2014 ⋅ One comment

What the Bible really says about homosexuality Editor’s note: Daniel A. Helminiak, who was ordained a priest in Rome, is a theologian, psychotherapist and author of ¢â‚¬Å“What the Bible Really Says about homosexuality” and books on contemporary spirituality. He is a professor of psychology at the University of West Georgia. By Daniel A. Helminiak, Special to CNN May 15, 2012 President […]

Life Worth Living (Miroslav Volf)

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ May 1, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Life Worth Living: Christian Faith and the Crisis of the Universities Miroslav Volf ABC RELIGION AND ETHICS30 APR 2014 PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION CHRISTIANITY CAN MAKE TO THE FLOURISHING OF UNIVERSITIES IS TO BUILD ROBUST HUMANITIES PROGRAMS IN WHICH THE QUESTION OF LIFE WORTH LIVING FIGURES PROMINENTLY.CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK.CO It appears that universities – at least, the world’s […]

Engaging the flood of controversy over Noah

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ April 28, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

by Nils von Kalm http://nilsvonkalm.com There has been a lot of controversy over the Noah movie, mainly from Christians. The controversy has been around the fact that the movie doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t follow the biblical story in many ways. In fact it has a bit of a Lord of the Rings feel to it, particularly with the inclusion of the rock-like […]

Life Beyond Death

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ April 26, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Can we hope for life beyond death? Stanley HauerwasABC RELIGION AND ETHICS14 APR 2014 HOPE IN LIFE BEYOND DEATH IS MADE POSSIBLE, NOT BY SENTIMENTAL BELIEF IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, BUT BY PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST’S LIFE. LIFE MUST BE VIEWED AS A GIFT, NOT A “RIGHT” TO WHICH WE ARE ENTITLED. Stanley Hauerwas delivered the following sermon […]

What Hitchens got wrong: Abolishing religion won’t fix anything