Multicultural Ministry Matters

John Davies, old testament scholar and founding principal of the Sydney Presbyterian Theological Centre, is retiring at the end of this year. PTC is looking for an OT lecturer. For more info, see the PTC news or download the job description . Applications close 13 April 2012. Applications to the PTC Principal, Rev. Dr. Ian Smith, ismith@ptcsydney.org.

A Facebook friend just asked me: "Just quickly, what is speech act theory in a nutshell?" My response: Words do things. To speak is to act. We don't want people to simply listen to us, but to be impacted by what we say and respond in some way. Eg: you asked me a question - you want your words to act upon me in such a way that I respond by providing you with information concerning speech-act theory. Which I have now done. I take it you don't want me to respond to your question by writing a thesis on speech-act theory, rolling it into a scroll, squeezing it into a nutshell, and handing it to you... The intended impact of a particular unit of discourse depends on its context. Eg: Fred says to George: "the door is open." Does Fred mean: It's cold - could you shut the door, please; Take the opportunity while you have the chance; Get out! Something else...? It depends on context - what Fred & George's relationship is like; where they are; w...

Recently, Evangelical theologians have been applying Speech-Act theory to various elements of theology. They include: Timothy Ward, Word and Supplement and Words of Life ; Kevin Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning In This Text and The Drama of Doctrine ; Nicholas Wolterstorff, Divine Discourse ; Richard Briggs, Words In Action ; Michael Horton, Covenant and Eschatology . Anyone know any other significant ones that I've missed...? Here's my summary of the theological use of speech-act theory: The Bible, as God's word, is not "dead" - it's not passive, just sitting there waiting for us to breathe life into it through our hermeneutical manoeuvres; On the contrary, it is "alive", because it is God's active speech to us. In the Bible, God proposes the means of relating to him - viz, Christ, the Gospel. The Bible is God's word and Jesus is God's word. The Bible is living and active because the risen Jesus is living and active as the divine ...

Over at Big Think , Peter Lawler has an i nteresting secular article on the recent trend to re-define marriage in terms of radically individual voluntarism - that is, defining marriage as a "contract" by an individual, to whom "society" must grant the freedom to marry whoever they want (= voluntarism), and if they don't get that freedom, they're being "oppressed". Big Think: The Deconstruction Of Marriage?

Seeing as it's Valentine's day, I got to thinking - is there any connection between God’s love and human romantic love? Some Old Testament passages describe The LORD’s attitude to his people in emotional terms. He delights in his people and considers Israel, even in exile, precious and honoured, the very apple of his eye (Deut. 30:9; 32:10; Is. 43:4; 62:5; Zech. 2:8). Yahweh ‘desired’ [ hashaph ] Israel (Deut. 7:7; 10:15), akin to how Shechem desired [ hashaph ] Dinah (Gen. 34:8), or an Israelite may desire [ hashaph ] a war-captive woman (Deut. 21:11). The New Testament also portrays God as desiring his people, and this desire motivating him to redemptive action. Christ felt compassion [ splagzomai ] for needy people, and this compassion motivated him to acts which eradicated the effects of sin – healing the sick (Matt. 14:14; Mk. 1:41), feeding the hungry (Matt. 15:32 = Mark 6:34; Mark 8:2), giving sight to the blind (Matt. 20:34), raising the dead (Lk. 7:13). The virtuou...

Here's some thoughts on Subcontinental ministry I put together for a ministry working group. Feedback appreciated. *** All humans are created by God, responsible to God, sinful before God, redeemable in Christ, and, depending on their status in Christ, heading for ultimate glory or judgement. The gospel is the same for all people everywhere. Subcontinental churches potentially become expressions of Subcontinental Christian culture rather than the gospel. I see no difference between this and Australian, Western ecclesial traditionalism – “we like it this way ‘coz it’s always been this way and it makes us feel comfortable.” The difference is that ethnic churches are tolerated, even celebrated, by both the broader church and the world, when they say this. The broader church encourages ethnically enculturated churches because of the HUP and a (rightful) interest in communicating the gospel clearly. The world tolerates ethnic churches because of multiculturalism. In contrast, ...