jandmclark.com

- the online home of Jonathan, Martha & Co -

Cambridge Papers list

Generated: .

  • Vol.1 Num.1 - Can Tolerance Become the Enemy of Christian Freedom? - Roy Clements [03 / 1992] - This paper examines the grounds upon which religious toleration has been defended in western society. It argues that only the Bible provides a foundation which is not potentially destructive of the very freedom which adcovates of toleration cherish.
  • Vol.2 Num.1 - The Ban on Interest: Dead Letter or Radical Solution? - Paul Mills [03 / 1993] - Financial disasters are currently everyday occurences. Many are attributable to the workings of a debt- and interest-based economy. Rather than argue the case for and against the biblical prohibition of interest from the texts themselves, this paper attempts to demonstrate the injustices and problems that have arisen because we have ignored traditional Christian teachings on finance. In so doing, a pragmatic case is made for taking seriously what the Bible teaches on this aspect of economics, rather than dismissing it as an ancient irrelevancy.
  • Vol.2 Num.2 - Reflections on Providence: Can We 'Read' Events? - Mark Dever [06 / 1993] - There is an assumption in society, and increasingly in the church, that the events of our lives cannot be placed in a larger context of meaning. This paper considers the obvious moral problems raised by Christian claims to meaning and suggests some biblical guidelines which may help us to 'read' events.
  • Vol.2 Num.3 - Officiously, To Keep Alive? Euthanasia: Definitions and Consequences - Roy Clements [09 / 1993] - The first of two papers.
  • Vol.3 Num.2 - Homosexuality: Finding the Way of Truth and Love - Christopher Townsend [06 / 1994]
  • Vol.6 Num.1 - An eye for an eye? The morality of punishment - Christopher Townsend [03 / 1997]
  • Vol.6 Num.4 - Relationism: pursuing a biblical vision for society - Michael Schluter [12 / 1997]
  • Vol.7 Num.1 - A brief theology of time - Paul Mills [03 / 1998]
  • Vol.7 Num.2 - The Great Commissions - Ranald Macaulay [06 / 1998]
  • Vol.7 Num.3 - Expository preaching in a postmodern world - Roy Clements [09 / 1998]
  • Vol.7 Num.4 - Should Christians support the Euro? - Paul Mills & Michael Schluter [12 / 1998]
  • Vol.8 Num.1 - Engaging with cinema - John Coffey [03 / 1999]
  • Vol.8 Num.3 - Hell: a difficult doctrine we dare not ignore - Christopher Townsend [09 / 1999]
  • Vol.8 Num.4 - The New World Order? - Julian Rivers [12 / 1999] - This paper summarises the biblical teaching on international order, considers the way in which Christians have appropriated that biblical teaching, and evaluates recent developments in international relations. In the light of events in Kosovo and East Timor, it considers the justification and limits of the use of force in 'humanitarian intervention', and the development of international criminal law.
  • Vol.9 Num.1 - Does Athens need Jerusalem? A Christian context for secular thought - Michael Ovey [03 / 2000] - Is Christian thinking best done in isolation from secular thought? Or in dependence on it? This paper argues that neither is right, but instead Christian understanding can benefit from the genuine insights of secular thought, and, to achieve this, must put secular thought into the context of the doctrines of creation and redemption, both to evaluate it and to preserve its coherence. An illustration of this process is found in the secular thought of Baudrillard: his claims that we live in a society dominated by 'image' provide a deeper understanding of our culture's current idolatry.
  • Vol.9 Num.2 - Risk, Reward and Responsibility: limitied liability and company reform - Michael Schluter [06 / 2000] - Limited liability is contrary to biblical teaching because, exceptionally in the law of contract, it allows that certain debts may be left unpaid. As a result shareholders, who retain rights of ownership, are excused responsibilities of owmership, while directors bear some of the responsibilities of ownership, and some share of the rewards, but carry few of the risks. This flaw at the heart of corporate structure leads to problems in corporate governance, absence of corporate social accountability, and an unhealthy trend towards corporate giantism. Solutions lie, it is argued, in policies that restore shareholder liability, and incentives for business not to incorporate.
  • Vol.9 Num.3 - The Counter-Reformation of Pope John Paul II - Ranald Macaulay [09 / 2000]
  • Vol.9 Num.4 - The Divine Economy - Paul Mills [12 / 2000] - The basic economic problem is that the incentives needed to promote efficiency and growth also lead to inequality. Biblical law sets out an economic model that shares contemporary concerns for economic efficiency and fairness while avoiding the problems faced by the current Western model. In the process it achieves what economists have been aspiring to for the past 250 years and yields a number of innovative ideas for reform. The beauty of its conception from an economic point of view has rarely been appreciated.
  • Vol.10 Num.1 - Secularisation: is it inevitable? - John Coffey [03 / 2001] - It has long been believed that secularisation is the inevitable by-product of modernisation, and that the rise of modern science, pluralism, and consumerism is sure to usher int he decline of religion. This secularisation myth has functioned as a 'master narrative', shaping the way we look at the world. It has boosted the self-confidence of generations of non-believers and left believers feelings doomed and outdated. However, in recent years, sociologists of religion have become increasingly sceptical about traditional secularisation theory. This paper explains why this is so, and argues that Christians should not succumb to cultural pessimism.
  • Vol.10 Num.2 - Cloning Humans - distorting the image of God? - Denis Alexander [06 / 2001] - This paper addresses the thoelogical, relational and risk issues surrounding the porposal that individuals should create genetically identical copies of themselves, a procedure known as reproductive cloning. It is argued that cloning runs counter to the biblical teaching that humankind is made in the image of God. Cloning would divorce procreation from loving sexual union and generate a disturbing discontinuity in sibling and parental relationships, thereby undermining family and social structures.
  • Vol.10 Num.3 - Render unto Caesar? The dilemnas of taxation policy - Christopher Townsend [09 / 2001] - Taxation is back on the political agenda: the choice between keeping taxes down and improving public services will soon need to be confronted. This paper considers taxation policy from a biblical perspective and explores some basic issues. How much tax should governments raise? How should the burden of taxation be distributed across society? A Within what political structures should the power to raise taxes operate? A number of potential areas for reform of the UK tax system are highlighted. More importantly, this paper emphasises that taxation policy must be considered in the context of a wider debate about the vitality of democtratic government, the operation of the economy, the institutional landscape and the channels through which welfare is provided.
  • Vol.10 Num.4 - Multiculturalism - Julian Rivers [12 / 2001]
  • Vol.11 Num.1 - Idolatory and spiritual parody: counterfeit faiths - Michael Ovey [03 / 2002] - This paper describes three major objections to using idolatry for analysing the modern world, and examines the concept of idolatry in their light. Reviewing biblical material indicates just how foundational a concept idolatry is, closely linked to the relation of uncreated Creator and created cosmos. The paper discussed areas where this tool applies inside and outside the Church. It concludes that idolatry parodies the truue relationship of humanity and God with intense, binding, but ultimately couterfeit relationships.
  • Vol.11 Num.3 - A window upon the World: Engaging with Painting - Margaret Wilson [09 / 2002] - Visual creativity is valued in the Bible as an important aspec tof human flourishing. Art engages th mind, intuition and imagination; it communicates, provokes and reveals. Painting, in particular, has aesthetic dimensions like shape, colour and composition, and meaningful ones, representing objects, dealing in imagery and revealing underlying belief-systems. By the use of examples, this paper suggests several ways of looking at painting, including engaging in an analysis of Cezanne's Mont Sainte Victoire. It concludes that painting is of immense value, both as an aspect of the proper enjoyment of creation, and as a means of communication from and with the surrounding culture.
  • Vol.11 Num.4 - A brief theology of time. Part2: Resisting the tyranny of time - Paul Mills [12 / 2002] - Time is the modern-day slave-driver. Calendars and clocks not only govern, but also tyrannise our lives. Our first study on time (Vol.7, No.1) examined the biblical witness that God is both transcendent over time while acting within it. Here we continue the theme of time but from the perspective of how and why God has ordered its divisions. With the help of that revelation, we may be better able to resist the tyranny of time.
  • Vol.12 Num.4 - Worshipping God with Technology - Denis R. Alexander [12 / 2003] - Technology is rooted in the creative nature of God and its appropriate use in a moral obligation in our stewardship of the earth. Technologies facilitiate human actions, thereby shaping societies, and act like amplifiers of human aspirations, both good and bad. We worship God with sustainable and appropriate technologies that work well; that heal, not harm; that are concerned for the poor and for the environment; and that nurture relational values.
  • Vol.13 Num.4 - Mercy not sacrifice: Mosaic law in Christian social ethics - Jason Fletcher [12 / 2004] - Rather than neglect Mosaic law, Christians have a theological responsibility to seek in the law given to shape the nation of Israel insight into God's will for nations generally. This is so because Mosaic law was never intended exclusively for Israel; its ethical principles originate in the character of God and are foundational to the creation order. Moreover, Jesus does not abolish Mosaic law but authoritatively reveals its underlying ethical intent, and Paul, although critical of the misuse and powerlessness of the law, also affirms its abiding ethical authority.
  • Vol.14 Num.1 - Globalization and the world economy – for richer for poorer, for better or worse? - Paul Mills [03 / 2005] - Globalization is transforming the world for both good and ill, although it is neither new nor inevitable. Globalization is largely innocent of the crimes for which it is usually charged. It has the potential dramatically to reduce global poverty and undermine repressive regimes. But globalization challenges the viability of the nation state and homogenises diverse cultures. Its most lasting legacy could well be easing the spread of the gospel.
  • Vol.14 Num.2 - Honour and Shame - David McIlroy [06 / 2005] - Contemporary Western society suppresses the concepts of honour and shame, although they re-surface in its media in a theatre of the grotesque. Honour reinforces good behaviour through appeals to a shared morality, while shame penalises bad behaviour through disgrace and exposure. The Bible offers a different social vision, in which honour is respected through discretion, and where shame and disgrace can be dealt with through confession, reconciliation and restoration into the community.
  • Vol.14 Num.3 - Co-belligerence and common grace: can the enemy of my enemy be my friend? - Daniel Strange [09 / 2005] - Co-belligerence describes the activity of Christians working together with non-Christians for a common political, economic or cultural cause. This paper explores one biblical argument on the legitimacy of co-belligerence: the doctrine of ‘common grace’. While common grace can offer a stable foundation for cobelligerence, such activity is not straightforward, and calls for careful reflection, discernment and wisdom.
  • Vol.14 Num.4 - Humour, Scripture and Christian Discourse - James & Kate Williams [12 / 2005] - Godliness and humour have tussled in Christian history. There is more humour in the Bible than flat readings in contemporary churches might suggest. It has didactic and social functions within the larger comic framework of salvation history. We visit the shape of creation–fall–redemption to see the perversions of humour and its redeemed uses in social critique, effective communication and in strengthening community within the family of God.
  • Vol.15 Num.1 - Victim chic? The rhetoric of victimhood - Michael Ovey [03 / 2006] - The rhetoric of victimhood allows us to cast ourselves without qualification as victims, or as saviours of victims, while dramatising our chosen opponents as demonic without qualification. This paper outlines how we sometimes use the role of victim. It analyses the spiritual dangers of manufacturing such blanket identities in relation to usurping God as creator-judge and subverting basic principles of justice, and contrasts victimhood rhetoric with the example of Christ. Instead of victimhood rhetoric, we should prefer roles following the example of Jesus, who sees humans in relation to the perfect justice and mercy of God.