In the piece, Tim highlights the fact that although technology has given us great opportunities for making our views widely known, it has  also highlighted the need for us to be extra careful about what we say – and how we say it. In a brief outline of his article, Tim writes:

In a global and technologically savvy economy, the Netizens’ (i.e., Internet Citizens’) free-flowing conversations (on blogs, chatrooms, and other social mediums) can quickly be turned into a doubled-edged sword, unless the free-spirited use of the media is tempered with an ethic of godly civility, recognizing at the same time, that we are deeply human in our engagements.

Drawing from a broad Christian philosophical-theological tradition, the article suggests a fourfold role for Christians engaging in a political-economy. While the contribution is contextual to recent social-political developments in Singapore, the suggestions nevertheless would have parallel value for the development of godly civility in any demographically and religiously pluralistic context.

For far too long in this country, Christians have sat back and allowed minority groups to so change our society that to even hold to traditional Christian values is now seen by many as ‘wrong’ or even (as I recently heard on a BBC Radio 4 phone in programme) evil! Here is at least one chance to join together with all like-minded Christians and make our protest known.

Daughters Under Trial is also available for Kindle from Amazon. 

Christine is the wife of the School founder Christopher Smith and mother of principal Calvin Smith.

Details:

Daughters Under Trial… Twenty-eight distinct devotionals addressing the trials of faith and the challenges that daughters of the heavenly Father can encounter in their Christian walk. Further details and reviews from Christine’s Blog .

Also:

It Could Take Faith To… A compelling and exciting story of a leap of faith to take the Gospel to Spanish gypsies living in caves. Further details and reviews from the book’s website.

I personally found It Could Take Faith To… immensely enjoyable, not least because it is about the family so much responsible for the setting up and ongoing work of Kings. I for one have benefited enormously from my studies there and believe their approach to be absolutely right.

David Foster (Webmaster)

Of course, one can draw a line under the past, kick a habit, or take up something new at any time of the year… there’s no need whatsoever to revolve life changes around the somewhat abstract concept of New Year. Yet given how the work, school and family yearly cycles tend to operate, together with how society seems to invest so much into the concept of a fresh start at New Year, it is difficult not to see 1st January as an opportunity to make those desired changes. The problem is, many New Year resolutions rarely make it to the end of the month. The long dismal winter ahead (at least here in the northern reaches of the globe), the abrupt introduction of an ascetic lifestyle following a month of feasting, unrealistic resolutions, and the cold light of (wintry) day all combine to make us fail at the first hurdle.

So this coming New Year why not make a decision to do something realistic, worthwhile and beneficial in early January, rather than a well-meaning resolution which will fall by the wayside within a week or two? Apparently New Year’s decisions which seem to succeed most are the proactive kind, the ones in which people set about engaging a new interest, learn a new skill, or make a decision to study. Thus, the New Year offers an excellent opportunity for those who have contemplated studying the Bible in greater depth, those wanting to study Theology for whatever reason, or perhaps individuals who feel a vocational calling to ministry but have never done anything about it. So this holiday season why not give serious thought to studying Theology at King’s in  early January? Moreover, unlike most schools and colleges, our flexible distance learning programmes permit you to begin studying straight away – this very January – rather than having to wait until next September. Applications received during December will be processed in time for an early January start for new students, well before the post-season blues have had a chance to set it.

We offer a Bachelor of Theology with a strong focus on biblical interpretation, a Master of Arts in Evangelical Theology, and a Graduate Diploma in Theology for those already holding a degree in another subject, all validated by the University of Chester. We also offer our own Knowing Your Bible short courses for those seeking a deeper knowledge of the Bible without the study commitments of our validated courses. So whatever your reason for studying the Bible and Theology – whether part-time or full-time ministry, future teaching or higher studies in Theology, to become more effective in lay ministry, or else purely out of personal interest and spiritual development – consider making a New Year’s resolution with a difference this December.

Naturally, we were treated to the story of Galileo and his telescope proving the church wrong. His telescope, said Dixon, was ‘more reliable than the bible’. This is because ‘at the heart of scientific knowledge are observation and logic’. Scientists ‘make hypotheses and test them time and again against the evidence’. For poor old faith, there is just ‘revelation – direct communication from God.’

Clips were shown of people who had experienced God in a special way. They’d seen a vision or found themselves speaking in another tongue. Later in the programme, to debunk such experiences, we were treated to the so-called “God-Helmet” – a kind of motorcycle helmet with lots of wires attached. Using this helmet, scientists can make people feel ‘a presence’ which may account for the ‘supernatural’ experiences many people have of ‘God’. The helmet can also make people look really daft, though it suited Richard Dawkins. (You knew he had to turn up sooner or later). Unfortunately, he didn’t experience anything supernatural. (Maybe he didn’t have enough faith in the helmet?)

We moved on (inevitably) to Creationists. ‘The battle ground is America’, says Dixon. ‘For American fundamentalists, the bible is literally the word of God; every phrase is true.’ Therefore, he goes on, ‘the theory (sic) of evolution cannot be right, because it contradicts what’s written in Genesis.’

Once again (sigh) we return to the “Scopes trial” in 1925 Tennessee. A ‘debate of science versus religion, reason versus faith’ a voice from the past tells us. Dixon takes up the commentary; ‘nevertheless, even into the 1980s creationism persisted in many American classrooms.’ The implication is that this is a bad thing because, for scientists, ‘Ancient religious texts are not sources of knowledge about the natural world and to treat them as if they are is absurd.’ And then, the breathtakingly arrogant assertion; ‘there’s no room for the God of biblical creationism in modern science.’

Intelligent design and irreducible complexity also got the elbow. Parents at one American school were shown outside a court case in 2006 in which they sued the school for teaching intelligent design. They claimed the school was trying to ‘promote religion and introduce false doubts about evolution.’ A clever lawyer informed us that the ‘the positive proposition that life could have been created by an intelligent designer is not science.’

I’m running out of space now but I’m sure you get the gist. As always with such programmes, we ended up with a pile of contradictions dense enough to make our brains hurt. For example, that once the Large Hadron Collider has done its bit, scientists will know all there is to know about everything. On the other hand, 75% of the universe is made up of dark matter and no one has any idea what it is! There is no Creator, but there are probably an infinite number of universes. Well of course! Stands to reason don’t it?

Such documentaries can drive me to distraction. Not just because of the ignorance as to what the bible claims and doesn’t claim: not because of the general ignorance as to what most intelligent Christians believe; and not because of the number of scientific facts we are bombarded with. But simply because of the sheer arrogance of little human beings, strutting about the planet, happily trying to supersede God.

Behind everything they tell us of course, is the implication that all is meaningless; that there is no objective worth to anything. But if this is true, why should we listen to anything they have to say?