POSTS
TheArchive.
A chronological record of essays, thinking tools, and interventions.
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Developing a biblical critical theory
Since the mid-twentieth century, critical theory has dominated much of academia and deeply influenced wider society. This talk develops four ideas: 1) What is critical theory? 2) What is a biblical critical theory? 3) What sort of moves will a biblical critical theory make? 4) Why is developing a biblical critical theory an important task
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Video: On being a Christian academic
A short interview with Christian academic Christopher Watkin about faith and the academy, made for the Simeon Network (http://simeonnetwork.org/).
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Video talk: Contributing to your field in the light of the gospel
This talk was given to the Sydney University Evangelical Union Postgraduate Society in June 2021. I reflect on how being a Christian shapes our approach to the academic life not just in the work we do, but in four interlocking ways that build a holistic approach to glorifying God in academic study.
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Let’s do it again! Second podcast on cultural Marxism for the Gospel Coalition
A little while ago, I got back together with Mikey Lynch, Brianna McClean and Rob Smith to continue our discussion of Christianity and cultural Marxism. You can find it on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Here are the show notes: Our most popular episode of the season featured Christopher Watkin, Rob Smith and Mikey Lynch
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Video lectures on a biblical theology of culture: creation, fall and redemption
Recently I had the privilege of leading two seminars at the 2020 FEUER Academic Speakers Network. I tackled the question of how to read our culture through the categories and patterns of the Bible, specifically through the creation-fall-redemption framework of biblical theology. The videos below are slightly amended versions of these two seminars. Video 1:
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Gospel Coalition Podcast on Cultural Marxism, Critical Theory, Cancel Culture and Christianity
I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a conversation with Dr Rob Smith of Sydney Bible College and Mikey Lynch of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students on the subject of the “cultural Marxism” that, according to some, is one of the most immediate threats to the church today. We carefully pick through
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Five reasons why we need a biblical cultural theory today
Perhaps we should blame it on the Jordan Peterson phenomenon. Or maybe it’s a symptom of the increasingly tribalized culture wars echoing noisily through the Twittersphere. However we got here, we have to admit that “critical theory” and “cultural Marxism” have become a thing for Christians today. What is at stake for Christians in grappling
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The Jubilee Centre – Christianity and the Social Contract
My article on Christianity and the Social Contract is now available on the Jubilee Centre website. .
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The Social Contract and the Sinai Covenant – an address for the Chapel of Hertford College, Oxford
This talk was prepared as a video address for the Chapel of Hertford College, Oxford. My sincere thanks go to Mia Smith for her kind invitation. A transcript can be found below. It is hard to escape the language and the implications of the social contract today. A steady stream of newspaper articles argue
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The basis of a healthy society: the social contract, promise-keeping and the Golden Rule
To adapt a popular meme from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, “One does not simply… rewrite the social contract”. It isn’t something we can change at will. It doesn’t drop from the sky fully formed. And, as we know, it wasn’t simply “written” in the first place. The codified aspects of the social contract—the
