The term “polycrisis” gets used a lot these days to name a peculiar consequence of globalisation: the collision of expanding systems in shock—energy, climate, geo-politics, finance, etc., with AI accelerating the chaos—in a confined planetary space.

The world has reached some sort of tipping point, which may or may not prove to be catastrophic but which arguably signals the irreversible transition from an age during which humanity has flourished within the natural order to an age of human domination over the natural order. This new age is often called the Anthropocene, though ironically the dominance of the anthropos is already being threatened by an AI insurgency. Serves us right!

The church also has to navigate this difficult transition—these birth pains of a new and very uncertain age.

2 comments | Read more...
The way I see it, Paul’s letter to the Romans is like a stage with three vast backdrop cloths hanging one in front of the other. The largest cloth depicts the creational presuppositions of the letter: God is the creator of all things and cannot be worshipped in the form of created objects; Adam… ( | 1 comment)
Romans 14 is usually read as a new section dealing with disagreements within the community over such matters as diet and observance of holy days. There is, however, an immediate and decisive eschatological aspect to the discussion: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is… ( | 2 comments)
In this article, the author discusses Paul’s teachings in Romans about the practical implications of the gospel for the believers in Rome. The author highlights the importance of unity and obedience, as well as the need to maintain good relations with the wider Greek-Roman culture. The author… ()
What is going on here? Is this a tolerable way for Christians to behave? Should we all be doing it? And before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with helping them to keep the fire going. The larger concern in this section of Romans is how the believers will react to persecution. At least, we have… ()
Paul’s letter to the Romans discusses the prophetic narrative that God has made Jesus Son of God through his resurrection and that he will eventually rule over the nations. The letter also mentions the wrath against the idolatrous Greeks and the shortcomings of God’s own people, the… ()
Romans 7:1-8:39The argument about the status of the Law of Moses in this critical period of eschatological crisis continues. Paul speaks to “those who know the Law,” but now he seems to be addressing Jewish believers, who “have died to the Law through the body of Christ” (7:4). ( | 4 comments)
I recently did a long and enjoyable interview with Sean Finnegan, talking about my book In the Form of a God: The Pre-existence of the Exalted Christ in Paul. Sean is lead pastor of Living Hope Community Church near Albany, New York, and teaches at Atlanta Bible College. He knows his stuff. ( | 2 comments)