Rod Benson

My latest article on creeds and confessions is up, this time focusing on NSW Baptists (and, briefly, Saddleback Church).

The danger of dogma A few years ago, while browsing Dogmatic Theology by W. G. T. Shedd, a friend expressed surprise that such a book was in print today. To be fair, the book was originally published in…

Why do some Christians fear creeds?

No creed but the Bible The first of a series of posts about religious creeds and confessions. Creeds as we know them do not occur in Scripture. They began to appear toward the end of the first century and the beginning o…

My article on Scott Morrison and climate policy, published today.

Australia Making Headlines for All the Wrong Reasons Australia is making headlines. Lack of substantive action on climate change mitigation has drawn the Pacific nation and its prime minister into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Which do you use? Which would you choose?

15 great book cataloguing apps For those who want to explore the world of online book cataloguing apps, here is an alphabetical list of the main contenders, current as at October 2021. It’s not always easy to find the book…

First post in a while. This one and the next are for the book nerds.

How to catalogue your home library Hello, book lover! If you own a lot of books, or refer to your books as a “collection,” there’s a good chance you’ve thought about organising them more comprehensively than by arranging them on she…

My latest article. What worked for you?

How to improve your essay marks What gets good marks? A good academic essay directly addresses the set task, and is well-researched, well-argued, and well-structured. Pay close attention to these qualities, and to matters of styl…

Morning pour.

My latest online article.

Who is Mother Goose? Some books I enjoyed as a small child involved no magic or magical creatures, and are set in a world identifiable as our own. But one of my earliest childhood literary memories, Mother Goose,&…

Insights just published my article.

The moral task of theology Does theology have a moral or ethical function? Should it have such a function? If, as the Puritan divine William Perkins put it, theology is the science of li

My latest blog post.

The preface and purpose of Luke’s Gospel Matthew begins his Gospel by tracing Jesus’ ancestry to Abraham (Mt 1:1-17). Mark has no infancy narrative and begins with the ministry of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus aged about 30 (M…

On the narrative structure of the Gospel of Luke. My latest blog post.

The structure of Luke’s Gospel Ancient earthly Jerusalem as painted by James Tissot, ca. 1890. The writers of the four canonical Gospels arranged their texts with purpose in mind. It has been said that, for Luke, “theology does …

My latest blog post, on the mystery of who wrote the New Testament letter to the Hebrews.

Did Luke write Hebrews? The New Testament letter to the Hebrews bears no author’s name. The arguments and themes of the document suggest that the author was a gifted theologian of the stature of contemporaries such as the…

Here’s a piece I wrote for Mosaic in 2004.

The politics of punishment By Rod Benson Rod outlines the real reason for the Southern Baptist Convention’s recent decision to sever ties with the Baptist World Alliance. One of the chief architects of the Southern Baptist C…

My latest online article.

Origins of the New Testament Christianity has been described as “a religion of the book.” Other faiths also share this quality, but Christianity is a bookish religion in two important ways. First, it draws heavily on the Hebre…

“We who allow ourselves to become engaged in war need this testimony of the absolutist against us, lest we accept the warfare of the world as normative, lest we become callous to the horror of war, and lest we forget the ambiguity of our own actions and motives.” —Reinhold Niebuhr

Christian approaches to war in the light of the biblical command not to kill A public address by Rod Benson, 12 March 2009 Thank you for the kind invitation to address this gathering of the Council of Christians and Jews in what is a very beautiful Sydney building, the Grea…

My latest online article ( #2 of 5 on literature reviews).

Scoping the academic literature The first practical task in writing a literature review is scoping – a preliminary exploration of resources, including existing reviews, to assess issues of quality and planning. Scoping helps you …

My latest online article.

Who wrote the Gospel of Luke? All the narrative books of the New Testament come to us as unsigned, anonymous documents. The first generation of readers probably knew the identity of the authors of all the New Testament books, b…

For my academically inclined friends, here’s part one of my intro to writing lit reviews for a thesis or dissertation. It’s a draft - any comments?

So you want to write a literature review A literature review locates your original research – the kind you’d write up in a thesis, dissertation or long essay – within the existing academic literature. What exactly is a literature review?…

Four amazing features of the Gospel of Luke. My latest online article.

What is distinctive about Luke’s Gospel? Each of the four Gospels presents a unique perspective on the life of Jesus. The distinctiveness of John’s Gospel is well known. Of the three Synoptic Gospels, Luke shares many similarities with Ma…

My latest article. Your thoughts?

Should the church shun released prisoners? On 19 May 2015 I was asked by a leader of a large NSW Baptist Church to provide advice on possible “biblical grounds” for a request by the church to exclude a person from attending serv…

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus, as told in the biblical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But why are there four Gospels? Why only four? Why not one super-Gospel?

Why four Gospels? Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus, as told in the biblical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But why are there four Gospels? Why only four? Why not one super-Gospel? We know from…

My latest blog post is up.

Why four Gospels? Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus, as told in the biblical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But why are there four Gospels? Why only four? Why not one super-Gospel? We know from…

Why four Gospels? Who made the choices regarding inclusion and exclusion, and on what basis? My latest blog post.

The origins of the Gospels The church has long affirmed that the New Testament consists of a canon (that is, a “rule” or “standard”) of 27 books. That raises several important questions, such as: Why 27 books? Why only 27? W…

Notes for the first meeting of a small group study of Luke’s Gospel I’ll be leading each fortnight.

What is a Gospel? The Bible contains four “Gospels,” located at the start of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, named after their authors. These four long narratives serve as the primary source documen…

“Too often the culture of the educated man needs warming and empowering, while the enthusiasm of the zealot needs controlling.” My latest blog post.

“The vital breath of the church”: Prayer, personalism and spiritual power in the thought of G. H. Morling Prayer, worship and intimacy with God feature strongly in George Henry Morling’s evangelical approach to spirituality. In a diary entry dated 19 August 1928, Morling famously states, “There must be…

Transcript of my staff devotion at Moore College today.

The winds of ultimate change Today is the second Monday of Lent and, among other things, it is a time of waiting, reflecting, and expectancy. What is it that you are waiting for today? In popular cartoons, God is often depicte…

Transcript of my staff devotion today at Moore College.

The winds of change and renewal The winds of unwelcome change blow harsh through all our lives. Last week we looked at the challenge of negotiating the changes that come our way. Today I want to continue that theme, and reflect o…

Transcript of today’s staff devotion at Moore College.

The winds of change and me Last week I quoted the refrain of an old hymn, “All may change, but Jesus never,” and I talked about the consistency and reliability of Jesus. Today I want to talk about the first phrase in that re…

My talk to staff today at Moore College.

Jesus and the winds of change As a young child in Wollongong, I learned a lot of hymns and songs at Sunday School, in church, and at home listening to Burl Ives LP records. Burl was a challenge to my tiny mind, since as …

Does God change? And what of it? My six-minute talk to staff at Moore Theological College today.

God and the winds of change Each of us has our own unique experience of 2020, the year that brought us a disruptive pandemic, and our own perspective on what it all means. But one thing we all share in common: we have all fel…

Repost of the transcript of an interview I did for EAPPI in 2014.

Seeking justice in Israel-Palestine EAPPI IS A WORLD-WIDE NETWORK. OUR EAPPI NATIONAL COORDINATION OFFICES IN 26 COUNTRIES WORK HARD TO RECRUIT EAPPI HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS AND COORDINATE THEIR ADVOCACY WHEN THEY RETURN HOME. TODAY,…

My latest blog post.

Facts or opinions? “Just stick to the facts.” “Well, in my opinion…” We’ve all heard comments like these. How would you explain the difference between a “fact” and an “opinion”? Books have been written on the s…

My latest blog post.

Developing my critical thinking skills In my last post, I suggested that critical thinking is “a complex process of deliberation which involves a wide range of skills and attitudes,”[1] and that it requires effort and patience, but impr…

If more of us practiced the skills listed here, life would be so much better. Political life, religious life, social life. Think about it.

My latest blog post.

What is critical thinking? The ability to think critically, and the freedom to do so, are essential elements of good theological education – and of any modern democratic society. Theological students are expected to be activ…

My latest blog post (3rd of 3).

Five more steps to better memory recall Learning isn’t just about memorization, but we rely on memory and the ability to recall memories every day. Academic study places extraordinary emphasis on memory recall. In my previous post, I out…

My latest blog post.

Five steps to better memory recall We all rely on memory and the ability to recall memories every day. Academic study places extraordinary emphasis on memory recall. Here are five simple steps to improve your memory recall as you st…

My latest blog post.

Five ways to improve focus while studying You’ve brewed your favourite coffee, assembled your study resources, checked your email, rechecked your social media accounts, and the cursor is pulsing on the blank screen of your writing device. …

My latest blog post.

Joy Connor on Baptist social issues This is an edited extract from an email from Joy Connor to Rod Benson received on 1 November 2010, responding to an invitation to make observations about the Social Issues Committee of the Baptist …

My latest blog post.

What we bring to theology Welcome to The Theology Whisperer, a series of short blog posts on theology and theological education. What do we bring to the table when we do theology? Today it is common to note a need fo…

My latest blog post.

25 books and articles on Martin Luther’s theology By Rod Benson, 14 August 2020. Call numbers are those assigned by the Donald Robinson Library at Moore Theological College, Sydney. Works Pelikan, Jaroslav & Lehmann, Helmut T. (eds), Lu…