The Bible Story That Explains Australia: Jezebel and Ahab’s Violent Vineyard (Christianity Today)
As an increasing number of Australians realize, our nation was founded on the legal lie that the continent was terra nullius, “nobody’s land.” The truth is that Aboriginal people had been living on the lands now called Australia for at least 65,000 years by the time the first Europeans arrived. However, since British law said no one was here, most settlers didn’t bother making treaties.
One exception was John Batman, who was born in Australia to a convict father and a free mother who had paid passage to keep the family together. After encountering challenges trying to access a land grant in other regions, Batman staked out land near Merri Creek, otherwise known as the home of the Wurundjeri nation, and signed a treaty with them that exchanged handkerchiefs, flour, and other supplies for most of what is now Melbourne.
The Bible and Slavery
In a famous debate with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris criticises the Bible for explicitly promoting slavery:
“But if you go to the books, and try to figure out what the creator of the universe wants with respect to the owning and needless immiseration of other people, he expects you to keep slaves, and he’s told you how to do it.”
Is that right? Is God okay with the slave trade?Is that right? Is God okay with the slave trade?
Anglicans and Moses: the law from another time but for all time
Perhaps it is time for Christians to admit that the Law of Moses is an embarrassing irrelevance, and stop reading it altogether in church. That’s what some popular preachers are saying – echoing no doubt the unspoken position of many around the world (many congregations would baulk at the thought of a sermon series on Numbers). Thankfully, this is an error which our Anglican heritage provides a bulwark against.
Thinking Through Old Testament Violence
We are studying Judges at church this year. I love our church’s commitment to expository teaching because it forces us to preach through the whole counsel of God—even the tricky bits. And Judges certainly has...
Save thousands on your next trip to a foreign land
Australians love to travel. More than half of us own a passport, and by world standards we are amongst the most intrepid of travellers – rivalled only by Saudi Arabia and China in dollars spent per capita and time spent abroad. Millennials are our leading transoceanic excursionists, generally outspending their parents and grandparents. These young antipodeans save fastidiously for months to finance their trips, and often go without meals while abroad.
But if it’s a life changing trip to a far country you’re after, you can save thousands – simply by opening the pages of your Old Testament.