Thanks to a kind invitation to speak at this year’s Oak Hill School of Theology, I’ve been pushed into thinking more deeply about what it means to be created in God’s Image.
This was the 3rd event in a series looking at the doctrine of humanity.
After David Shaw laid the groundwork, recapping from previous years, we heard from two medical doctors who are also theologians. John Wyatt did a superb job considering the impact of technology & AI on our humanity; Andrew Nicholls then considered issues of the start of life and abortion, in ways that resonated quite unexpectedly with what I’d prepared. It’s definitely worth following up on those talks as I’m sure they will become available in due course.
My topic was how we handle power, especially within church contexts. It’s a notoriously difficult issue to tackle, not least because of the static of cultural bandwaggons. But we need to – there is too much damage being done, unwittingly or nefariously.
Anyway, having got all the tech teed up beforehand for what was inevitably online, my best-laid plans came to nought. I’d hoped to break up the monotony of my voice spouting forth to and through screens by showing a 10-minute video to cover one section. Sadly it failed, for reasons I still can’t figure out! Hey ho! So here it is.
The idea was to take one argument from a debate on which (one would hope, at least) there was total consensus and then to apply it to another. Several abolitionists’ argued that the abolition of slavery necessary precisely because they were forced to endure what nobody in God’s image should ever have to endure.
