From Instrument of Brutality to Symbol of Love

John Dickson in today's SMH. Picture by John Shakespeare from SMH 10 April 2009.

John Dickson: Faith no more does little good for society

John Dickson is in today's SMH:

It hardly takes a statistician to tell us that a huge proportion of non-government welfare and aid in this country is organised through agencies with a religious heart, such as World Vision, Salvation Army, Mission Australia, Anglicare and Caritas. Then there is the evidence that the religious are more likely to become teachers, nurses and doctors. The recent Religion And Occupation study by the Christian Research Association says about 25 per cent of people in these "nurturing professions" are regular worshippers of one kind or another - much higher than the national average of 17 per cent. Religious people do not have a monopoly on doing good. Many unbelievers do a great many good things for the poor and marginalised, and there are several excellent welfare and aid agencies with no religious foundation.

Nevertheless, do-gooding remains a particular preoccupation of the faithful. Whether trying to earn their way to heaven or (more likely) trying to embody the love they think God has for the world, believers tend to give more money away, run more soup kitchens, collect more aid for those in poor countries and gravitate more toward "people professions" than those without religion.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Public Meeting Friday III

This week's Public Meeting Friday comes from 2006. I've selected two talks that were of a two week 'Opportunity Week' in Semester 1 - Think Week - in which the university campus was challenged to think about what Christianity had to say about Philosophy, History, Philosophy, Pluralism and Islam. It is the last two topics that I've picked for listening this week. John Dickson is the speaker, and both talks were given to around 250 students each. The audience for the Islam talk was made up of a large number of Muslim students, and the lecture theatre felt very tense to begin with - but John was very gracious in his representation of Islam, which, if anything, gave him an air of credibility.

So, without further adieu, here is Dr John Dickson:

• Christianity and Islam: Points of Agreement, Point of Tension
• Christianity and World Religions: Why Pluralism delivers Less Than it Promises
  

The Life of Jesus

CPX have posted a sneak peek of their upcoming documentary 'The Life of Jesus', the followup to The Christ Files. Check it out:


Life of Jesus Highlights 03 from CPX on Vimeo.

'Jesus is God' According to Early Christians

John Dickson and the film crew from The Life of Jesus have gained rare access to an archaeological find that cements historical evidence early Christians worshiped Jesus as divine. It is a prayer hall in Meggido dating back to the third or even second century. According to John Dickson:

“The inscriptions on the mosaic floor are remarkable, one of them names a benefactor called Gaianus who is described as a centurion. Another mentions a woman called Akeptous who ‘…offered this table in memorial of the God Jesus Christ’.”

You can find more information here and here.