The Ethical Challenge of the Imago Dei—Human Rights and Beyond

I was recently invited to write a blog post on humanity as imago Dei (“image of God”) for the Imago Dei Fund.

My post is now published online, with the title: “The Ethical Challenge of the Image of God in the 21st Century – Human Rights and Beyond.”

After sketching the meaning of the imago Dei and some of its ethical implications, the post concludes by exploring the compassion of God for the foreigner/refugee, which those made in God’s image are called to imitate.

Interestingly, my colleague in New Testament, Esau McCaulley, has recently written a blog post on a similar theme, entitled “The Slave, the Foreigner, and the Compassion of Israel.”

The Imago Dei Fund

Their website of the Imago Dei Fund describes them as “a grant-making organization working with our grantee partners to co-create a more just and more free world in which all human beings can thrive and flourish together.”

One of the issues the Imago Dei Fund addresses is human rights (as part of their commitment to “justice and mercy“). This was the topic I was invited to write about, based on the biblical teaching of humans as imago Dei.

Besides human rights, the Imago Dei Fund addresses matters of ecological justice (“care of creation“) and holistic shalom for persons (“care of souls“).

I invite you to check out the blog page of the Imago Dei Fund, where my post is located (along with other posts on related topics). It has the unusual name of The Inukshuk Blog.

If you want to know what an Inukshuk is, here is an explanation, with a picture.

Longer Still (Post Election Reflections of a Black Man amongst the Evangelicals)

Here is a new post by my colleague Esau McCaulley, prof. of New Testament at Northeastern Seminary.

The Scriptures that contain the stories of Israel, the Messiah Jesus, and the early church have long shaped how I viewed the world. It was the bible that affirmed black personhood in the fac…

Source: Longer Still (Post Election Reflections of a Black Man amongst the Evangelicals)

Power, Inequality, and Reconciliation in the Church

In about a week (June 16, 2015) Northeastern Seminary will be having their annual one-day summer Conference on Ministry. This year the topic is Power, Inequality, and Reconciliation in the Church, and the speaker is Dr. Christena Cleveland.

The conference is intended to explore how God’s people can respond to the forces of division, especially in a world that is saturated with inequality along social, economic, and political lines.

Christena Cleveland is a social psychologist, author, and speaker with a hopeful passion for overcoming cultural divisions in groups. She has just been appointed Associate Professor of the Practice of Reconciliation and Director of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke University’s Divinity School.

She is the author of Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart (IVP, 2013), which won a 2013 Leadership Journal Book Award.

The one-day conference is part of a Doctor of Ministry course that Dr. Cleveland will be teaching throughout the week at Northeastern Seminary. The conference is meant to allow a wider audience to gain the benefit of her expertise while she is on campus.

More details about the conference, including a schedule and registration details, can be found on the Northeastern Seminary website.

Click here to watch a video clip of Dr. Cleveland talking about the topic of her book.