Peter Jensen is the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney. This is the second of two articles on human nature. Read the first article in the Briefing archives.
Author Archives: The Briefing
Practising Hospitality
Review
Let the conversation begin
Review
How wired thou art
Couldn't Help Noticing
An all-consuming problem
Review
God’s business
The value of work under scrutiny
Review
Bishop opposes ‘thinning out’ of evangelicalism
A closer look: How do we ‘know Christ better’?
Children in Africa
Interchange
An interview with Mark Strom
Tony Payne speaks with Mark Strom about his new book, Reframing Paul, and the issues that it raises.
You highlighted two particular problems for modern evangelicalism in your book: the influence of Greek thought on our systematic theology, and the social influence of rank and status and such ideas on church life. On the first, you seem very down on systematic theology generally. Can you explain why?
Ten tips for frustrated servants
Life
One of the most common experiences in the life of Christian service is not love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, or any other fruit of the Spirit; it’s frustration. Sometimes this arises from ungodliness in the servant; sometimes it is a genuine response to a situation that makes you feel like crying out, “God, what are you doing here?”
More than animals: what kind of creature are we?
Thought
What is man? Throughout history great minds have tried to define us as a species, but the essence of humanity has proved hard to pin down. “Man is a featherless biped”, Plato concluded, although he was somewhat dissatisfied with this as a definition. “Man is a reasoning animal”, wrote Seneca, echoing Aristotle. “Man is a tool using animal”, said Carlyle, anticipating modern anthropology. Man is “a poor, bare, forked animal”, wrote Shakespeare in his habitual pessimism about humanity.