Author Archives: Alastair Roberts

About Alastair Roberts

Alastair Roberts (PhD, Durham University) writes in the areas of biblical theology and ethics, but frequently trespasses beyond these bounds. He participates in the weekly Mere Fidelity podcast, blogs at Alastair’s Adversaria, and tweets at @zugzwanged.

Reality Beyond Ourselves

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Alastair Roberts

I conclude the latest Theopolis Conversation on the subject of sexual identity in this piece. While O’Donovan’s primary critique in his treatment of the task of interpretation of homosexual desire is directed against those rejecting historic Christian sexual ethics, his … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversies, Culture, Ethics, Sex and Sexuality, Society, Technology, Theological | Leave a comment

Investigating Sexual Identity

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Alastair Roberts

I have written a piece to open the latest conversation, on the subject of sexual identity, over on the Theopolis website. There is a difference between a house and a home. A house is an architectural edifice, often one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Experience, Controversies, Culture, Ethics, Guest Post, Sex and Sexuality, Society, Theological | 3 Comments

Renewing Our Media Ecosystem

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Alastair Roberts

I’ve written an article in the latest Theopolis Conversation, in response to Jeffrey Bilbro’s superb opening essay. Each of the supposed negative freedoms we now enjoy have their threatening flipside. Freedom from isolation has brought a stiflingly dense sociality in … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ethics, Guest Post, Society, Technology, Theopolis | Leave a comment

The Dignity of the Laity: Protestant Politics and Papal Pretensions

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Alastair Roberts

In the latest Theopolis conversation, I respond to Pater Edmund Waldstein’s article in which he criticizes the new nationalism of Yoram Hazony and others from a Roman Catholic integralist perspective. The imperial ambitions of the papacy have long been criticized … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Post, Politics, Society, Theological, Theopolis | 1 Comment

The Virtues of Dominion

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

In response to Aaron Renn’s recent conversation starter over on the Theopolis blog, I’ve written on the subject of what is missing in many Christian approaches to masculinity. What the manosphere and others of the teachers that Renn identifies recognize … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversies, Culture, Ethics, Guest Post, Sex and Sexuality, Society, The Church, Theological, Theopolis | 11 Comments

Reading Scripture ‘Like a Berean’ May Look Different Than You Think

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

A piece of mine has just been published over on the Gospel Coalition website. Our relationship with the Scripture can also be flattened out. We don’t (or shouldn’t) merely read the Bible. We sing the psalms. We pray the Lord’s Prayer. We practice the Lord’s Supper. We meditate on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Church History, Guest Post, Hermeneutics, Scripture, Society, Technology, The Church, Theological, Worship | 1 Comment

Exegetical Rules

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

In the latest round of our Theopolitan Conversations, Peter Leithart kicked off a discussion of exegesis and exegetical method. I wrote the first response, which was published yesterday. In the absence of articulated rules and principles, the authority of Scripture … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Controversies, Guest Post, Hermeneutics, Scripture, Theological, Theopolis | Leave a comment

The Christian Art of Dying Well

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

A piece of mine has just been posted over on the Theopolis Institute blog, in which I respond to Kimbell Kornu’s conversation-starting essay, The Nihilism of Modern Medicine. Modernity, however, lacks the capacity successfully to reckon either with life or with death. When life … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Experience, Culture, Ethics, Guest Post, Society, Theological, Theopolis | 2 Comments

Check Out My Other Channels

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

This blog has been fairly quiet over the last couple of years, and will probably continue to be so for the next couple of years. However, I have certainly not been inactive. Here are some of the things that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Service Announcement | Leave a comment

Wisdom and Folly in Christian Responses to Coronavirus

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Alastair Roberts

In observing Christian responses to the coronavirus, perhaps nothing has stood out to me so much as the way that it reveals fundamental habits of mind, either characteristic of wisdom or of folly. The wisdom literature is often rather neglected … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversies, Ethics, In the News, Society, Theological | 34 Comments