Prominent writers and thinkers Greg Clarke and John Dickson have launched an online centre promoting the understanding of Christianity.
The newly launched website - [url=http://www.publicchristianity.org]http://www.publicchristianity.org[/url] - is part of the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX), which has been established as a non-denominational research and media organisation designed to foster public understanding of the Christian faith.
The publicchristianity.com website, which was launched over the Easter weekend, features a video library service and articles on age-old topics such as ‘God and pain’, reviews of the latest writings on Christianity such as those by Richard Dawkins and Bishop John Spong, and Christian responses to current news issues, such as ‘Sorry Day’.
Vodcasting is expected to follow in the near future.
"We're developing a video way of commenting on the issues of the day from a Christian perspective," Dr Clarke says.
"We really think it's important that people will be able to get quick grabs to understand what Christians think about significant issues.”
A big-thinking Christianity
Planning for the centre began in the middle of last year, and while the centre operates out of North Sydney, its activities for the moment will be centred online along with the speaking, lecturing and writing that is already a regular part of Dr Dickson and Dr Clarke’s schedule.
In the coming week, both Dr Dickson and Dr Clarke have speaking engagements, and an article by Dr Clarke on the place of Christian thinking in the light of the 2020 Summit will appear in Debate Magazine.
Dr Dickson adds that the centre is designed to raise the profile of Christianity in the public arena.
"Our stated aim is to promote the public understanding of Christianity using the best of scholarship via the best of media, which basically means a lot of good intelligent noise for Christianity in the public sphere."
However he adds that the centre aims to help people understand Christianity, rather than simply defending it.
"We basically think that Christianity has an internal logic and beauty," he says.
"It doesn't need to be solved " we just want to clear away some of the confusion."
As the centre’s directors, Dr Dickson and Dr Clarke say it will be a “one stop shop for media outlets in search of informed and independent Christian comment”.
The Centre for Public Christianity will also run events and short courses, support Christian scholars and research projects and be a speakers bureau, training Christian thinkers and communicators.
Keeping Christianity public
The centre has as its logo a combination of two Greek letters " meaning "honour Jesus Christ' in an abbreviated form - which appeared on coins in the fourth century.
The symbol is significant because its presence on these coins is said to have been "the moment when Christianity went public".
Both Dr Dickson and Dr Clarke bring an insight into theology from their own academic backgrounds " history and arts/literature respectively " to their work at the centre. They are joined by author Simon Smart, who has come on board as the head of research and communications.
"I think the arts and humanities at their best are exploring the things that drive human beings " what are our fears, what are our hopes, what are our dreams? " and it's not long before you're looking at the deepest questions of God and life's meaning itself," he says.
"So we want CPX to be a place where people can explore these questions and do it in an atmosphere of enquiry and comfort and see where it leads them."
