"A Biblical Theology of Need"
For many years now, every week I receive two emails from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC). One arrives on a Monday morning, with insightful ideas on how to live from a Biblical perspective, second email arrives on Friday and usually before noon raising various issues, local or global, always relevant and thought-provoking. Sometimes the issues raised are too complex for my little brain to tinkle over alone so I thought I would share Nigel Hopper's thoughts with you from Friday 19th June.
From the coordination via social networking websites of protests in Iran, to the phasing out of textbooks in favour of online learning resources in California, to your viewing of this article wherever you are in the world, Internet technology has changed the way we live.
And, whether you think it for better or worse, it will continue to do so.
Indeed, such is the pace of technological advance that the remarkable now quickly becomes commonplace, and up-to-the-minute innovations are ever falling behind the times. Not surprisingly, a gap is emerging between the Internet haves and have-nots.
With a view to closing the gap by making hi-speed broadband more widely available in the UK, the Government this week proposed a levy of 50p per month on all households with a fixed-line telephone. The revenue raised will help fund the huge cost of the necessary upgrade of the nation's Internet cable network. It's just one of the recommendations of the 'Digital Britain' report, that the prime minister believes will make Britain the digital capital of the world.
It seems, on the face of it, like a good idea. If we enjoy the benefits of broadband, and can afford 50p per month to help enable others to enjoy them too, shouldn't we be happy to pay? After all, broadband, Gordon Brown told us this week, is now as essential as water, electricity and gas. Love your neighbour as yourself.
That's all very well if it's our UK or other minority world neighbour; but what about the twenty per cent of our global neighbours who are still without safe drinking water? Should we really be looking to upgrade our technological lifestyle options further while we carry a debt of neighbourly love to so many millions around the world?
This is not for a moment meant to demonise technology. On the contrary, we should rightly receive it as a gift of God, affirming and celebrating the increasing contribution it makes to our human flourishing. It is, though, to question the extent to which technological advances are progressively beating all sense of contentment into retreat, generating a warped perspective in which the desirable, the preferable and the beneficial assume the status of the necessary.
We urgently need a biblical theology of need. This is not to imply that in turning to Scripture we will there find our needs defined solely in terms of that which is necessary to survive. Indeed, the Bible is rich in references to God's lavish provision for his creation. Nevertheless, as we wrestle with honestly determining our needs, we must reckon with the truth that, like the broadband revolution, the biblical revelation will allow us no access to a narrow vision of our neighbour.
Author: Nigel Hopper
Broadband, Narrow Vision?
From the coordination via social networking websites of protests in Iran, to the phasing out of textbooks in favour of online learning resources in California, to your viewing of this article wherever you are in the world, Internet technology has changed the way we live.
And, whether you think it for better or worse, it will continue to do so.
Indeed, such is the pace of technological advance that the remarkable now quickly becomes commonplace, and up-to-the-minute innovations are ever falling behind the times. Not surprisingly, a gap is emerging between the Internet haves and have-nots.
With a view to closing the gap by making hi-speed broadband more widely available in the UK, the Government this week proposed a levy of 50p per month on all households with a fixed-line telephone. The revenue raised will help fund the huge cost of the necessary upgrade of the nation's Internet cable network. It's just one of the recommendations of the 'Digital Britain' report, that the prime minister believes will make Britain the digital capital of the world.
It seems, on the face of it, like a good idea. If we enjoy the benefits of broadband, and can afford 50p per month to help enable others to enjoy them too, shouldn't we be happy to pay? After all, broadband, Gordon Brown told us this week, is now as essential as water, electricity and gas. Love your neighbour as yourself.
That's all very well if it's our UK or other minority world neighbour; but what about the twenty per cent of our global neighbours who are still without safe drinking water? Should we really be looking to upgrade our technological lifestyle options further while we carry a debt of neighbourly love to so many millions around the world?
This is not for a moment meant to demonise technology. On the contrary, we should rightly receive it as a gift of God, affirming and celebrating the increasing contribution it makes to our human flourishing. It is, though, to question the extent to which technological advances are progressively beating all sense of contentment into retreat, generating a warped perspective in which the desirable, the preferable and the beneficial assume the status of the necessary.
We urgently need a biblical theology of need. This is not to imply that in turning to Scripture we will there find our needs defined solely in terms of that which is necessary to survive. Indeed, the Bible is rich in references to God's lavish provision for his creation. Nevertheless, as we wrestle with honestly determining our needs, we must reckon with the truth that, like the broadband revolution, the biblical revelation will allow us no access to a narrow vision of our neighbour.
Author: Nigel Hopper
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