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Nazareth Then and Now
Ancient Nazareth lacked the critical advantages for its development as a significant settlement: abundant water supply, an elevated site for defensive purposes, and strategic location adjacent to a major highway. The most comprehensive recent study of the archeology of ancient Nazareth and its local region was completed by Ken Dark over several seasons between 2004…
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The oldest hatred
Presentation to a panel discussion sponsored by the Jewish Council of Australia at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane on Monday, 29 September 2025. The topic of the event was: Should anti-Semitism be exceptionalised or should we combat all forms of racism together? Co-hosts for the event included: Doykeit (a local Jewish group in Brisbane), St John’s…
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Sarcasm as a rhetorical tool
The axiom, “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence”, is usually attributed to Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet and playwright who lived in the second half of the 1800s. That attribution may not be accurate, but the axiom itself is usually misquoted (stopping at the mid-point) and mostly misunderstood…
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Reading the Bible to promote human flourishing
The Bible as a Charter for the Human Spirit: Reading the Bible to Promote Human Flourishing Gregory C. Jenks Festival of Wild Ideas, Sydney, 5 May 2019 [ video | PPT Presentation | PDF Handout] Let me begin by acknowledging the Kuringgai people, the indigenous owners and custodians of the land where we are…
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Imagine a church without Paul
Easter 3C St Luke’s Church, Mosman 5 May 2019 Thank you to Fr Max for the opportunity to be with you this morning and especially for the privilege of serving as preacher at this service. To lead the gathered people of God as we break open the Word and discern what the Spirit might be…
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The eternal dance of doubt and faith
Earth Sunday / Easter 2C Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton 28 April 2019 [ video ] Already it has been a week. It seems a lot longer, doesn’t it since Easter? Was that really just a week ago? It has been an odd kind of week with ANZAC Day in between and all the other stuff…
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Religion is no cloak for hate speech
The media has recently been awash with stories about the hateful comments made online by Australian Rugby Union star, Israel Folau, about various classes of people being destined for hell unless they repent and conform to a set of beliefs (and related lifestyle choices) promoted by extremely conservative Christians. His original Instagram post then reinforces his…
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Morsels 2019 March
An archive of previous “Daily Morsels” published on the Cathedral app. Please note that these versions of the messages are not formatted to reflect line breaks or separate paragraphs, as they are purely an archival set. They also tend not to have any embedded web links from the original Morsel. To receive these message direct…
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