•1.Christianity is a ‘relational religion' •-the theme of relationships in Christian theology •-comparison with Islam, Eastern religions, Western individualism •-seeing life through the relational lens •2.Three strands led to the idea of private faith among evangelicals •-reformation emphasis on personal salvation and individual conscience. •-growth of pietism over against the ‘social gospel' •-pluralism's cultural pressure to evict faith from the public square •3.Each person has a unique relationship with God •-what does it mean to ‘know' God? •-how does God speak to us and we to Him? •-similarities/differences with human relationships •4.Christianity is a community affair •-the significance of relationships - the church community •-why Christians have such low expectations •-possibilities for deeper engagement among Christians •5.Christian faith and obedience a public matter •-the confession ‘Jesus is Lord' has always had public life implications •-the Christian belief in public truth - not postmodern, relative truth - as the basis of engagement •-the Christian understanding of righteousness as about social relationships •6.Relational well-being: the goal of Christian engagement in a relational framework •-goals expressed as values (e.g. justice, mercy, faithfulness, truth, compassion, hope, forgiveness) •-economics/democracy/effective public services as means, not ends •-conflict with Western materialism and individualism •7.Measuring ‘Relational Well-Being' (RWB): some possible indicators
relationship issue
indicator
••Intra-family trust/commitment
Marriage rate, divorce rate, birth rate
••Social isolation of older people
Number of contacts per week
••Workplace relationships
Absenteeism, pay differentials
••Gender relations
Workplace discrimination, incidents of domestic violence pornographic website hits
••Intra-community relations
Crime levels, proportion knowing names of neighbours
••Inter-racial/ethnic relations
Incidents of racial/ethnic violence, comparative income/education levels
••International relations
Aid as proportion of GDP, levels of carbon emissions, contributions to debt relief
•8.Where do we go from here?
•-the starting points are prayer and tears
•-levels of engagement (policy, organisational structure/working practices, social welfare interventions, wider cultural change)
Previous Lectures 
