Justice and the Common Good

On Saturday, 30 September 2017, about 150 people gathered at the Trinity Theological College chapel to attend a conference on ‘Justice and the Common Good’.

The conference was organized by Ethos Institute for Public Christianity in collaboration with seven theological schools and Bible colleges in Singapore –Baptist Theological Seminary, Biblical Graduate School of Theology, Discipleship Training Centre, East Asia School of Theology, Singapore Bible College, TCA College and TTC.

The four speakers and two respondents dealt with a wide range of issues related to justice in society.

Dr Philip Satterthwaite, principal of BGST, started the discussion by presenting a clear biblical framework within which to think of issues of justice. The Academic Dean of BTS, Dr Fong Choon Sam, gave a moving presentation on the phenomenon of migration and the kinds of questions about justice that it raises. These presentations were followed by a robust response by Dr Simon Chan from TTC.

After lunch, Dr Kwa Kiek Kiok from EAST spoke about the justice issues that the current ecological crisis brings to the surface. Her presentation was followed by a wide-ranging paper by Dr Richard Getz from TCA College on the important but controversial concept of human rights. Rev Malcolm Tan, senior pastor of Covenant Community Methodist Church, served as the respondent for these presentations.

The climax of the conference was the panel discussion. Questions from the audience came fast and furious. They ranged from practical issues concerning the Christian’s civic duties to how Christians should interpret the so-called violent passages in the OT.

The papers presented at this conference will be published in the Ethos Engagement Series.

By Dr Roland Chia

Photo: The Bible Society of Singapore