“Soundings” is a series of essays that, like the waves of a sonogram, explore issues in society, culture and the church in light of the Gospel and Christian understanding. The coronavirus pandemic has presented immense challenges to people all over
When we speak of ‘culture’, what do we mean? It is a notoriously slippery term, especially so when an Australian is writing for an unseen global readership! Culture can be ‘your culture’, ‘my culture’ or ‘our culture’. It can be
Many years ago, I met a group of Chinese Christians who do not believe in celebrating the Lunar New Year. The festival, in their view, has its roots in a pagan (Chinese) culture and is inextricably bound to the superstitions
“You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). In its May 12, 2014 post, Mail Online reported that an 85 year old Italian woman paid €10,000 to a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland to help her to commit suicide because she was ‘unhappy about losing
In many ways The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown which was published in 2003 is an anomaly in recent publishing history. The thriller, Brown’s fourth novel, received glowing reviews from leading newspapers and magazines, and held its place on the New
Author: Dr. Roland Chia On September 2019, my wife and I attended a Sunday service at the famous Thomaskirche in Leipzig. As expected of a church whose fame is largely owed to its most celebrated choir director, the great Johann Sebastian Bach,
Author: Dr. Roland Chia Last year, the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) published the findings of its survey on perceptions of and attitudes towards social and moral issues among Singaporeans. According to the report, there is greater acceptance of gay
Author: Dr. Roland Chia On October 28, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook made two media-grabbing announcements. The first has to do with the rebranding of Facebook as Meta, and the second is that his company hopes to create
In celebration of Singapore’s 56th Anniversary, the Alliance of Guest Workers Outreach (AGWO)—a movement of Hope Initiative Alliance (HIA)—organised “The Road Ahead… Together” a special National Day celebration to honour and appreciate the contribution of our guest workers and foreign
Dear fellow participants in God’s mission, Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This essay is replicated here by kind permission of the 24:14 Network, who previously published it. The whole world has been impacted
Since the late 1880s, interaction between cinema and the church has been both colorful and engaging. In the last ninety years, the church’s reception of film has shifted from hostility and rejection to acceptance. Today, the use of films as
Should Christians participate in Chinese rites? Can we use Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda (Indian medicine)? Is it wrong for Christians to practise Yoga or Taiji Quan or other Asian martial arts? These are just some of the many questions
