The Ridley Institute White Papers

In the Ridley Institute’s White Papers, we commission rising and established scholarly voices to provide fresh perspectives and prudential counsel on theological, cultural, and ethical issues of pressing concern to the health and fruitfulness of the local church. To suggest a future topic of concern to your own geographical or congregational context, please contact The Rev’d Dr Sam Fornecker (SFornecker@RidleyInstitute.com).

(1) The Irishman’s Two Stoves: Reclaiming Freedom in a Technological Age (PDF) by Brad Littlejohn

(2) The Person in Christian Mission (PDF) by Samuel Fornecker

  • Sam Fornecker (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is Associate Rector for Teaching and Equipping at St Andrew’s Church, Mount Pleasant. This essay explores the role of the person in Christian mission, with the help of the late Anglican theologian, David Kettle (1948–2011).

(3) Church and State Relations in Light of Three Proposals for the Purpose of Government (PDF) by Rollin Grams

  • Rollin Grams (Ph.D., Duke University) is Deputy Director of the PhD programme for the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life and an ordained priest of the Church of Uganda. Numerous of his writings, on subjects from biblical ethics and gospel mission to ministerial praxis, can be found at Bible and Mission.

(4) Understanding and Respecting God’s Word and World: Faith and Epistemology in Orthodox Religious Communities (PDF) by Christopher Hancock

  • Christopher Hancock (Ph.D, University of Durham) is the Founding Director of Oxford House Research Ltd. His Christianity and Confucianism: Culture, Faith and Politics (Bloomsbury,  2020) ranks among fundamental works guiding study of Sino-Western exchange today. Professor Hancock delivered a version of this paper at this second International Conference on the Quran and Science on Dec. 12–13, 2024.