by Tony van der Hiele

Last month, CBT had the honour of hosting Dr. Michael F. Bird for the annual Dr. Garry D. Owen, M.D. Memorial Academic Lectureship. The faculty had invited this sought-after Australian scholar three years ago to teach on the topic of church and state relationships. Covid-19 caused a postponement of their plans, but the wisdom Dr. Bird shared with the CBT community in the first week of the 2024 winter semester seemed particularly relevant to the challenges being faced in our days.

In five engaging sessions, Dr. Bird painted an informed picture of global political theology based on scripture and history. Introducing his lecture series with examples of government interference in personal faith convictions, he invited the audience to examine church-state relationships found in the book of Romans. The apostle Paul was primarily a preacher of the gospel and not a political activist. At the same time, Paul recognized the discord between the claims of Christ and those of the Roman Empire. In the second lecture, Dr. Bird zoomed in on Romans 13:1-7, where Paul encourages submission to governing authorities. In a thought-provoking manner, Dr. Bird challenged the room with a question with which many Christians throughout history have wrestled, “When is it ok to disobey?” The third lecture considered various regimes throughout world history and addressed how followers of Christ may resist totalitarianism. He challenged his hearers to carefully weigh their theology of church and state, arguing that the world as we know it can change on short notice. Dr. Bird addressed Christian nationalism and made a case for a benign and benevolent view of a healthy secular state (in line with the historical Baptist conviction of “a free church in a free state”) in his fourth lecture. He wrapped up the series finale, “The Kingdom of God as Political Vision,” with these words: “As a Christian, I pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. If we are to be true to the giver of that prayer…then we must be building, working, and praying for the kingdom. Acting in all earnestness for a state of affairs in which the world of the state, society and politics, no less than my private life and spiritual life, is attended to the lordship of king Jesus. A lordship that is not established by terror or tanks but by the fruit of the Spirit’s effervescent life. That kind of prayer is the church’s program. That type of prayer is how we do God in public.” 

Dr. Steve Booth, CBT’s Academic Dean, highly valued this week’s presentation. “Having met Mike some ten years ago, I knew he was someone we needed to have on our campus. He has expertise in so many fields of study—New Testament, Christian Theology, the Early Church, etc., but with his upcoming book on political theology, I knew this would be of great value for us in Canada. Coming from the Commonwealth nation of Australia, Dr. Bird was able to give a global perspective on the challenges of living as faithful Christ-followers in a world opposed to and often hostile towards the gospel.”

Dr. Bird mentioned that he enjoyed his time in Canada, particularly the wonderful Christian people he met. In response to the Dean’s encouragement to pray for him, he said, “I do covet your prayers…this is not just a theoretical topic.” He mentioned his involvement in various global political discussions, and in his soon-to-be-released book, Jesus and the Powers, co-authored with N.T. Wright, Dr. Bird aims to, “enable Christians to think politically,…think globally, think biblically, and think faithfully about how the church should relate to whatever state they are in.” His lectures were opportune and thought–provoking, evidenced by the many questions asked at the end of every lecture. “Politics is a tense topic,” mentioned a CBT student, who commented that he appreciated the balanced political perspectives Dr. Bird presented, while staying true to Christian values. 

CBT’s president, Dr. Rob Blackaby, gave thanks for the compelling series of messages in this academic lectureship, “What a great way to start our semester!” He mentioned how CBT made a new friend in Dr. Bird and acknowledged the kindness of the Garry Owen family, who enables CBT to invest in students and the community through the lectureship each year.

This excellent series of timely messages is available for free on the the school’s YouTube page.

CBT expresses deep appreciation to Dr. Bird for the insights and wisdom shared.