My Articles

In this section I have included references to most of my articles in refereed journals, most of my chapters in books, and some other published articles. The range covered is February 2008, going back to 2000. The full text is available when stated. A text is usually available provided that i) a full year has elapsed since its publication; ii) there are no copyright problems; and iii) I have an available Word file to convert.


'Praise Marriage but don't reject other approaches', Church Times, 2007 (full linked text available).

'Marriage and Family in the Twentieth Century' , part of the Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 9, 2006.

'Theology and Children', Transformations, 23.4, 2006 - about child neglect in Theology (full text available).

'The Curriculum of a  Christian University', in The Idea of a Christian University, 2005 (full text available).

'Impaired Communion'? Some Questions - my contribution to the volume critiquing The Windsor Report,  Gays and the Future of Anglicanism, 2005, pp.274-82.2005 (full text available).

'Christian Marriage in the Modern World', Dialogue, 25, Nov. 2005 - an introduction to the topic for British 'A' level Religious Studies students (full text available).

‘Some Issues with “Some Issues in Human
Sexuality”’, Theology & Sexuality, 11.3 (May, 2005), pp.9-30 (full text available).This is a critical analysis of aspects of the House of Bishops' Report, Some Issues in Human Sexuality.

'Children and Theology - a Literature Review (March 2005), (full text available) for The Children's Society.

Marriage, my contribution to  The Encyclopaedia of Protestantism , 2003 (full text available).

‘”Forsaking all Others”? Love and Commitment in the Christian Way, Modern Believing, 44.2, Apr.2003, pp.13-24 (full text available). There are two essays in two consecutive  issues of the journal, intended originally for a conference of the Modern Churchpeoples' Union in 2002. The essays argue that marriage is fundamental to full sexual experience in Christianity. However, marriage is valued in the tradition for the particular values it embodies, and these can also be found among people who are not formally or legally married.

Intimate Relationships and the Christian Way’, Modern Believing, 44.1, Jan.2003, pp.5-14 (full text available).


‘When Does Christian Marriage Begin? Before or after the Wedding?’, in Moral Issues and Christian Responses ,2003, pp. 82-6.

‘Betrothal, Marriage and Modernity: A Reply to Don Browning’, INTAMS Review, 9.2 (2003), pp.228-38 (full text available). The editor of  INTAMS Review invited Don Browning and myself "to engage in a debate about their respective views".  My article is a response to his comments in his 'Critical Familism and the Reconstruction of Marriage' in the same issue of the Review. It was a very good discussion.

Living Together before Marriage: The Theological and Pastoral Opportunities - my contribution to my edited volume Celebrating Christian Marriage, (2002), pp.55-70.  (full text available)

‘Norms, Rules and Steadfast Love: Towards an Inclusive Theology of Intimacy’, Theology & Sexuality, 9.2, March 2003, pp.230-42 (full text available).

'Marriage and Love: Too Much of a "Breakthrough"?', INTAMS Review, 8.1, Spring, 2002, pp.44-54.(full text available) In August 2001, I gave five lectures at the International Academy for Marital Spirituality's Summer Conference, on the theme of  ‘“For Love’s Sake”? Rethinking the Basis of Marriage’. The publicity for the Conference began: The second Vatican Council’s definition of the marital relationship as a “covenant of love” was welcomed by many Christians as a breakthrough.’ In my lectures I sought to assess how much of a ‘breakthrough’ was achieved by the Council’s definitions.  In this paper I take two or three themes from these lectures. 

‘Sex Education “after Modernity”’, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 6.2, 2001. pp.233-42. (full text available) (Criticises the British Government's paper Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2000) from a Christian theological perspective).

‘Authority and Sexuality in the Protestant Tradition’, in Embracing Sexuality: Authority and experience in the Catholic Church 2001, pp.127-48. The chapter draws conclusions from an analysis of the sexuality controversies in the 1980s and 1990s, particularly about how the Bible is used.

Sex and Sexuality’, in  The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought
2000, pp.660-63.