Two Ways News

Dear friends, One of the great points of conflict between Christians and the world is the topic of marriage. Though it is part of God’s creation of the world, seen in Genesis 1 and 2, the effect of sin makes it strangely foreign to today’s society. There’s nothing new in this, as Christians were called to be different or holy in this area of life in the New Testament itself. However, today’s discu...

Dear friends, As we continue to think about the creation of the man and the woman in the garden, we find marriage being introduced as the outcome of our sexual polarity. The woman is created to the joy of the man. Consequently, the man is to leave his parents to ‘cleave’ to his wife. The old-fashioned verb to cleave has been changed in most modern translations. But the concept of sex inside the ma...

Dear friends, In Australia, the birth rate has dropped to below 1.5 children per woman. This is the lowest birth rate we have ever had and is clearly below the 2.1 children per mother necessary to maintain the population. How important is it to have children? Does marriage necessitate children? Is marriage itself necessary? In the special creation of woman in Chapter 2 of Genesis, the subject of p...

Dear friends, As we come to the end of Genesis Chapter 2, we open up some of the biggest topics for debate, happiness and unhappiness in humanity today. Re-thinking marriage has been part of our social dialogue since the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. Re-thinking the reality and role of men and women, their sexual differences and similarities has caused great turmoil in society. I’m sure you will...

Dear friends, Humans have always enjoyed living with the animals of God’s creation. But what is our relationship with the animals, and how should we care for them? Today we move from the abuse of animals to the worship of animals as we think about the Bible’s teaching on animals. Yours, Phillip This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus ep...

Dear friends, Apart from sleeping, we spend more of our life working than anything else we do. But what is God’s plan for our work? Indeed, what is work? And how does it differ from doing good works, or does it? After responding to a letter from one of our subscribers, Peter and I explore what Genesis means by our gardening. At the end of our transcript are details of a talk on the subject of work...

Dear friends, In the middle of the garden, full of beautiful trees, there are 2 trees in particular. What is the importance of the tree of life? What is it telling us about God’s plans for humanity? Why is it singled out for special mention? The other, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, seems to be even more important in establishing the drama of life in the Garden of Eden and subsequentl...

Dear friends, Peter and I love gardens but hate gardening. However, all the good things about the garden are set out in Genesis 2. In today’s podcast, we explore God’s generous provision symbolised in the Garden of Eden. To what extent was the garden paradise that we need to regain? To what extent is the paradise promised to the thief on the cross something greater than the Garden of Eden? Don’t f...

Dear friends, One of the high points, if not the high point, of Genesis 1 is the creation of man, both male and female, in the image of God. There we are told of our responsibility to govern the earth, to multiply and to fill it. When we turn to chapter 2 of Genesis we are again told of the creation of man. This time it is in much more detail, and yet it still gives the same prominence and importa...

Dear friends, The creation account of Genesis finishes in a most unexpected place – rest. The idea of God resting on the seventh day is so familiar to us that we sometimes miss how extraordinary it is. That God should rest and bless the seventh day, inviting us to share it with him is one of the wonders of the Bible. In a society dominated by and priding itself in ‘busyness’ and confused and confl...

Dear Friends You knew that we couldn’t undertake a series on Genesis 1-11 without dealing with science – and so here it is. Mind you, it may be different to what you are expecting as we explore the background to the warfare between science and religion (aka Christianity). We do not want to hold the Bible to ransom from the captivity of science, but science from the captivity of history. Where has...

Dear friends, Motherhood and apple pie is no longer the foundation of Western civilisation. Apple pie is still pretty important, but motherhood has now been challenged. Peter and I had the privilege of the same mother, whom we loved and admire, and remember with great fondness. Yet the kind of family life in which we were raised has undergone considerable change during our lifetime. Mother’s Day b...

Dear friends, For Australians, Anzac Day is the great national day. But what is it we’re remembering? And should we celebrate Anzac Day? In particular, should Christians be remembering or celebrating a military battle of the First World War? Does Anzac Day glorify war? Is it an alternative religion for Australians? I hope you will enjoy our discussion as Peter and I try and grapple with the histor...

Dear friends, In this episode of Two Ways News, we’re looking at the resurrection both from a historical and a theological point of view. History and argumentation have great merit, and yet a defective presupposition that leaves us unsatisfied. Yet prophetic history not only satisfies our knowledge of historical events but also explains their meaning and purpose. Jesus said that without Moses and...

Dear friends, I hope you enjoyed a great Easter break. Holidays are always marvellous opportunities to relax and catch up with friends, but the Easter holiday is even better because it gives us time to think about the greatest weekend in human history: when our Lord and Saviour died and rose again. The death of Jesus was so great that I would call Friday not just good, but the best Friday. Yours,...

Dear Friends, One of the most profound and widely quoted verses of the Bible is the creation of Man in the image of God. So, this week Peter and I went exploring some of its implications. It is such a fruitful concept by which to understand humanity, not the least because in the New Testament we find Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. But before we get there, we need to understand how we a...

Dear Friends, Thanks again for your feedback and encouragement. It’s great to hear that you are enjoying receiving the Two Ways News podcasts as much as we are in producing them. As we look at Genesis 1, we come to a great climax in the creation of humans in God’s Image. More bottles of ink have been spilled over this phrase than possibly any phrase in the Bible. What is the image of God? In what...

Dear Friends, ‘Good’ is such a strange word. We all know what we mean by it, but it is so difficult to define. So when God declares his creation to be ‘good, very good’ what is he saying? Is the world itself good or simply pleasing? And if it is good, what is it good for? In this week’s Two Ways News, Peter and I venture into the meaning of God calling the world good and the implications that has...

Dear Friends, On Peter’s recovery, I thought it would be good to hear his views on the topic of words and power that Genesis 1 so importantly illustrates. So, we return to the topic of words and see how they create and operate in relationships. This brings us to how they are distorted and politicised by suspicious people. I’m sure you will appreciate coming back to the two voice podcast as Peter a...

Dear friends, Sadly Peter was sick when we recorded this episode of Two Ways News, so it is a solo effort for today’s topic. Thankfully, Peter has now recovered. From Genesis 1 we see the power of God’s word, which is part of God’s wisdom by which he created the world. Thus, the power of words is one of the joys and problems of life. The devil’s power is in his lying words. Yet it is God’s word th...

Hello again, thanks for the feedback and encouragement. Peter and I are enjoying chatting over the great themes of the Creator and creation in Genesis 1.   So far, we have been struck by the opening words ‘In the beginning God created’, which take us to the idea of one God and one universe. But yet when we come to John chapter 1 we find that the word by which God created all became flesh in the pe...

Dear Friends, Citizenship is a wonderful thing. To be part of something larger than yourself gives meaning purpose and identity. Peter and I grew up in the British Empire having been born before the granting of Australian citizenship. It was for the Empire that our parents and grandparents generation went to the world wars. Today that is almost unimaginable, for now people find their identity in b...

In this second episode for the year, Peter and Phillip discuss literature and reading. Genesis 1-11 is a distinct form of literature; it requires a distinct form of reading. How are we to read this part of God’s word? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe

Dear friends, Welcome to Two Ways News for 2025. We have a great deal planned for this year which we hope you will find useful and encouraging for continuing to speak the truth in love to the world around you (see our About page for a reminder of why Two Ways News came into existence, in the beginning). Welcome also to Phillip‘s new co-host, his brother Peter. Welcome, finally, to the start of our...

Dear friends, We recorded this final episode for the year on November 5—a momentous day in world affairs, the day when Australia stopped for a horse race, and when the USA settled a presidential race. We now know who won both races, but in this episode, Phillip and I discuss the nature of words and truth, especially in our politics and public discourse—because if the US election campaign exhibited...