Many American and West European cities have major problems.   Crime and violence are only two of the problems. There is a general breakdown of social values that result in the breakdown of law and order.   Some cities are addressing the issues better than others, but the public dialogue about the problems seems unserious.   Not only cities but society at large faces many, many problems, and the future looks very grim.   Some ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking is needed.   This essay offers just that.  It is a 'thought experiment', with lessons taken from Romulus’s concerns and solutions when he established Roman society. Living at the end of the 1 st century BC, Roman historian Dionysius of Hallicarnassus provided a summary of the accomplishments of Rome’s founder.   Once the people accepted Romulus as their monarch in the 8th c. BC, he organised the population, established laws, and expanded the kingdom through conquest and colonization.   Romulus at the very least offers a comparis

  What is the relationship between theology and ethics?  Paul often follows a theological section in his letters with an ethical section.   This division comes in Galatians 5.1: ‘For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery’  (ESV throughout, unless stated otherwise).  In Romans, the transition is: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (12.1-2). Both transitions show that ethics is not only related to but dependent upon theology.   This ‘theology’ is not mere doctrine; it is a new reality.   Christians are ‘set free’; they have experienced the ‘mercies of God’, a transformation by the renewal of their minds.   In 2 Cor

‘Oh, hello.   I see you signed up to see me with the name ‘John’.   Please, have a seat, and what is your surname, by the way?’ ‘Thank you.   This seat?’   ‘Yes, certainly.   And I’ll sit here’ motioning to the sofa.   ‘Thank you again.   Ben Zacharias, that is my surname,’ the visitor said in a heavy accent that caught a guttural ‘ch’ and rolled the ‘r’.   ‘Middle East?   Is that an accent from the Middle East?’   ‘Ah, yes.’ The two settled down, and the pastor continued.   ‘So, I am Pastor Andy.   We are informal around here.   Now, what would you like to talk about?’ ‘The Kingdom of God.’ ‘Oh, very well, a theological conversation.   Perhaps I mentioned this in a recent sermon.’ ‘No.   I am sorry, but I have not yet visited your church.   I am, where I come from, a speaker like you who draws the occasional crowd.   People say that all Israel has come out to hear me, but I’m sure that is an exaggeration.   My topic is the Kingdom of God.’ ‘Very interesting,’ Andy said, po

‘What are you?’ asked Alice.   Humpty Dumpty narrowed his eyes and looked at her.   ‘Is that a trick question?’ he retorted.   ‘No more than you are a trick to the eye,’ she replied.   The egg shifted his weight on the wall.   ‘I might ask you the same question,’ he stated.   ‘Well, that is easy,’ she said.   ‘I’m a girl.’   ‘A "girl," you say.'   He paused.   ‘Is that your final answer?   I mean, in this world, we are masters of words rather than they of us.   We are as we identify.   You say you are a girl, but how do you identify?   I might, as a matter of fact, say that I am a hippopotamus.’ ‘But you are not a hippopotamus,’ replied Alice.   ‘A hippopotamus has four legs, a very big head and a tremendously wide mouth, and it lollygags about all day in the river.’ ‘Well,’ said the egg, ‘if I were to attach four legs, alter my head and mouth, and removed myself from this wall to the river, then would you be content to acknowledge that I am a hippopotamus?’ ‘An e