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Overview

Caleb Day

PhD student

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PhD student in the Department of Theology and Religion

Biography

I come from Aotearoa New Zealand as a pākehā person, descended from Scottish and English settler-colonists, including some from Durham. I currently live in North Shields with my partner Hilary and our toddler Ishmael. I am proudly autistic and kinetic (ADHD), which means I appreciate clear and direct communication, I am motivated by justice, and I have many special interests. I teach Christian ethics and political theology at Lindisfarne College of Theology while I complete my PhD in Durham's Theology and Religion department. My education includes a Master's degree in theological ethics from the University of Notre Dame and sociology degrees from NZ universities. Equally important for forming my thinking has been my time in Christian churches and intentional communities in Aotearoa (Stillwaters Community, Catholic Worker, Urban Vision). I am passionate about social justice, particularly in relation to working conditions, economic inequality, neurodiversity, disability and accessibility, and LGBT+ inclusion.

PhD research

Tentative title: "Word and Flesh: Evangelical ethical arguments against same-gender relationships"

Evangelical Christianity continues to cause serious harm to God's LGBTQIA+ children. Evangelicals are divided among themselves about whether this harm is caused by evangelicals' inherited prohibition of same-gender relationships, or whether this prohibition is good, and harm can/should be prevented while maintaining the prohibition.

Evangelical Christians are known for the belief that same-gender relationships (i.e. erotic relationships between couples who are not binary-gendered, cisgender, and heterosexual) cannot be morally accepted and blessed by churches. In fact, there is considerable division and significant development among evangelicals on this question, with both 'non-affirming' (same-gender relationships are always immoral) and 'affirming' (same-gender relationships can be moral) evangelical perspectives. While the group of affirming evangelicals is growing, non-affirming perspectives remain dominant among evangelicals, with considerable formal and informal evangelical ethical teaching against same-gender relationships.

For my PhD in theological ethics, I am analysing and evaluating theological-ethical arguments by non-affirming evangelical Christians addressing same-gender relationships. I am looking at representative arguments from people who identify as evangelicals, inside and outside academia, who have written or spoken at some length in English, and whose views are currently influential. As non-affirming evangelicals, they all oppose same-gender erotic relationships, but they differ among themselves on some related matters (e.g. the moral status of LGBTQIA+ identities and homosexual orientation). Affirming evangelicals are not a primary source, but I sometimes use affirming evangelical writings as a dialogue partner with my non-affirming primary sources.

I identity four key themes in evangelical theological ethics: theological voluntarism, discipleship, counter-culturalism, and compassion, with the first (voluntarism) being most determinative of moral positions. I analyse and evaluate influential and representative evangelical ethical arguments through these four themes, attending to moral ontology, ethical epistemology, and moral content. I advance an argument about a particular expression of theological voluntarism being the key driver in non-affirming evangelical arguments, and suggest that this renders evangelical non-affirming arguments vulnerable to important critiques.

My research involves examining arguments and explicit and implicit methods in Christian ethics as well as surveying and analysing evangelical understandings of gender, sex, and marriage. It brings together my interest in ethical methods with my evangelical background and my passions for equity, inclusion, and wellbeing—particularly for LGBTQIA+ people. I hope my work can help improve understanding of evangelical and other Christian perspectives. I also hope it can help evangelicals and other Christians in our reflection on our God-given revelation, mission, and moral responsibilities, and to find a place in that picture for LGBTQIA+ people and their relationships to thrive in our communities.

I am supervised by Prof Robert Song and secondarily by Prof Gerard Loughlin.

Research interests

  • Christian theological ethics
  • Neurodiversity
  • Autism
  • ADHD
  • Mental health
  • Methods in Christian ethics
  • Natural law
  • Divine command ethics
  • Evangelicalism
  • Gender
  • LGBT+
  • Sexuality
  • Sexual ethics
  • Decolonisation
  • Political theologies
  • Violence
  • Pacifism
  • Structural sin
  • Social sciences

Publications

Book review

Chapter in book

Conference Paper

Journal Article

Report