Nathan Mladin

Queen's University Belfast, Institute of Theology, Alumnus

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Senior Researcher at Theos think tank and visiting lecturer at St Mellitus College, London. I hold an MTh and a PhD in Systematic Theology from Queen's University Belfast, and am the author of several publications, including the Theos reports "Religious London: Faith in a Global City" (with Paul Bickley) and "Forgive Us Our Debts: lending and borrowing as if relationships matter" (with Barbara Ridpath). I am also co-author of "The Question of Surveillance Capitalism"(with Stephen N Williams), a chapter in "The Robot Will See You Now: Artificial Intelligence Issues Facing Christianity", eds. John Wyatt and Stephen N Williams (London: SPCK, 2021). My research, speaking and writing focus on technology ethics, political economy and theology of culture.

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Devin Singh

Dartmouth College

J. P. Manoussakis

College of the Holy Cross

Brandon Gallaher

University of Exeter

Wesley Vander Lugt

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Nicholas Adams

University of Birmingham

Daniel A Madigan

Georgetown University

Agustín Echavarría

Universidad de Navarra

Adam N Couchman

University of Divinity

Mauro Grondona

University of Genova

Jone Salomonsen

University of Oslo

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Papers by Nathan Mladin

A Translator Reviews Alister McGrath’s 'C. S. Lewis. A Life. Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

Linguaculture, 2014

Reviewed by Natan Mladin Queen's University of Belfast Let us begin with a confession. The presen... more Reviewed by Natan Mladin Queen's University of Belfast Let us begin with a confession. The present reviewer has not read the complete works of C. S. Lewis. He has not ploughed through the secondary literature. He has not pored over the thousands of letters annotated and published in the last few years by Walter Hooper all these being important feats of Alister E. McGrath, the author of the most recent biography of Clive Staples Lewis. Still, the reviewer is called to fair-mindedly appraise the author's finished work. According to which criteria and based on what standards, we may ask? In virtue of which qualifications or personal merits, we may ponder? All such questions have, of course, some satisfactory answers that can be given, pertaining either to the reviewer's credentials or to the nature of the task of reviewing books, but questions remain. If we add to this the burden (and privilege) of being both the book's translator into Romanian and its reviewer, the task at hand seems onerous indeed. A successful translation may result only if the translator has internalized his text. What he will deliver is at one and the same time his text and the author's. He is both a servant of someone else's creation, and a creator in his own right. The absorption of the text and the enfleshing of its ideas in a new idiom make fair-mindedness a quality even more difficult to display. But enough with the patting-oneself-on-the-back-lamentations. From the outset, McGrath's declared, an ambitious purpose is to present a coherent narrative that integrates the many dimensions of C. S. Lewis: most famously, as author of the Chronicles of Narnia and other works of fiction (the imaginative dimension), as brother, friend, and spouse (the relational dimension), as accomplished academic (the academic dimension), and as Christian apologist (the apologetic dimension). McGrath prefers narrative coherence to a precise, but dry presentation of facts. His intention is to tell the story of C. S. Lewis, focusing on some of the most important dimensions of his life and work, particularly on the development of his thought, rather than 'documenting every aspect of Lewis' life.' What recommends McGrath as a biographer of the famous author, academic and apologist? McGrath highlights some points of biographical

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‘Forgive us our debts’

Financing Prosperity by Dealing with Debt

Vernon White, Purpose and Providence: Taking Soundings in Western Thought, Literature and Theology. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015, 176pp. £58.50/$112.00

International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2017

In Purpose and Providence Vernon White continues his explorations of the question of God's action... more In Purpose and Providence Vernon White continues his explorations of the question of God's action in the world which he began in 1985 with his book The Fall of the Sparrow. In his new text, Purpose and Providence, the focus is, one might say, mainly hermeneutical and exegetical: hermeneutical, in that the book wrestles with the question of providential meaning and 'divine purpose', and exegetical, in that it engages questions around how one might 'read' such divine purpose off the texture of history. Unyielding to various reductionisms, a sense of purpose prevails and lingers on in our world, literature and experience. The secular is haunted, as Charles Taylor puts it, both by the loss of purpose and, paradoxically, by the stubborn persistence of the sense that there ought to be, and indeed is, a purpose being worked out through the vagaries of history and experience, notwithstanding the difficulty of identifying it. This sense of persisting purposefulness foregrounds White's project of reimagining providence along hermeneutical lines, for a post-Holocaust context, all the while maintaining traditional commitments to God's radical transcendence and universal divine action in the world. The project seeks to address some of the problems associated with the language of divine causality and the reality of evil. A central motif woven throughout the book is the concern to distinguish between providence and secular notions of progress. The first part consists of a brief history of Western thought around the notions of purpose and meaning. We get a compelling retelling of the familiar narrative of the secularization of teleology in post-Enlightenment thinking and the birth of the mythology of progress. Next up are reflections on purpose and meaning as contained in the novels of Thomas Hardy and Julian Barnes. While different, both authors construct imaginary worlds of modern disenchantment, predicated on the absence of God and purpose, which are, nonetheless, haunted by a lingering sense of purpose. The next section opens with a concise biblical theology that yields insights into the nature (personal), mode (interactive and particular) and scope (universal) of divine agency and purpose. Resistance to divine purpose and the reality of evil are identified as important counterbalancing themes, yet the tenor of the biblical witness is ultimately hopeful. The biblical digest is followed by brief discussions of figures such as Justin the Martyr, Augustine, Aquinas and Calvin on the issue of divine agency and action. White sympathetically identifies the concerns, intellectual context and conversation partners of his authors. This is followed by further forays into a modern reimagining of providence, outlined against the advent of modern science and historical consciousness. The readings offered are sympathetic if largely critical. The principal qualm with modern reimagining of providence-with Schleiermacher and Hegel identified as particularly influential creative fonts-is

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A discussion of David A. S. Fergusson's 'rudiments' of a doctrine of providence

David Fergusson's starting point in articulating a revised doctrine of providence is the suggesti... more David Fergusson's starting point in articulating a revised doctrine of providence is the suggestion that the doctrine crosses disciplinary lines in theological reflection, bleeds into and is informed by other doctrinal loci and functions as a central article of the Christian faith, and therefore cannot be considered as a mere subchapter of a theology of creation. The link between creation and redemption demands a doctrine of providence that can describe the way in which the Creator is involved in upholding and governing the world beyond the initial act of creation out of nothing. Furthermore, the so-called problem of evil, the appropriation of providence and providential language by civil religion also signal the need for a serious consideration of the doctrine. Its enduring pastoral significance goes without mentioning. 1 Anticipating a full-fledged work on providence based on his 2009

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Books by Nathan Mladin

"Forgive Us Our Debts": Lending and Borrowing as if Relationships Matter

"Forgive Us Our Debts": Lending and Borrowing as if Relationships Matter, 2019

Over 16 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings. Personal debt is now at 90% of G... more Over 16 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings. Personal debt is now at 90% of GDP. Debt is clearly a serious economic issue – but it is also a profoundly moral one. How should we distribute the risks and responsibilities inherent in debt? How should we treat people with severe debt problems? Should there be limits on borrowing and rates of interest?

This report draws on the wealth of Christian thought on the subject to highlight the moral and relational dimensions of debt and suggest practical ways to address some of its problematic aspects at the personal, corporate, and public levels in the UK today.

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A Translator Reviews Alister McGrath’s 'C. S. Lewis. A Life. Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

Linguaculture, 2014

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‘Forgive us our debts’

Financing Prosperity by Dealing with Debt

Vernon White, Purpose and Providence: Taking Soundings in Western Thought, Literature and Theology. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015, 176pp. £58.50/$112.00

International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2017

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A discussion of David A. S. Fergusson's 'rudiments' of a doctrine of providence

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"Forgive Us Our Debts": Lending and Borrowing as if Relationships Matter

"Forgive Us Our Debts": Lending and Borrowing as if Relationships Matter, 2019

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