Kirralie Smith- transgender vilification and sport

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes –

“I have previously written about the case of Kirralie Smith. Ms Smith is part of an advocacy organisation, Binary Australia Ltd, which advocates for sex-based rights, especially for women, and sometimes posts about biological males who have been allowed to compete in women’s sport. Stephanie Blanch (and Riley Dennis) were mentioned on the website of Binary and elsewhere online in this context, and then claimed that this amounted to ‘transgender vilification’ under section 38S(1)(a) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1975 (“ADA”). The plaintiffs in the original litigation were each described by Deputy Chief Magistrate Freund as a ‘transgender woman’, and were both born biologically male.

In the earlier proceedings (judgments linked in my previous post) Smith was found to have committed vilification, ordered to pay a total of $95,000 in damages to the two plaintiffs, and found liable for costs. An appeal was lodged, and the NSW Supreme Court (Rigg J) has now handed down a judgment granting leave to appeal in some respects, but mostly dismissing the appeal grounds: see Smith v Blanch; Smith v Dennis [2026] NSWSC 879 (24 July 2026) (Blanch and Dennis Supreme Court Appeal, ‘BDSCA’). Smith remains liable to pay $95,000, is forbidden ‘from publishing on social media or otherwise anything relating to the defendant[s] to the same or similar effect as held to be unlawful vilification in [the previous] Local Court proceedings’ – see BDSCA [261], [262]. She also has to pin a notice about the proceedings ‘on all social media pages and websites over which [she has] control, including Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) and the website of Binary Australia’, for 3 months. (See Annexure A to BDSCA for the content.)

In this post I will aim to explain the basis for the court’s decision. As will be seen, I think there may be grounds for a further appeal. …”

– Read it at Law and Religion Australia.

Artefact in Focus: The Taylor Prism

From Tyndale House in Cambridge – this page and short video by George Heath-Whyte, Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church College, Oxford.

“The ‘Taylor Prism’ has stood on display in the British Museum for 170 years. Named after Colonel R. Taylor, the British diplomat who purchased it in the 1830s, it is a masterful example of ancient Assyrian cuneiform and craftsmanship, with its six tightly-inscribed columns standing almost 40 cm tall.

Remarkable to look at, it is even more remarkable to read. …”

– Watch the video and read the accompanying story.

Preaching God’s Way Of Salvation

From The Expository Preaching Trust:

“In his previous article, Bob Thomas encouraged us to preach with single-mindedness, focused on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this article, Bob walks us through an example of how this might be done when preaching from Ephesians 2:8-10 and 3:14-20, bringing a gospel shape to a sermon. …”

– Read it here.

Darrell Bock answers questions on Luke’s Gospel

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“Leading New Testament scholar Darrell Bock gives a rapid fire exploration of Luke and Acts.

Bock, who is Senior Research Professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, outlines what first drew him to Luke and answers questions including:

Plus Luke’s distinctive emphasis on the world wide expansion of the gospel, the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit, care for the poor and the creation of one new family from Jews and Gentiles.”

– Watch or listen here.

Learning to Read and Write Again

“The writer of Ecclesiastes couldn’t have begun to grasp the sheer volume of books, not to mention blogs, articles, and podcasts that saturate our world today. ‘Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body’ (Eccles 12:12). I confess to feeling overwhelmed and weary. There has never been so much information to take on board. The internet floods us with content. So much information. How do I know what matters most? How much do I need to understand as a Christian leader? I can’t read everything, so should I read anything?

The danger is we give up. Let AI decide what we read, what we hear, how we think. Don’t do the hard work. Have someone else (something else) curate our learning. Take all the short cuts. Stop being curious. Give up on exploring, investigating, comparing, researching, and discussing. …”

– Dave McDonald has encouragement to keep reading – and some reflections on what to read. At The Gospel Coalition Australia.

The Lord’s Supper — Uniting in fellowship

From Phillip Jensen –

“One of the longest standing debates amongst Christians is, strangely, about one of our strongest illustrations of unity. For the Lord’s Supper is meant to be an expression of our unity in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ as we proclaim his resurrection. Yet as long ago as 1 Corinthians was first written, we find Christians divided at this event to such an extent that Paul declared that what they did was not the Lord’s Supper.

So what is the Lord’s Supper about, and what were they doing that so disqualified them from celebrating it?

It is an interesting and defining passage on this important activity which is so central to church life.”

– Peter and Phillip discuss in the latest episode of Two Ways News.

Have you ever felt like an outsider?

“As someone who is visibly not from an Anglo-Celtic ethnic background, I am often asked where I am from and when I arrived in Australia.

I do not mind talking about this – I welcome seeing the bemused looks on people’s faces when I describe my first day at school in Australia. All the children with colourful hair coming and saying ‘Hi’ (which I could not respond to – I only knew three English words at that point: ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Hello’). Do not get me started on how disorienting it was to be in a carpeted classroom with everyone eating sandwiches for lunch!

From these experiences, being an outsider, or foreign, is a feeling that is very familiar to me.…”

– Susan An, Dean of Women at Moore College, writes of being an outsider, and reminds us of ultimate identity and belonging.

Photo: Moore College.

The Sydney Family Album 4 — William Macquarie Cowper

In 2011, Mark Thompson, now Principal of Moore College, published a series of posts, entitled “The Sydney Family Album”, for his website, Theological Theology.

We felt they merit wider distribution, so, with Mark’s kind permission, we are re-posting them on the ACL website, at the rate of one a week.

Here’s the fourth, a guest post by Peter Bolt on William Cowper.

If you’ve ever been confused about who the two William Cowpers were, this will help!

“Together, the two William Cowpers were largely responsible for the strength and vitality of Evangelicalism in Sydney.”

Other posts in the The Sydney Family Album series (as we add them) are in our Resources section.

Plan a Sermon Series — on Proverbs

From Moore Theological College –

“Join us for a day of expert teaching and planning on the book of Proverbs. Dr Dan Wu is a lecturer at Moore Theological College and spoke from Proverbs at CMS Summer School, 2026. Dan will work closely with individuals and staff teams to help them prepare a future sermon series.

Dan will spend the morning exploring the theology and overall message of Proverbs as well as considering the issues that arise from the book. The afternoon will provide time, space and resources for collaborative work preparing your sermon series, with College Library resources being made available. Each day will finish with an opportunity to share your sermon series with other participants and ask our lecturers any follow-up questions.”

– Details at the College website.

God’s Best Work Is Cross-Shaped

At The Gospel Coalition Australia, David Ould calls us back to the Cross of Christ –

“How are we meant to understand distressing, painful and complex moments, whether in our church life together or in our own personal stories? The most straightforward response is grief or sadness at what has happened. That is, of course, entirely appropriate. Alongside this might be anger directed at those we understand are in some way responsible. Yet it rarely stops there. After our initial reaction, we often start to try and find some meaning in the events. For the Christian, this leads quickly to questions about God: how has he allowed this to happen? Is he in charge of these things? If he is, then how can we reconcile his sovereign purpose with tragedy? …”

– Read it all here.

Giggle v Tickle — further response on “special measures”

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes about back-and-forth arguments on Giggle v Tickle –

“The debate around whether a women-only app can exclude those born male is continuing. The decision of the Full Federal Court in Giggle v Tickle holds that it was unlawful for Sall Grover to exclude Roxanne Tickle from the ‘Giggle for Girls’ app.

I posted a critique of the decision on this blog. Professor Paula Gerber later argued, in a post on the ABC Religion and Ethics website, that the decision is correct. I then published a comment on the ABC site re-iterating my reasons for thinking that the decision is wrong, and critiquing Professor Gerber’s initial comment.

Professor Gerber then posted again on the ABC website (‘PG Response 1’), suggesting I was wrong to refer to possible religious freedom issues. I responded…”

– Read it all at Law and Religion Australia.

How to preach sermons that change lives — The Pastor’s Heart

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“Do our sermons actually land in the lives of the people in front of us?

Do they help anxious believers, tired parents, proud leaders, compromised Christians or sceptical guests to hear, trust and obey the living Word of God?

Richard Coekin says application is part of faithful preaching itself.

But application has dangers, it might come not really from the text, or could be overly directive. Or we could give accurate lectures that fail to shepherd the church.

Richard Coekin leads Reach UK.  Richard has just written ‘Apply the Word: A Practical Guide to Preaching with Application.’”

– Watch here.

Men and Women in Church

From Phillip Jensen –

“Dear friends,

This episode of Two Ways News brings us to one of the most controversial passages of the Bible. Since the Sexual Revolution and feminist movement of the late 20th century, the roles of men and women have been fiercely debated in our society. Within the church, this topic has been contested with the main focus being on the various ministries of men and women.

So when we come to 1 Corinthians 11 and read of women praying and prophesying, our debaters are alerted to possible data for discussion. But when it turns to the head covering of women, the issues brought up are very complicated. I doubt that our discussion here will be the last word or even a significant turning point in the debate. But I hope that, irrespective of the debate, we may make 1 Corinthians 11 a little clearer.

By the way, I recently spoke on Prophecy Today at the Kings Birthday Conference. You can listen to the recordings of that conference at phillipjensen.com.

Yours,

Phillip.”

– Hear Phillip and Peter’s latest discussion at Two Ways News,

The Sydney Family Album 3 — William Cowper

In 2011, Mark Thompson, now Principal of Moore College, published a series of posts entitled “The Sydney Family Album”, for his website, Theological Theology.

We felt they merit wider distribution, so, with Mark’s kind permission, we are re-posting them on the ACL website, at the rate of one a week.

Here’s the third, a guest post by Peter Bolt on William Cowper.

Other posts in the The Sydney Family Album series (as we add them) are in our Resources section.

J. Gresham Machen: Where he died Is important

Michael Horton shares this insight into the life of J. Gresham Machen –

“Already frail in health, J. Gresham Machen kept his appointment to preach in North Dakota. For someone reared in Machen’s world, the Presbyterian Church was far from being a ‘little flock,’ as Jesus described his church (Luke 12:32). It was powerful in every area of civil and social life.

From a family of Baltimore elites, Machen, born in 1881, had a Harvard Law School–trained Episcopalian father (Arthur Webster Machen) and a Presbyterian mother, Mary Jones Gresham. It was his mother who had the greater influence on his life, teaching her son Greek, Latin, and the classics as well as piano. He enjoyed regular Sunday dinners with Woodrow Wilson and his family after the morning service at Princeton’s Nassau Presbyterian Church. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition.

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