About

My name is Ian Paul. Originally from London, I studied pure maths at St John’s College, Oxford and applied maths (Operational Research) at the University of Southampton before working in industrial business with Mars Confectionery in Slough in planning, manufacturing and personnel. I trained for ordination in the Church of England at St John’s College, Nottingham, where I also did a PhD on metaphor in Paul Ricoeur and the Book of Revelation. I then lived for ten years in Poole, Dorset, working on the staff of St Mary’s, Longfleet during which I was also involved in diocesan education and a member of the General Synod of the Church of England. In 2004 I returned to St John’s, Nottingham, to teach New Testament and Practical Theology and was Dean of Studies from 2005 to 2012.

In the summer of 2011, I sensed a strong call of God to write more, and eventually left St John’s in 2013 in order to write, research and speak in a freelance capacity. For information, check out my Speaking page, and to find out what others think about me go to Commendations.

You can contact me by email on ian(at)psephizo.com or connect with me on Facebook. You can download my full CV here: Ian Paul Academic CV 2019

Academic
My theological academic interests include the Book of Revelation, the interpretation of metaphor, the work of Paul Ricoeur, the theology and practice of preaching, John’s Gospel, the letter of James, and the Pauline letters (a short list, I know). Since my first two degrees were in pure and applied maths, and I worked in industrial business before ordination training, I am also interested in these areas.

Ministry
In relation to ministry, I am particularly interested in issues of leadership and mission, preaching, and how individual Christians and congregations encounter Scripture and experience it as life-transforming. I am also very interested in issues of culture, economics and politics and how Christian faith engages with them. For seventeen years I was Managing Editor of Grove Books Ltd and continue on the Board as Director of Publishing.

Personal
I am married to Maggie, who is a GP (family practitioner if you are over the pond), and we have three children who are now in their twenties and embarking on variations professional careers. We have a dog, Barney, who is a cavapoo.

I spend a lot of time in my garden, doting on the dog, eating chocolate, and meeting friends and colleagues for coffee and cake.

Blog
Some people seem to use their blog like a Facebook status, updating it with short comments. Others primarily re-post material they have found elsewhere. My aim is (in the main) to post my own, original research, observations and reflections, often relating to study, teaching or ministry I am engaged in. So I hope you will find the material here stimulating, useful and thought-provoking. Please feel free to pass it on—with appropriate credit!

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My blog is called Psephizo, using the Greek verb meaning ‘to calculate’, ‘work out’ or ‘reckon’—my American friends might translate this as ‘go figure’ or ‘do the math’. The word only occurs twice in the New Testament, once in Luke 14.28 in his version of Jesus’ warning to reckon the cost of discipleship before embarking on it, and in Rev 13.18 (seen here in Codex Sinaiticus) perhaps the most notorious verse in the Bible! It is related to the word psephos meaning ‘pebble’, which would have been used to do such calculations, and also occurs only in Luke and Revelation (suggesting a surprising link between the two texts, supported by other links), being the ‘white stone with a new name’ in Rev 2.17.

My own experience in faith and theology is that, whilst being a Christ-follower is in many ways mysterious and irrational, in other ways it is the only way of making sense of life—in the end, when we really understand Scripture and listen to the Spirit of God, it really does ‘all add up.’

Pebbles were also used for casting your vote in elections, and in modern Greek the verb psephizo means ‘to vote [for]’. The puzzling figure at the centre of all this, Jesus, is challenging and puzzling at times, but the only one who has the words of eternal life. Once we have ‘done the math’, we then need to make a decision: will we take up the free but costly offer of following him?

6 thoughts on “About”

  1. I googled Francesca Svavrakopoulou, and was pleased to come accross your reflections. While watching the programmes, I felt very uneasy at the presentations and conclusions. As a Catholic, I had learned that devotion to Mary is in no way worship as with God. (Dulia as opposed to hyper dulia Spelling???) – I don’t understand why other, even Christian religions don’t alway see the difference between devotion and worship. anyway I found that your comments really helped to to see, that in fact I am quite sane. I appreciate your elucidation on the methodology she seemed to be using and look forward to reading your reflections on the 3rd programme. Thank you.

  2. Regarding the third part of Secrets of the Bible and the concept of Apple coming into the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Many years ago I learned that the name of the fruit may have been because of a mistake in copying the Latin text – the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil – where evil is male (mah-le) and mela (may-lah) which is apple.

  3. Thank you very much for posting this. I work with Muslim friends and this will help them see through the facades of the big media’s statement about American killing of Bin Laden.

    Shalom v’Bar’cha!

    dann

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