Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Margaret Mowczko writes: There are several women mentioned in the New Testament who in the past have had their ministries downplayed. Even today, some question whether Phoebe was deacon or minister of her church (Rom. 16:1–2), or whether Junia was really an apostle. Junia and a woman named Nympha have even had their gender obscured and …
The episode of Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman in the lectionary reading for Trinity 11 in Year A from Matt 15.21–28 (or Syrophoenician woman as she is called in the parallel Mark 7.24–30) often brings readers up short, containing as it does what appears to be a rather shocking insult. Jesus is seeking to …
In the previous post, I asked Dr Rhiannon McAleer of Bible Society about their research on church attendance in partnership with YouGov, and the surprising and encouraging findings. In this video, we discuss the issues, including their findings around Bible interest and engagement, and the moments in life when people are most open to thinking …
Last month, Mark Woods of the Bible Society wrote an article in the Baptist Times challenging the narrative that the Church in England and Wales is in decline, based on the Bible Society’s own research. I was intrigued by this, so I asked Dr Rhiannon McAleer, Head of Research and Impact, about what they had found. IP: …
Mike Starkey writes: In recent years drag has gone mainstream. Actually, it’s bigger than that. Drag has become all-conquering, ubiquitous, the performance art of the moment. The art of cross-dressing for entertainment has a long history, often confined to spaces frequented by consenting adults. By the late 20th century in Britain, drag was drawing an enthusiastic …
The Sunday lectionary reading for Trinity 10 in Year A is Matt 14.22–33, Matthew’s distinctive account of Jesus walking across the water and Peter’s response to it. I am finding this recent, sustained immersion in Matthew’s narrative very interesting. We have often noted how Matthew’s accounts are more compressed than the other gospels, particularly Mark, …
Andrew Goddard writes: Following my recent article on where we should be going on LLF I had a few brief exchanges with David Runcorn on my Facebook page. This made clear that he and I were viewing the current situation in quite different ways but, as he commented, “that needs a long conversation”. I was therefore …
Last week, I recorded a video discussion with historian Martyn Whittock, which arose out of questions he had about Israel and the End Times in the New Testament. The video is quite long, so here I offer a summary of my comments on the main questions that we explored. What is the meaning of the …
