Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Andrew Goddard writes: As new LLF groups convene this weekend, in this article, I note the following issues. The three working groups and the bishops need not only to connect the work in each area (“the trees”) but also see the bigger theological picture (“the forest”) where the earlier LLF work is helpful in clarifying …
What would you identify as the climax and completion of Jesus’ life and ministry? Surprisingly, this is not a trivial question. One of the key differences between John and the synoptic gospels is that, where the synoptics portray the crucifixion as a necessary but incomplete act on the way to the resurrection, John portrays it …
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Easter 7 in Year B is John 17.6–19, the central section of Jesus’ so-called ‘High Priestly Prayer’. The reading omits the introduction and opening sentences of the prayer, and stops short before the often-quoted ‘that they might be one’; I have previously commented on the use of this phrase, …
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Easter 7 in Year B is John 17.6–19, the central section of Jesus’ so-called ‘High Priestly Prayer’. It continues to weave in a range of interconnected ideas from earlier in the gospel, drawing them together into a picture of Jesus’ followers sanctified in the world and sent to proclaim …
What is the connection between Marxist thinking, Critical Race Theory, and actions by churches (including the Church of England) to address the perceived experience of racial injustice? The question is contested, but it is not straightforward, since Critical Race Theory has a complex intellectual history, and the underlying assumptions in the debates about race and …
Last week, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales issued a pastoral document on the question of gender identity in the light of biblical and theological understandings of what it means to be created male and female in the image of God. It is a fascinating, clear, refreshing and helpful statement, and like all Catholic …
