Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Tim Murray writes: Philippians 2.6-11 (often known as the ‘Philippian Christ Hymn’) is one of the most important texts in the New Testament for our Christology. It seems to speak of the pre-existence of Jesus being “in the form of God”, who did not count this as “something to be grasped/held on to/exploited” but instead …
Andrew Goddard writes: This article looks at who will be choosing the next Archbishop and how they get a seat on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC). Although only one of the 17 names has been officially announced, another 5 can be identified. There are five different categories with different processes of selection in each and …
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for the last Sunday before Lent in this Year C is Luke 9.28–36, this gospel’s account of the Transfiguration, with the option of continuing to read the episode that follows immediately on the descent from the mountain. There some important things to note in relation to this passage as we think …
The NT epistle for the Sunday next before Lent is 2 Corinthians 3.12–4.2, in which Paul draws a comparison between Moses’ encounter with God in Ex 34 and our encounter with God in the person of Jesus, using the metaphor of the ‘veil being removed’. There are clear connections with the gospel passage, which is …
Andy Griffiths has recently written a fascinating Grove booklet on The Hope of Seeing God: The Beatific Vision and Formation. Rather than look at the past of our creation, or the present of the work of the Spirit in effective transformation as disciples of Jesus, is raises the question of whether we should think more …
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday before Lent in Year C is Luke 8.22–25, the concise account by Luke of Jesus stilling the storm. (It is worth noting that the ecumenical lectionary has a different set of readings; apparently for the Church of England it was thought that there was not enough …
The NT epistle for the Second Sunday before Lent is Rev 4, the first half (with Rev 5) of John’s vision and audition (seeing and hearing) of worship ‘in heaven’ as he is ‘in the Spirit’. This is a fascinating passage, in part because it is so dense with theological ideas, but also because this …
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware that safeguarding has been a deeply contentious issue in the Church of England for several years, and has come to a head over the last few months and weeks. Justin Welby resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury because of his failure to take action …
The Sunday lectionary reading for the Third Sunday before Lent in Year C is Luke 6.17–26, this gospel’s version of the Beatitudes. The epistle is 1 Cor 11.11–22, and you can watch the video discussion of that passage here. One of the most obvious questions arising from the gospel reading is how they relate to …
The NT epistle for the Third Sunday before Lent is 1 Cor 15.11–22, which follows from our reading two weeks ago. The focus on hope of resurrection as central to Christian faith complements the gospe reading of Luke 6 and his version of the Beatitudes. This section of 1 Cor 15 is fascinating, since Paul …
Dear Stephen In our working relationship, I have always sought to be open and honest with you. I have also always sought to follow Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18: if you have an issue with a brother, go to him first privately, and only if he will not listen should you then go to others, …
