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Ian Paul
John Nelson combines teaching in a secondary school with serious academic research on the New Testament. At the British New Testament Conference earlier this month, he gave a fascinating paper about his research on why the gospels don’t describe the appearance of Jesus, and I asked him about it. IP: Most people—both Christians and interested … Continue Reading
Last weekend, in an online conversation, someone highlighted to me the most recent ministry statistics, which were released in June, but seem to have gone under the radar. I certainly did not spot them, and I don’t recall anyone commenting on them. They show that 47.5% of current C of E stipendiary clergy are aged … Continue Reading
The epistle for Trinity 15 in Year C is 1 Tim 6.6–19. Once more, the lectionary cuts the reading in an odd place, starting half way through an argument of Paul, and finishing two verses short of the end of the letter. There are some important issues to address in terms of Paul’s language and … Continue Reading
Tim Wyatt is an interesting and often astute commentator on things Church of England. Ten days ago he expanded an article he had written in the New Statesman, setting out the challenges facing whoever will be appointed next Archbishop of Canterbury, in a much longer piece on his substack. Tim has interviewed a number of … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Trinity 14 in Year C is Luke 16.1–13, the so-called Parable of the Unjust Steward (or ‘Dishonest Manager’). (The epistle is 1 Tim 2.1–7, and you can find video discussion of that reading here, and video discussion of Luke 16 here. Both are also posted at the foot of … Continue Reading
The epistle for Trinity 14 is a second passage from 1 Tim, this time the first seven verses of chapter 2. Paul’s urging Timothy that all kinds of prayer should be offering follows strongly from the previous passage explaining the nature of the gospel as shown by his own experience. His call to pray for … Continue Reading
The perennial question for anyone thinking seriously about the Christian life and our place in the world has two parts to it. First, we need to think about the world we are in, and try to make sense of it. Secondly, we need to ask what kind of ‘church‘ we are to be—what kind of … Continue Reading
When bishops and archbishops speak about migration it always hits the headlines—and never ends well. In 2016, Justin Welby got into trouble when he said that it was quite reasonable to ‘fear’ the consequences of mass migration. There is a tendency to say ‘those people are racist’, which is just outrageous, absolutely outrageous. But in … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel for Trinity 13 in Year C is the first two of the three ‘parables of the lost’ in Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. We don’t go on to read the third, the parable of the prodigal son, since we read that … Continue Reading
Our epistle reading for Trinity 13 in this Year C is 1 Tim 1.12–17. (It is not clear why the lectionary omits the opening verses of 1 Tim.) There are very good reasons to believe (against some scholarship) that this was indeed written by Paul. His personal testimony matches what we know from elsewhere; the … Continue Reading
The theme for the Tyndale Fellowship New Testament Study Group in 2026 is Paul within Judaism, and we are meeting from Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd July 2026 at the excellent conference facility of High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, UK. It is easily accessible by train from London in about 20 minutes (from Tottenham Hale). … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Associate Senior Research Fellow, Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod and Archbishops' Council. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
Andrew Goddard Bible biblical interpretation Biblical literacy biblical theology Christmas Church of England culture discipleship discussion doctrine eschatology evangelism gay General Synod Grove guest Hermeneutics History hope interpretation James Blandford Baker Jesus John's gospel Justin Welby leadership lectionary Luke Luke's gospel Matthew ministry mission New Testament Paul politics preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
