Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Ian PaulAs it is still Advent, it is still worth reflecting on how we make sense Matt 24 (the reading for the First Sunday of Advent). There appear to be two main ways it is read. 1. Both two main sections, Matt 24.1–35 and Matt 24.36–51 are about Jesus’ second coming at the end of the …
There’s been a lot of nonsense recently on the radio about what people are ‘really’ doing when they celebrate Christmas. There was a programme on Radio 4 exploring the origins of the tunes of carols. For example, the tune for Good King Wenceslas was originally a spring carol celebrating the fertility of nature. It is …
Last week I watched the film Gravity. The effects were spectacular, the photography breathtaking, the characterisations engaging, and the story held one’s attention throughout. It even raised some profound (religious?) questions about life, death and purpose. And yet, when I left the cinema, I could not decide whether I had enjoyed the film or not. For …
The Daniel Plan is the latest best-selling 40-day plan from the spiritual guru and one-man publishing phenomenon that is Rick Warren. Naturally, it comes with a book, a journal and of course a website. Without getting too cynical about the juggernaut of the US Christian publishing industry, I have to say that there are some …
Both popular and academic readings of Revelation still suffer from a need to find some future supposed reference to various features of the text. This is despite considerable evidence that the text would have made good sense to its first-century readers, and that many would have been able to understand it as a depiction of …
It has been fascinating and moving to listen to the testimonies and tributes about the life of Nelson Mandela last night and this morning. By all accounts his death marks the passing of a truly great man. But whenever I hear tributes to a great contemporary figure, I am also struck by how hard we …
The group working with Joseph Pilling reporting to the House of Bishops on the issue of same-sex relations were always going to struggle to keep anyone happy. How is it possible to say something on this issue without upsetting or offending one group or another? And if not, how on earth could anyone find a …
One of the things that has marked recent disputes in the church, both nationally and internationally, both formally and informally, is the question of what is central to Christian faith, and over what can we agree to live with difference with a clear conscience. Although this discussion can seem tiresome, it seems to me that …
One of the puzzles about the ending of some of the letters in the New Testament is knowing how to read the ‘household management codes’ in Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Colossians 3:12-4:6 and 1 Peter 2:11-3:22. Most of Paul’s letters, once the theological argument is done, have specific instructions on practical living (‘the indicative followed by the imperative’), but in these …
This is a guest post by my friend Dr Andrew Goddard, who is Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE), Cambridge and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anglican Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. With speculation growing about the contents of the Pilling Report, to be considered by the House of Bishops next month and …
In September, I commented from my own experience in business and others’ experience in other sectors on Michael Gove’s proposal to introduce performance related pay in teaching. It is particularly pertinent for me practically, since I am on the appraisal group for the head of the school of which I am a governor. Apart from …
