Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
Tim Murray writes: One of the pleasures of the last few weeks was the chance to review the collection of essays edited by Robert Myles, recently published under the title Class Struggle in the New Testament (Lexington/Fortress, 2019). In a publishing culture that increasingly values quantity of output over any discernible value or purpose, it refreshing to …
I have been engaging on and off in the debates about sexuality and Christian discipleship since around 1978, when Buzz magazine (which eventually morphed into Christianity magazine) produced a slightly risky exploration of the issues at stake. Since then, I have noticed that the discussion has shifted ground, both in wider society and within the …
The short stories told by and about Jesus in the gospels are both attractive and challenging. They are attractive because they are easily memorable (and there is a basic neuroscientific connection between story and memory), because even in their compressed retelling they include compelling characters, and because we are drawn to Jesus’ pithy summaries of …
This question is a bit of an old chestnut—but I thought it worth revisiting, not least in the light of an interesting Twitter exchange I had with an Australian academic (whom I do not know in person). Robert Myles is lecturer in lecturer in New Testament and Religion at Murdoch University, and has published academically …
Martyn Percy, Dean of Christchurch, Oxford, has contributed to an ongoing series of posts on the Via Media blog setting out the view that the Bible is not clear in its teaching about marriage—or on anything else for that matter. It is an interesting series, in the sense that it points clearly to the idea …
The lectionary readings for this week include three substantial readings: Acts 9.36-43, Revelation 7.9-17 and John 10.22-30. There is a note which says: ‘The reading from Acts must be used as either the first or second reading’, which suggests that this reading is thought to be particularly important. The reading from Acts 9 comes at an interesting transition …
There were two interesting articles in the Church Times last week which illustrated well some of the challenges for the church of reading the Bible. The longer one was an interview with John Barton, former professor at the University of Oxford, following the publication earlier in the year of his book A History of the Bible. At …
Richard Rohr is a well-known and popular teacher, and his books are regularly best-sellers. Despite that, he is something of a ‘Marmite’ theologian—people either adore or loathe him. Depending on which side you come down on, you will either find his latest book, The Universal Christ (London: SPCK, 2019) a scintillating and energetic tour de force of …
This Sunday’s lectionary takes a break from our reading of Luke’s gospel to focus on the anointing of Jesus in Bethany by Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, in John 12.1–8. (If anyone can explain this move, I would love to hear!). This is an unusual narrative since, if we accept one line of interpretation …
Helen Paynter writes: Micaiah: the lying prophet of God. Elisha: the grumpy old man who couldn’t take a joke. The book of Kings has its fair share of surprises. What are they doing in this text? What is the reader supposed to learn from them? And should we always stand up and applaud the prophets wildly, …
A couple of years ago, I was exploring the anthropology of the Book of Revelation, and it is quite a challenging topic; the result can be found in my chapter in the volume Anthropology and New Testament Theology. In exploring how a text depicts human existence, you might (for example, in Paul’s letters) look at theological terminology …
