Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
The miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana comes early in John’s gospel, in John 2.1–11, and it offers us a first taste of John’s remarkable ability in story-telling, where he combines an intense attention to realistic detail with powerful evocation of the scene. In 11 short verses, we are …
Richard Peers, who is Diocese Director of Education in Liverpool Diocese, reflects on his attendance at the 2018 Tyndale NT Study Group. Why? Four or five years ago I was invited to sit on a panel at an inter-faith event. Sat alongside Jewish, Muslim and Hindu panelists we we were each asked to begin with …
In reading the headline, you might think that I am about to explore some of the claims of the recent GAFCON meeting on whether the C of E is being led in the right direction. But in fact I want to explore a much more basic question: are the patterns of ministry and leadership, and …
Several times a year, I take part in Premier Radio’s Monday morning phone-in, hosted by John Pantry, in which people can call in and ask any question they have about the Bible. It is both interesting and demanding, because you don’t know what questions will be asked—and have no time to look anything up before …
Donald Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy on immigration, leading to the separation of children from their parents at the US/Mexico border, has dominated the foreign news in the UK this week. As with all such news items, it is much more complex than at first reported, and we need to understand carefully what has been going …
Every time the situation in Israel-Palestine hits the news, for Christians one of the issues that emerges is whether or not the modern State of Israel is a fulfilment of biblical prophecy. The main prophetic text appealed to is the later chapters of Ezekiel, particularly Ezekiel 39. But in order to understand whether there is …
Last week the Pope garnered some unwanted press coverage (unwanted especially during Holy Week) when it was claimed that he had denied the existence of hell as a place of conscious punishment for the wicked. The words were reported in an Italian daily publication La Repubblica by its founder, Eugenio Scalfari, a 93-year-old atheist who …
I am very pleased to announce that my commentary on the Book of Revelation has been published by IVP, and to celebrate there will be a book launch and public lecture on Thursday April 19th at Christ Church, Chilwell, with discounted signed copies of the commentary available for purchase. To whet your appetite, I include below …
Last week I spent a very enjoyable few days in snowy Harrogate at the New Wine National Leaders’ conference. The times of sung worship were engaging and refreshing; conversations with friends old and new invigorating; and the teaching was thought-provoking though rather variable. It was fascinating to hear David Stroud (leader of Christchurch London, originally …
Andrew Talbert writes: Though we are now several weeks past the Presentation of Christ at the Temple (2 February), it is worth revisiting this event as it appears in Luke’s Gospel for several reasons. First, Ian Paul has a mild obsession with numbers in the New Testament, and this particular blog is all about numbers; and, …
One of the things I have noticed in studying Revelation in the last couple of years is the amount and importance of the material that John reports that he hears in comparison with what he sees. There have been several studies of the hymnic material in Revelation, and these sections are important in themselves, partly because of …
