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The conversion practices draft bill: right and helpful or fatally flawed?

July 2, 2026

Mark Bratton writes: The long-awaited draft Bill on conversion practices (‘the draft’), recently released for pre-legislative parliamentary review, is fundamentally flawed. According to the Preamble, the draft aims, among other goals, to establish new offences related to abusive conversion practices on individuals. However, rather than preventing abuse, the draft risks reinforcing harmful conversion practices, particularly …

The best long-term strategy for church growth

April 6, 2025April 2, 2025

There are three questions which come up in relation to the growth of religious movements, particularly the Christian faith. How would you answer each of these? a. Why is Islam growing in the UK and in the world at the moment? b. What was the primary reason for the growth of the early church? c. …

Jesus is rejected by the people of Nazareth in Mark 6

July 8, 2024July 3, 2024

The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 6 in this Year B is Mark 6.1–13, and is yet another example of Mark’s highly concise storytelling that is packed with theological narrative significance. Once more the lectionary does us a slight disservice; the reading combines the story of those taking offence at Jesus in his home town …

Jesus is rejected by the people of Nazareth in Mark 6 video discussion

July 3, 2024July 1, 2024

The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 6 in this Year B is Mark 6.1–13, and is yet another example of Mark’s highly concise storytelling that is packed with theological narrative significance. The passage combines the conclusion of this section of Jesus ministry, and recounts the startling rejection of Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth (though …

Opposition to Jesus comes from every side in Mark 3

June 11, 2024June 3, 2024

The gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday of Trinity in Year B is Mark 3.20–35, which consists of two stories of opposition to Jesus’ ministry, intercalated—that is, one story is split to form the outer frame, with another, related, story at the centre. The frame story is his (biological) family going to ‘seize’ …

Opposition to Jesus from every side in Mark 3 video discussion

June 11, 2024June 3, 2024

The gospel reading for Trinity 2 in Year B is Mark 3.20–35 (the end of the chapter). It is a fascinating episode, since in characteristic style, Mark ‘intercalates’ or sandwiches one story inside another—the opposite from the Jewish authorities sits within the story of his family trying to stop his ministry. We learn about the …

What does the gospel say to family life today?

June 2, 2023June 1, 2023

In March 2021, the Archbishops commissioned a project to look at issues around family and households; this was the third of four Commissioners arising from Justin Welby’s 2018 book Reimagining Britain (which I reviewed here), the previous ones covering housing and care respectively, alongside the ongoing commission on racial justice. Before I read the report myself, I …

Jesus is rejected at Nazareth in Mark 6

July 5, 2021July 1, 2021

The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 5 in Year B is Mark 6.1–13, and is yet another example of Mark’s highly concise storytelling that is packed with theological narrative significance. Once more the lectionary does us a slight disservice; the reading combines the story of those taking offence at Jesus in his home town with …

Opposition to Jesus from every direction in Mark 3

June 11, 2021June 2, 2021

Oh Mark—where have you been, with your dynamic directness, your parataxis and imitation of Old Testament narrative, your puns on ‘straightway’ and your dense biblical allusions? We have missed you! And yet—it is we who left you, whilst you have been waiting patiently all this time. We were seduced by the Beloved Disciple, with his …

Food, culture, and the challenge of the gospel

February 14, 2020February 12, 2020

There is a small number of television programmes that I love to watch regularly when they are on. Monday nights are quiz nights, with Only Connect and University Challenge; Fridays from the Spring means Gardener’s World; but there are two less regular mid-week programmes that I love. One is Michael Mosley’s ‘Trust me, I’m a …

Is this the best long-term church growth strategy?

November 16, 2018November 13, 2018

Books by Ian Paul

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