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What would you say is the single most important thing in preaching—either as the person preaching or as someone who listens? I guess many people would suggest clarity of delivery, or humour, or connecting with the congregation, or being based in Scripture. All of these are of great importance, though of course all are open … Continue Reading
It is a truism that much of the narrative of the Old Testament focuses on men, and that many of the key moments and actions revolve around the decisions and activity of the male characters. This reflects two factors, one related to the historical context and one related to the nature of the narrative itself. … Continue Reading
I’ve recently noticed how often people quote John 10.10 ‘I have come that they might have life, and life in abundance’, often in the context of ethical debate. (I am not sure whether it is happening more, or just whether I am more alert to it.) When one person is arguing for a more restrictive ethical … Continue Reading
I am continuing here my repost and revision of a mini-series from three years ago. I have argued that we cannot avoid the need to interpret Scripture; since it is a bearer of meaning, and not a cipher or code of marks on a page, then to read is to interpret. The previous two ‘essentials’ were: first, … Continue Reading
Yesterday I was preaching on Judges 19, the story of the dismembered concubine, as the final sermon in our series on the Book of Judges. Because of its challenges, it is a text that has been long debated in scholarship, but (unsurprisingly) it is seldom preached on or referred to in church worship. (A member … Continue Reading
Revelation has been hugely influential on the history of Christian art. If you are in the habit of visiting church buildings that have stained glass, you won’t have to travel far to find images drawn from the book. But what is striking in the images of Jesus, based on Revelation 1, is that Jesus is … Continue Reading
Following my previous observations about Tony Campolo no longer calling himself evangelical, Tony himself responded on Christian Today. Every once in awhile unfair judgments are made. That was the case when Christian Today contributor Ian Paul wrote that I, along with other Red Letter Christians, emphasised the red letters in the New Testament, which in many Bibles highlight … Continue Reading
I am here continuing the repost and revision of my series from three years ago on the essentials of interpretation. Having established that we cannot avoid the task of interpretation, my first ‘essential’ set out the reasons why we need to read any particular text in the Bible in the light of the whole—to read in the light … Continue Reading
Quite early on in Revelation (1.7) we find the phrase ‘I am coming with the clouds’, and it is striking that the near universal view of commentators on this verse is that it is a reference to the return of Jesus to earth, as promised in Acts 1 and elsewhere. (Note that the New Testament never uses the now-popular phrase ‘second coming’ of Jesus, since this pairs the future with his ‘first coming’ in the incarnation, whereas the NT always pairs his return with his departure, as in ‘he will return in the same way you have seen him go’ in Acts 1.11).
Three years ago, I started a mini-series on key elements of biblical interpretation, and never quite got round to completing it. But there appears to be continued interested in this, so I am reposting the ones I wrote previously, with updates and additions, and will be completing the series. As I have explored previously, it … Continue Reading
Some years ago a well-known Christian leader, minister of a large and influential church, proclaimed: I don’t interpret the Bible. I just tell you what it says. How you react to that statement will say quite a lot about your attitude to the Bible, its interpretation, and the role of ministry. On the one hand, … 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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