James Bejon

The paradoxes of sacrifice in Leviticus

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James Bejon writes: Last week on the Theopolis podcast, Peter Leithart, Alastair Roberts, Jeff Meyers, and I worked our way through the first half of Hebrews 9. Below I want to highlight something which became clear(er) to me as we did so. Preamble The Levitical system was, in many ways, a system full of paradoxes. … Continue Reading

Why do Matthew and Luke offer us different nativity stories?

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James Bejon offers this fascinating exploration of the differences between Matthew and Luke. For a discussion of the historical issues in Luke’s nativity narrative, see this article. As Christians, most of us are familiar with harmonised versions of the NT’s birth narratives. We see them acted out each year in Nativity plays (if we subject … Continue Reading

Is the Jubilee in the Book of Revelation?

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One of the challenges in reading the Book of Revelation is that it is very theologically dense in the way it presents its ideas. There are several reasons for this: Its dense metaphorical language (commonly called its ‘symbolism’) carries theological weight. For example, the compressed phrase ‘a lamb, looking as though it had been slain, … Continue Reading

Why do Matthew and Luke offer different birth narratives?

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James Bejon writes: As Christians, most of us are familiar with harmonised versions of the NT’s birth narratives. We see them acted out each year in Nativity plays (if we subject ourselves to such things). Considered in isolation, however, the birth narratives are less familiar, and even slightly awkward. They gloss over major events. Or, … Continue Reading

The NT Birth Narratives: Suspicious Omissions or Deliberate Exclusions?

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James Bejon writes: As Christians, most of us are familiar with harmonised versions of the NT’s birth narratives. We see them acted out each year in Nativity plays (if we subject ourselves to such things). Considered in isolation, however, the birth narratives are less familiar, and even slightly awkward. They gloss over major events. Or, … Continue Reading