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Think back to the last time that someone surprised you. What does surprise do to you? Some people love surprises; others like surprises as long as they know exactly what the surprise will be! Our common experience is that surprise is highly disorienting; we don’t know where to turn or what to do next. Even … Continue Reading
On Maundy Thursday, it is traditional to focus on the account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John 13—and possibly to re-enact this within a service. But in rushing to the final example, we miss the most important lesson, which comes in the middle, rather than at the end, of the passage. The passage … Continue Reading
With the beautiful spring weather, I have just completed my first hour back in the garden since abandoning it (more or less) over the winter. I devoted my time to pruning and offer some reflections here on the process. Pruning needs confidence. You only prune things that you think are going to continue to flower and … Continue Reading
I was really delighted to see the new Church of England project iTestify launched this summer. (I was also a tad disappointed, since I was thinking of doing something similar myself!). The idea is simple – short, video testimonies of up to 3 minutes. Recorded on your phone or tablet and sent to us here … Continue Reading
In recent year the ‘apocryphal’ ‘gospels‘ have been making something of a comeback. (I put the word ‘gospels’ in inverted commas, since these documents are not really in the form of ‘gospels’—on which see below.) Perhaps the best-known of these is the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus which, as it … Continue Reading
Like any teenager nurtured in an evangelical context, I suffered from a constant, nagging sense of guilt that I was not an evangelist. If bringing other people to faith was the main task of Christians, how come I wasn’t better at it? The trouble was, whenever I tried to be an evangelist, I just ended … Continue Reading
One of the obvious differences in chronology between John’s gospel and the ‘Synoptics’ (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is that John gives an account of Jesus in Jerusalem on four different occasions, two during a Passover (John 2.13, 12.12), one during an unnamed festival (John 5.1) and one at Hannukah (John 10.22). (The third Passover is … Continue Reading
On Maundy Thursday, it is traditional to focus on the account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John 13—and possibly to re-enact this within a service. But in rushing to the final example, we miss the most important lesson, which comes in the middle, rather than at the end, of the passage. The passage … Continue Reading
To my dear reader: I wonder if I could tempt you to reach for your copy of Paul and the Faithfulness of God by Tom Wright. (Don’t worry—just let that door close.) Turn with me, if you will, to page 1032, section (j) entitled ‘What then about Torah?’. Make a note of the first letter of … Continue Reading
This is the second half of an article; part (i) can be found here. 3. A Spirituality of Conflict and Decision Whilst seeming to be the most ‘reflective’ of the gospels, John is also the one which contains the sharpest conflicts. Jesus is in constant debate with ‘the Jews’—not usually, in fact, the Jewish people … Continue Reading
It feels like a natural thing to be reflecting on the spirituality of St John’s gospel; after all, it has been referred to as ‘the spiritual gospel’ since the early church. Mark’s driving narrative presents us with Jesus as a man of action, making clear who he is through what he does. Matthew’s organised presentation … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Adjunct Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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