New Testament

Textual variants in the gospels

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In my previous post, I highlight the problems with sensationalist claims that new manuscript discoveries lead to uncertainty about central Christian teaching or understanding of Jesus. Here I have listed the major textual variants in the gospels, and added my own short comments on them. The comments here are my (reasonably informed) observations about the … Continue Reading

Hunting for the text of the New Testament

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Last week I tuned into the BBC programme ‘Bible Hunters’ about a number of characters who had unearthed (sometimes literally) ancient manuscripts of the New Testament which had, apparently, radically changed our understanding of Jesus’s ministry and teaching and early Christian understandings of it. Perhaps naively, I had hoped to enjoy a stimulating exploration of … Continue Reading

Did Jesus have a beard?

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Simon Jenkins has a wonderfully witty article about the theological significance of beards over at Reform Magazine. (That’s the magazine of the URC, not the other lot!). It was prompted by the arrival through the post of a Jesus Shaves mug, where a bearded Jesus becomes clean-shaven when you fill it up with hot tea. … Continue Reading

Making sense of Matthew 24

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As it is still Advent, it is still worth reflecting on how we make sense Matt 24 (the reading for the First Sunday of Advent). There appear to be two main ways it is read. 1. Both two main sections, Matt 24.1–35 and Matt 24.36–51 are about Jesus’ second coming at the end of the … Continue Reading

The evidence for Jesus outside the NT

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Every now and then a theory comes along which is so implausible it is questionable whether it is worth responding. That has happened again this week with reports in the Daily Mail of a certain ‘historical researcher’ names Michael Paulkovich who claims that Jesus never existed and was a ‘mythical character’. The slight irony is … Continue Reading

Is ‘our God greater’?

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Over the last few months I have found myself less and less comfortable with the song by Chris Tomlin that has the chorus: Our God is greater, our God is stronger God you are higher than any other Our God is Healer, awesome in power Our God, Our God… At first I thought that the … Continue Reading

The historic interpretation of 1 Tim 2

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The Sunday lectionary in the Anglican version of the RCL is paying an occasional visit to the Pastorals just now. But it is neatly stepping over the most problematic passage for contemporary preaching, 1 Tim 2.8–15. The current debate about these verses is often characterised as being between those who maintain the ‘historic’ understanding of … Continue Reading

Do we need to ‘interpret’ the Bible?

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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

Jesus the misunderstood revolutionary

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The latest ‘new discovery’ about Jesus that has been hitting the headlines and topping the best-seller lists is Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. Aslan holds some personal interest in the question, since he was apparently raised in a Christian home but converted to Islam. The blurb on Amazon … Continue Reading