scholarship. serving. ministry.
This Sunday’s lectionary reading in Year A is the baptism of Jesus from Matt 3.13–17. It is a short and compact reading, and needs careful reading in its own right. But it only fully makes sense if we know something of the Old Testament backstory and can, as ‘insiders’, spot the key allusions to it. … Continue Reading
The epistle for Advent 2 in this Year A is Rom 15.4–13. It follows on from Paul’s discussion about the ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’ in chapter 14, and in many ways summarises the themes of the whole of Romans—that God is uniting Jews and Gentiles who follow Jesus as the goal of his whole plan … Continue Reading
Our reading for Trinity 5 in Year C continues our mini-series in Colossian, following on from last week’s passage with Col 1.15–28. (Once more the lectionary does odd things, giving us a long, dense reading and then, inexplicably, cutting off the last verse of the chapter.) There is much scholarly debate on this passage—was Paul … Continue Reading
When I first started studying theology, our set text for our New Testament Greek class was 1 Peter, the same text which is the focus of study of the Lambeth Conference meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world planned for this summer. It was a slightly odd text to choose for those starting out … Continue Reading
It is quite common for people to make observations about the role or meaning of the Holy Spirit based on aspects of the language Scripture uses—including comments about the ‘gender’ role of the Spirit. But careful reading of the scriptural narrative shows a surprising diversity in the language that is used. The Spirit as hovering … Continue Reading
The NT epistle for the Second Sunday before Lent is Rev 4, the first half (with Rev 5) of John’s vision and audition (seeing and hearing) of worship ‘in heaven’ as he is ‘in the Spirit’. This is a fascinating passage, in part because it is so dense with theological ideas, but also because this … Continue Reading
The lectionary epistle reading for the Fourth Sunday before Lent in Year C is 1 Corinthians 15.1–11. Paul here offers a summary of the gospel that he has both received and passed on to the Corinthians—and it has some fascinating features. What is the role here of the ‘gospel tradition’? What are the key elements … Continue Reading
In September, Dr Logan Williams (University of Aberdeen) published a truly fascinating open-access academic article ‘The Stomach Purifies All Foods: Jesus’ Anatomical Argument in Mark 7.18–19‘ in the prestigious journal New Testament Studies. The essay won the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship from the Society of Biblical Literature (the main global Anglophone … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday before Advent in Year B is the dialogue that includes Jesus’ summary of the law in Mark 12.28–34. As we count down the lectionary year, preparing to enter Advent with its focus on Jesus’ return, Mark is counting down the days and hours to Jesus’ trial … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday before Advent in Year B is the dialogue that includes Jesus’ summary of the law in Mark 12.28–34. Offering this kind of summary was not uncommon in Second Temple Judaism, and we have a number of other examples of this. But Jesus’ response is striking in … Continue Reading
David Ball writes: David Runcorn, one of the convenors of Inclusive Evangelicals and the author of the forthcoming book, Playing in the Dust—a pilgrimage with the creation stories (Canterbury Press), has recently posted a blog on the Inclusive Evangelicals website asking the question ‘Is Genesis chapter 2 a definition of marriage?’ In this article, I seek … 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
If you have found these resources helpful, please support this ministry by making a one-off or regular donation. You do that directly through PayPal
or through Ko-fi.
Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
Andrew Goddard Bible biblical interpretation Biblical literacy biblical theology Christmas Church of England culture discipleship discussion doctrine eschatology evangelism gay Grove guest Hermeneutics History hope interpretation James Blandford Baker Jesus John's gospel Justin Welby leadership lectionary Luke Luke's gospel Matthew ministry mission New Testament Paul politics power preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
