Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
David Cavanagh writes: There is a longstanding and widespread convention that Judges is structured around a cyclical structure. Broadly speaking, the pattern is that after arriving in the promised land, Israel turns away from YHWH, who then hands his people over to oppression by surrounding peoples, until Israel repents and calls out to YHWH, who …
When I became an Anglican (from a background of a different church tradition), I was at first quite puzzled by the choice of Scripture passages that Anglican (that is, Church of England) services kept coming back to—the Benedictus (Luke 1.68–79) in Morning Prayer, the Magnificat (Luke 1.46–55) in Evening Prayer, and the Nunc Dimittis (Luke …
I write a quarterly column for Preach magazine, in which I explore a significant word or phrase in the Bible, or a theme or section of Scripture, and the ideas that it expresses. At the end of this piece I list the previous articles I have written for them. Here I explore what Scripture says …
This Sunday in the lectionary is Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, and here in Year B we are offered the choice between reading the account in Mark 11 and John 12. I am going to look at Mark 11, since we have been doing a lot in the Fourth Gospel in recent weeks, and …
The lectionary gospel reading for Palm Sunday in Year B is Mark 11.1–11. (There is an alternative reading from John 12.) It is a fascinating passage, since, rather than focus on Jesus’ actual entry to Jerusalem (which is described quite briefly) it focuses more on the preparation, especially the ‘untying’ of the colt that Jesus …
I write a quarterly column for Preach magazine, in which I explore a significant word or phrase in the Bible, or a theme or section of Scripture, and the ideas that it expresses. At the end of this piece I list the previous articles I have written for them. Here I explore what the prophet …
