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The theme for the Tyndale New Testament Study group this year is The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, and we are meeting from Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th July 2023 at High Leigh Conference Centre. As in 2022, we will be meeting simultaneously with the other study groups. We are hopeful that we will … Continue Reading
Is Christian faith about an affective encounter with God, or about becoming convinced about the case for Christianity? You will immediately be crying ‘False dichotomy!’—but it is worth reflecting on the balance between these two ideas in contemporary expressions of faith. There was a time when the tradition of rational enquiry was most influential, but … Continue Reading
There was a time when cars were build with rigid chassis which ran from one end to the other, with the bumper fitted on either end. The logic of this was that, if the car crashed into anything, surely it would make sense to build the car as strong as possible, so that it would … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary reading for this week, Easter 6 in Year C, is Acts 16.9–15. We are continuing in this season to focus on the reading from Acts, which (the lectionary tells us) must be the first or second reading. This is a pivotal moment in the gentile mission, since it is the time when, … Continue Reading
A service was held on Sunday 8th May to mark the 800th anniversary (one day early) of the Synod of Oxford of 9th May 1222 which introduced the first measures against Jews in England, and led to more harsh measures and the eventual expulsion of Jews from England in 1290. This appeared to have encouraged … Continue Reading
The lectionary in the Easter season asks us to read from Acts as the first or second reading, so we are looking at the reading from Acts 9 for Easter 4 in Year C. The raising of Tabitha comes at an important point in the narrative of Acts, as the focus begins to shift from … Continue Reading
The lectionary readings for Easter 4 in Year C include three substantial readings: Acts 9.36-43, Revelation 7.9-17 and John 10.22-30. There is a note which says: ‘The reading from Acts must be used as either the first or second reading’, which suggests that this reading is thought to be particularly important—and this is characteristic of the Easter season. … Continue Reading
It seems that universalism—the idea that God is somehow present in all people, or that all will experience ‘salvation’ without differentiation—is the widespread and mostly unreflected assumption of many in the C of E. I offered a critique of this a couple of years ago, in response to a comment made by the Archbishop of … Continue Reading
A good deal of Paul’s letters involves some form of telling his readers what they ought to be doing. This is not very surprising for the letters, like 1 Corinthians, where he is writing in response to problems, difficulties, and disputes that he has heard of. Where there is disagreement on an issue, Paul is … Continue Reading
Paul Bayes, currently the Church of England’s bishop in Liverpool, has made his clearest call yet for the Church to change its understanding of marriage and sexuality, in his address to the MoSAIC group (I assume in his diocese). He does not disguise the reasons for his views, where he thinks the Church should go, … Continue Reading
For some time, I have been intrigued by the question of whether Jesus was funny. In his teaching, did he tell what we might call jokes, and did his listeners find themselves laughing when they listened to him? There are many prima facie reasons why we might suppose Jesus was funny. If Jesus was fully human—indeed, … 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
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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 General Synod 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 preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
