scholarship. serving. ministry.
The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for Easter 7 in Year C is John 17.20–26. It continues as part of the ‘dicing up’ of sections from the farewell discourse in John 13–17 across the three years of the lectionary, and like other readings it is strangely short—which creates the real danger that we read each part … Continue Reading
Many people have told me that Bleeding for Jesus by Andrew Graystone is ‘essential reading’, and I take this recommendation seriously for three reasons. First, I have known Andrew for some years, and engaged him to teach media and communications skills at the theological college where I taught. Secondly, as an evangelical of many years, … Continue Reading
Jon Kuhrt writes: Jonathan Fletcher was the vicar of Emmanuel Church Wimbledon (ECW) and enjoyed a high-profile and influential ministry. But in recent years, his bullying, coercive and abusive behaviour has been exposed. A report by the Safeguarding Agency thirtyone:eight catalogued Fletcher’s long-running pattern of sexual and spiritual abuse. Much of the fall-out from this … Continue Reading
At the very end of last year, I published a review of A History of the Bible by Professor John Barton of Oxford. Following that, I was contacted by Professor Walter Moberly of the University of Durham, who shared with me his review article on the book from Harvard Theological Review. I reproduce some key sections here with … Continue Reading
We appear to have entered a rather different phase of engagement with the question of Covid-19 and our response to this legally and socially. At the beginning of the ‘first wave’ in March, there was a widespread sense that we needed to respond quickly and drastically, and most of the criticism was that Government had … Continue Reading
Jon Kuhrt writes: The church frequently has to respond to the scandal and upset created by safeguarding failures and other cases of serious malpractice. As we all know, these scandals powerfully undermine the integrity of the church’s witness. One key factor in ecclesiastical failures that is frequently downplayed is the poor state of basic ‘human resources’ … Continue Reading
If I was given sixpence every time I heard someone quoted John 17.21 ‘…that they might be one…’ then I’d have a lot of change that I wouldn’t know what to do with. It is commonly suggested that, in this, Jesus’ ‘high priestly prayer’, we see his last desire expressed to his heavenly Father, and … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: Last month Archbishop Justin made his first public statements about his invitation policy for the Lambeth Conference in 2020. He is reported as having told The Times: Well over 90 per cent of the Anglican Communion are conservative on issues of sexuality. I’ve invited all the bishops, including those in same-sex marriages. And … Continue Reading
A couple of years ago, I was exploring the anthropology of the Book of Revelation, and it is quite a challenging topic; the result can be found in my chapter in the volume Anthropology and New Testament Theology. In exploring how a text depicts human existence, you might (for example, in Paul’s letters) look at theological terminology … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: In January I raised a number of concerns about the invitation policy for the 2020 Lambeth Conference. The issue hit the headlines again in February following further developments – the election of a same-sex married priest to be Bishop of Maine and the February 15th message from the Secretary General of the Anglican … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: With preparations for Lambeth 2020 well underway, the questions already raised about who will attend (Section A) have become even more serious following two events at the end of 2018: Archbishop Justin invited all bishops in Communion provinces to attend and one of those invited then married his same-sex partner in his … 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
This blog is reader supported, not funded in any other way. Why not make 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 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
