Four views of the Bible

August 12th, 2014

A lot of disagreements between christians come down to how we see the Bible. And a lot of how we present the christian faith to outsiders (whether well or badly) is similarly determined by how we see the Bible. I think there are four basic views, and I thought diagrams might make them clearer.

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How could some Jews believe Jesus was God?

August 4th, 2014

Two years ago I wrote about the progression we can see in the New Testament of the disciples’ belief in Jesus (see How did Jesus become God?), how they seemed to go from incomprehension to belief he was the Messiah, to belief in him as the unique son of God. In particular, I referenced New […]

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Christians, non-violence and the Middle East – some random thoughts

July 27th, 2014

The world seems to be beyond horrific at the moment. Civil wars in Nigeria, Sudan and Ukraine as well as fighting in the Middle East in Syria, Gaza and Iraq. Grossly inhumane treatment of ordinary people by militias, rebels, terrorists and governments. Surely there is something for christians to learn from all this?

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The surprise of finding the Bible isn't exactly what we thought it was

July 20th, 2014

Most christians in the west come to belief in their teens or early 20s. From there, some stay constant in all their beliefs, some give up belief, and some start on a journey of change and growth. This post is about people who change (including me).

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The only constant is change

July 16th, 2014

It’s time for a change of theme for this blog. I’ve been considering this for a while, but now I’m going to experiment. The first experiment may ‘work’, or I may have to test several themes.

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Gender equity?

July 13th, 2014

Two recent experiences led to this post, which takes up one of the issues I raised in The New Reformation. Two weeks ago I attended the TEAR Conference in Sydney. TEAR Australia is a movement of Christians responding to the needs of poor communities around the world. One of its major emphases is raising the […]

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The new Reformation

July 2nd, 2014

Martin Luther is examined for heresy. I remember about 40 years ago coming to the conclusion that the church in the western world was, in the next few decades, going to go through changes as significant as the Reformation. I felt we had got away from the truth in several important areas – introspective & […]

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Asylum seekers: a long journey for many of us

June 23rd, 2014

Desperate people fleeing persecution in their home countries make long journeys, overland and by boat, to reach the safe haven of Australia, hoping to be granted refugee status and residency. They don’t receive a welcome. I have travelled a long journey in my thinking about asylum seekers, and it seems our country is on a […]

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"An intangible narrative of unreachable worlds"

June 16th, 2014

I was driving home tonight, listening to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, possibly for the hundredth time. It is probably my favourite album of all time. And it transported me – yet again. Approaching home and listening to the title fact, I was uplifted. And I started reminiscing.

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Book review: The King Jesus Gospel

June 10th, 2014

Last week (Close to understanding Jesus?) I outlined how I came to see that much of the evangelical teaching I had received about Jesus didn’t really explain Jesus and his ministry in accurate terms historically. It seems that many people are coming to similar conclusions, for example New Testament scholar NT Wright and the philosopher, […]

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A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.