Tag: Bible interpretation

How could some Jews believe Jesus was God?
(August 4, 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 […]

Christians, non-violence and the Middle East – some random thoughts
(July 27, 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?

The surprise of finding the Bible isn't exactly what we thought it was
(July 20, 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).

Gender equity?
(July 13, 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 […]

The new Reformation
(July 2, 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 & […]

Book review: The King Jesus Gospel
(June 10, 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, […]

Close to understanding Jesus?
(June 3, 2014)

One day, when I was a young christian, I had a surprising thought. As soon as I thought it, I knew it couldn’t be true. But this untrue thought set me on a path of discovery that I am still on today. This path has enriched my understanding of Jesus and changed the way I […]

Update on sermons and why we should abandon them (for the most part)
(May 2, 2014)

Last post I discussed the messages our dependence on sermons sends, and referred back to a study I had done on Sermons – not how we learn best? A reader went to that page and found a bunch of broken links. I have therefore completely re-structured the page, and included quite a lot of new […]

The Old Testament: an update on a journey (part 2)
(April 7, 2014)

Last post I described how I have been on a journey working out what I think is true, or not, about the Old Testament. This post I try to draw some conclusions.

The Old Testament: an update on a journey (part 1)
(April 1, 2014)

This post is very much a personal reflection about a journey I am still on. For years I didn’t think much about the Old Testament. I read it sometimes, looked up passages occasionally, appreciated Isaiah and Ezekiel. But I didn’t really spend much time considering what I thought about it. After all, I am a […]