What does the Bible say about itself?
(January 11, 2013)This is the third in a series of posts on Understanding the Bible in the 21st century. It is important we begin not with what people say about the Bible, but what it says about itself.
Tag: christianity
Interpreting the Bible
(January 5, 2013)I have argued (Everyone disbelieves some parts of the Bible) that, while most christians say we follow the Bible as our standard of what to believe and do, in fact all of us make exceptions for certain parts. So how do we decide how to interpret the tricky parts of the Bible?
Peace and non-violence
(December 17, 2012)Completing my examination of things we can all learn from the Anabaptists, with the core conviction on peace and non-violence.
Spirituality, justice and money
(December 12, 2012)Another core Anabaptist conviction to challenge us all.
'Church' in the New Testament
(November 20, 2012)We are all familiar with several contemporary meanings of the word “church” – a building, a Sunday event, a group of people or a denomination. But what did it mean in the New Testament? The Greek word “ekklesia” is often translated “church”, but what did it mean?
NT Wright on reading the New Testament
(November 17, 2012). I liked this NT Wright quote, posted on the Enough Light blog.
Who wrote the Gospel of John?
(November 15, 2012)None of the four gospels explicitly states who the author(s) is/are, and the names given to them reflect the understanding of the early christians. So scholars are left to determine as best they can whether the names we have were indeed the authors. Knowing the author probably doesn’t change all that much, but I have […]
Forecast: mud and fog ahead
(October 17, 2012)I’ve been a Bob Dylan fan since 1963, when he was often described as a “protest singer”. But after only a few albums of “protest music”, he turned his back on it all, and wrote a song with the refrain: “Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” Sometimes I […]
After Christendom
(October 10, 2012)I am looking at some of the core convictions of the Anabaptists, not because I am an Anabaptist, but because I think we learn from them. Today: the relationship of the church and the world.
We should all get out more
(October 1, 2012)I’ve just come back from a weekend away at the Black Stump christian music and arts festival near Sydney. It’s the 14th time we’ve been, and as usual, we return tired but satisfied. I won’t bore you with too many details, but one or two interesting thoughts are worth reporting.