A couple of weeks back I reviewed Kenneth Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, a book I have found revelatory about Jesus. I have gained many helpful insights from it. Today, some new understandings about one of my favourite gospel accounts – Jesus in the synagogue at the start of his ministry, when he made […]
Book review: “Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes” by Kenneth Bailey. Quite simply one of the most enlightening books I have read about Jesus.
This post is a revised version of my 2014 post The new Reformation. Martin Luther is examined for heresy. 500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door, and, it is often said, began the Protestant Reformation. 40 years ago I came to the conclusion that the church in the […]
As a young christian I was told that the love God has for us, and the love he wants us to have for others, is a self-giving love, for which the New Testament writers used the Greek word agape. This understanding was reinforced by reading the CS Lewis book, The Four Loves, which spoke about […]
The church I attend is part of a denomination which, based on the teachings of Paul, doesn’t allow women to be the senior minister in a congregation or to preach to a mixed gender audience. A few weeks back a young woman, bare-headed and wearing casual clothes, led the prayers in the Saturday evening service […]
In the discussion on my previous post, Nate has questioned my approach to authority and christian belief. I do not believe the Bible is inerrant, and I said that most christians accept other sources of knowledge also: “reason and evidence, church teaching and tradition, and the Holy Spirit”. And so he asked: “Why does the […]
My (internet) friend Nate has a blog, Finding Truth which I regularly read. We disagree profoundly because Nate is an atheist and former christian, while I still follow Jesus. So we cross swords occasionally, often disagreeing (amicably) with the approach the other takes to questions, evidence and arguments. He is gracious enough to welcome my […]
I’m sure you will have read, and heard it said, that archaeology confirms the accuracy of the Bible. But you may also have heard from sceptics that the Bible isn’t historically accurate. So which is true? This is a complex matter with a wide variety of conclusions among the experts. I have tried to investigate […]
Some books on Jesus and the New Testament are clearly apologetic in nature, seeking to argue or defend a certain viewpoint, whether it be sceptical or believing. Other books clearly aim at being academic, impartial, seeking to advance academic opinion. This book, which is almost a decade old, is kind of both. I have only […]
I was talking with an evangelical minister recently, about social justice and the mission of the church. He felt evangelism should be clearly our highest priority, because it has “eternal consequences”. I suggested that wasn’t how Jesus saw things – his main message and highest priority seemed to be the kingdom of God. But the […]