Category Archives: Bible

A first century Jewish resurrection

In my last post I described the difference between modern debates about the resurrection of Jesus and what the New Testament authors said about it. The implication is that if we want to understand what the New Testament authors meant, … Continue reading

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Ancient and Modern Resurrection

Jesus rose from the dead. Therefore Christianity is true. People don’t rise from the dead. When you die you stay dead. It’s one of the laws of nature. God can break the laws of nature. Oh no he can’t. Can. … Continue reading

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Universalism and the Jesus movement

Jesus revived a central feature of the Jewish tradition. To accept this is to understand how antisemitism misdescribes Christianity as well as Judaism. This was described in my last post. Here I show how the early Christian movement could see … Continue reading

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Is there a Judaeo-Christian tradition?

Some think not, because the two faiths are completely different. Whether you see it like this depends on which bits of each tradition you focus on. To me the bits that matter most of all are the bits they have … Continue reading

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Safeguarding: the desires and fears of sex

I went on my obligatory safeguarding course a short while ago. The two women running it had professional expertise in sexual abuse. On principle churches welcome anyone who turns up. This includes rape victims and the people who raped them. … Continue reading

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The brain and its priorities

This post is a plug for the talk by Iain McGilchrist which went live on Friday. Entitled ‘The Brain and a Sense of the Sacred’, it’s still available here. McGilchrist is best known for his book The Master and His … Continue reading

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The real purpose of the nonbudget

The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Financial Statement of 23 September has gone down badly with the financial markets, economics thinktanks and even a good few Conservative members of Parliament. There are three main criticisms: that it will leave our country … Continue reading

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Love? Faith?

On 1st September the long-awaited report on the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process was published: Listening with Love and Faith. It’s not exactly a heavy read. There are lots of pictures, graphs, stories and quotations. Most … Continue reading

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Amos then and Britain now: the similarities

This post is part of my sermon for this coming Sunday, based on the Lectionary reading Amos 8:1-12. I’m publishing it now in case any preachers want to pinch bits. I summarise the context of Amos’ prophecies, what he was … Continue reading

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Strikes: to what end?

The star of the British media at the moment seems to be Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, speaking on behalf of the strikers. His put-downs of silly questions from journalists are worth enjoying. It … Continue reading

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