Isaiah for everyone - God the Creator of Evil
Isaiah for everyone - God the Creator of Evil
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God the Creator of Evil My wife used to lead a women’s Bible Study where some women who came for a while would commonly give the existence of evil as their reason or excuse for not believing in God and not staying. Her comment is that the existence of evil surely makes it more im…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - And also...
The Second Intercessions Handbook - And also...
by SPCK - John Pritchard
AND ALSO… These are just seed ideas which can be developed in different ways. (61) . . . JIGSAWS It’s possible to cut a large piece of card into jigsaw-type shapes (maybe six or eight pieces) with a clear middle piece that holds the others together. You then ask the group what th…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Messenger, Justice, and the Father’s Special Possession The three dialogues of 2:17–4:3 begin with an accusation: “You have wearied YHWH with your words.” The image of a weary Deity captures the emotional escalation that occurs in these passages…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - Prayer Bubbles
The Second Intercessions Handbook - Prayer Bubbles
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(58) PRAYER BUBBLES There’s something lastingly attractive about the delicate bubbles produced by blowing through the circular instrument in the little tubes of liquid you can easily buy from toy shops. The bubbles come out with a rush; some burst immediately; others drift slowly…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Hope
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Hope
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Hope Only shreds of hope appear in this book to counterpoise the deep river of devastation, grief, and despair that pervades most of it (3:14–18; 12:14–17; 16:14–15; 17:24–26; 22:2–4; 23:5–8; 24:4–7; 29:10–14; 42:7–12). In a collection of prose and poetry called “the little book …
The Womens' Bible Commentary - God as "Father"
The Womens' Bible Commentary - God as "Father"
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
God as “Father” In addition to bringing about people’s transformation from the status of minor children under guardianship of the law to that of mature heirs able to enjoy their inheritance (see above on 3:23–26), the coming of Christ has other consequences as well…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The BEGINNING of the BIRTHPANGS
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The BEGINNING of the BIRTHPANGS
by BRF - Dick France
The BEGINNING of the BIRTHPANGS The theme which runs through these verses is ‘not yet’. They have asked for a ‘sign’ of the coming events, and Jesus replies by talking about things which are not as yet signs of the destruction of the temple. These are all necessary preliminaries,…
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - LAZARUS, COME OUT!
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - LAZARUS, COME OUT!
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
LAZARUS, COME OUT! When Jesus saw them weeping, his only response was to weep, as anyone who cared about Lazarus and his family might (11:33). Yet the words used to describe his emotions are much more than that. The first, en-brimo, is used in Greek of horses, ‘snorting in the no…
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - TELL US PLAINLY
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - TELL US PLAINLY
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
TELL US PLAINLY The words of the good shepherd once more cause a ‘division’ among “the Jews” (10:19). Again we have the word for schism, which happened first to the people and then the leaders (7:43; 9:16). And so this division sums up so many attitudes throughout the first half …
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - I AM THE RESURRECTION & THE LIFE
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - I AM THE RESURRECTION & THE LIFE
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
I AM THE RESURRECTION & THE LIFE Martha expresses her belief in the conventional view, that her brother ‘will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’ (11:24). According to this, everything to do with eschatology—judgment, death, life—all are in the future at the End of ti…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Temple to be Destroyed
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Temple to be Destroyed
by BRF - Dick France
The Temple to be Destroyed The temple has been the scene of most of Jesus’ activity and teaching since he arrived in Jerusalem. Now he leaves it, never to return, and as he leaves he utters words which must have shocked his disciples profoundly. No wonder that yet again some of t…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Disciples' Question
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Disciples' Question
by BRF - Dick France
The Disciples’ Question It may seem out of proportion to devote a whole study to one question. But the interpretation of the chapter which follows is controversial, and the question to which the following discourse (vv. 5–37) provides the answer is an important key to understandi…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Mission Begins in Galilee
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Mission Begins in Galilee
by BRF - Dick France
The Mission Begins in Galilee The prologue is over. We are no longer ‘in the wilderness’, but in the real world of ordinary men and women in the villages of Galilee. This is Jesus’ home province, though the focus of his mission will prove to be not in the hills around Nazareth bu…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Partners in Mission