SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The lion and his pride
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The lion and his pride
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The lion and his pride The role of the disciples A lion must have his pride – and a rabbi, his disciples. However, are Jesus’ disciples his ‘pride and joy’? On the one hand, they are the people Jesus calls to share his roamings and his battles; on the other hand, their attention …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The beast of conflict
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The beast of conflict
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The beast of conflict Opposition and ministry, Mark 1—8 One thing is clear about lions in every age and culture: they are powerful fighters with a keen sense of territory. After the opening flurry of chapter 1, Jesus starts to roam far and wide around the northern territories by …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The bounding lion
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The bounding lion
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The bounding lion Mark’s style, structure and narrative technique Whenever Aslan does appear in the Narnia stories, he dashes from place to place as he is needed in great leaps and bounds: ‘he rushes on and on, never missing his footing, never hesitating’ (The Lion, the Witch and…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Lion's Appearance
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Lion's Appearance
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The lion’s appearance Symbolism and meaning The opening of any ancient biography usually tried to say something about who the subject was and where he came from. Often the first words included the subject’s name, and, perhaps, a brief comment about his family, ancestry or home to…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From Jerome to the Book of Kells
Four Gospels, One Jesus - From Jerome to the Book of Kells
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
From Jerome to the Book of Kells The illuminated gospels Jerome’s translation quickly became the ‘Vulgate’, which means ‘Common’ version. The canonical order of Matthew– Mark–Luke–John applied to Ezekiel’s sequence was fairly standard and the four symbols can be found in frescoes…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The four symbols as visual teaching aids
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The four symbols as visual teaching aids
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The four symbols as visual teaching aids Reasons and explanations Clearly, the allocation of the symbols resulted from applying Ezekiel to one’s customary order of the gospels – and the explanations followed on later, some of which are rather strained. The reasons given are all d…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The four living creatures
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The four living creatures
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The four living creatures The allocation of the symbols to the gospels What are the four portraits of Jesus, and how can we get away from the mixed-up amalgam? A traditional visual aid has been to use the four living creatures found in Ezekiel’s vision of God (Ezek. 1.10). In the…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Creativity and inspiration
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Creativity and inspiration
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Creativity and inspiration Criticism of scripture Some of our actual readers may be feeling by now that this is all very exciting, but perhaps a bit much! It is usually a good idea in a picture gallery to sit down and take stock occasionally. So far, we have seen that the four go…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Literary approaches to the texts
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Literary approaches to the texts
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Literary approaches to the texts Narrative and readers If the authors of the four gospels are not just preachers and theologians, but also skilled literary artists, then we must use the tools developed in the study of literature throughout our culture. Such literary approaches in…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What about the authors?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What about the authors?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
What about the authors? Redaction and composition I cannot always read my favourite newspaper at coffee-time in our staff common room, because someone else has bagged it already! Never mind, there are others around, and reading various papers reveals their different styles and vi…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What sorts of material do the gospels contain?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What sorts of material do the gospels contain?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
What sorts of material do the gospels contain? Forms David Watson was a very eloquent and talented speaker who would illustrate his addresses with stories, anecdotes and jokes, using the same material also in his books. I remember listening to him and reading his work when I was …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - How did the gospels come to be written?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - How did the gospels come to be written?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
How did the gospels come to be written? Source As a schoolteacher, I used to spend long evenings marking children’s exercise books. Occasionally, I would suddenly realize that I had seen this answer before, or something very like it, and a frantic search would ensue back through …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What are the gospels?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What are the gospels?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
What are the Gospels? Genre First, we need to ascertain what kind of creature we are about to encounter. If we were to treat a cartoon featuring Churchill as though it were a photograph, we would soon make mistakes in its interpretation. Similarly, one does not listen to a fairy …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Four Gospels,... Four Portraits
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Four Gospels,... Four Portraits
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Four Gospels,… Four portraits Deep in the heart of the Kent countryside, perched on the side of a gentle hill sloping from the Downs to the flat plain of the Kentish Weald, is a large country house. Chartwell, as it is known, was the country home of Sir Winston Churchill from 192…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the SPCK Classics Edition
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the SPCK Classics Edition
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Preface to the SPCK Classics Edition It is hard to believe, looking back over more than twenty years, how the idea for this account of the four gospels’ portraits of Jesus first came to me and how the chapters almost seemed to write themselves…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the Revised Edition
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface to the Revised Edition
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Preface to the Revised Edition I am constantly amazed and humbled by the impact which this little book seems to have had over the last ten years since it was first published. It has been reprinted a number of times on both sides of the Atlantic and sells all around the world. The…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Preface and Acknowledgements from the First Edition