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Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Gospel according to John The Fourth Gospel shares features of the genre of ancient biography with the Synoptic Gospels (size, structure, narrative focus on one individual). Like the Synoptics, John’s Gospel constitutes an ancient “life” of Jesus. It also has in common with th…
Great Christian Thinkers - 19 St. Ambrose of Milan
Great Christian Thinkers - 19 St. Ambrose of Milan
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Ambrose of Milan Holy Bishop Ambrose, about whom I now speak to you, died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide op…
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Isidore of Seville Saint Isidore of Seville was a younger brother of Leander, archbishop of Seville, and a great friend of Pope Gregory the Great. Pointing this out is important because it enables us to bear in mind a cultural and spiritual approach that is indispensable for …
Great Christian Thinkers - 41 Rabanus Maurus
Great Christian Thinkers - 41 Rabanus Maurus
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Rabanus Maurus A truly extraordinary figure of the Latin West, Rabanus Maurus was an exceptional and prolific monk. Together with men such as Isidore of Seville and the Venerable Bede and Ambrose Autpert, two of whom I have spoken previously, during the centuries of the so-called…
Great Christian Thinkers - 43 Sts. Cyril and Methodius
Great Christian Thinkers - 43 Sts. Cyril and Methodius
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Saints Cyril and Methodius were brothers by blood and in the faith, the so-called Apostles to the Slavs. Cyril was born in Thessalonica to Leo, an imperial magistrate, in 826 or 827. He was the youngest of seven. As a child, he learned the Slavonic langua…
The Minister as Entrepreneur - 7 Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique
The Minister as Entrepreneur - 7 Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique
by SPCK - Michael Volland
Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique In Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique, Bolton and Thompson set out their understanding of the entrepreneur. In light of the discussion at the start of the previous chapter on the contested nature of the term ‘entrepreneur’,…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Epiphany 1 Samuel 3.1–10 Revelation 5.1–10 John 1.43–51 The beginning of chapter 3 of 1 Samuel says, in a very matter-of- fact way, ‘the word of the Lord was rare in those days.’ 1 Samuel has already begun to paint a picture – centred round Eli and the once-f…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40.1–11 2 Peter 3.8–15a Mark 1.1–8 If John the Baptist was going to raise up the valleys and flatten out the mountains, he started in the right place. Jericho lies a long way below the road-sign that says ‘sea level’; Jerusalem, a long way abo…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Easter Day Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Easter Day Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Easter Day Isaiah 25.6-9 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 John 20.1-18 This Gospel reading is not, as one writer has suggested, ‘a sanitized story about a trip to a garden and a lovely surprise’. If Easter is in any sense the happy ending after a sad story, that is the least important thing…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 4 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 4 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 4 1 Samuel 3.1-10 2 Corinthians 4.5-12 Mark 2.23-3.6 Like a cathedral chorister, Samuel has been brought to live and work in the atmosphere of prayer, worship and pilgrimage. Considering the lively human interest, it’s surprising this story didn’t entice the great classi…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday Before Lent Proverbs 8.1, 22–31 Colossians 1.15–20 John 1.1–14 Eyebrows will be raised at the reappearance of John’s prologue so soon after Christmas. But our surprise at the lectionary’s turns and twists is nothing to that launched upon the world by John’s fa…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 9 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 9 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 9 Ezekiel 2:1-5 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10 Mark 6: 1-13 ‘This passage of 2 Corinthians has caused enormous speculation down the ages. It is tantalisingly full of hints about Paul, which may have made sense to his readers but which we can only fill out with hyperactive imaginin…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 15 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 15 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 15 John 6: 51-58 Gaze on a typical communion service. In some churches people sit patiently in their pew before being stewarded to the rail. In others, people get up and go when it suits them. There is the circle of people around the altar – the elderly and arthritic stand…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Easter Luke 24.36b-48 Gaze on the reverence with which the scrolls of the Torah are handled in a Jewish synagogue. They are given pride of place, all eyes turned towards them as the doors of the Ark open and there they are, clothed in fine cloth with tinkling …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!