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Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
by BRF - Dick France
The FRUITLESS FIG TREE A pointless display of power? Interwoven with Jesus’ attack on the traders in the temple is the story of his cursing and destruction of a fig tree because it had no fruit. Jesus’ other miracles save life and restore health, but this one seems quite out of c…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - From Tiberius to Vespasian
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - From Tiberius to Vespasian
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Reality of Empire (IV) From Tiberius to Vespasian: AD 14–70 The fifty years after Augustus’s death saw the empire, in terms of the personal rule of the emperor, both consolidated and threatened. Consolidated, in that after a few years of Tiberius’s rule the old republican …
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Conflict between the Teacher and Israel Matthew 8—23 The intrusion of substantial non-narrative material in these sermons inhibits the movement of the plot. This mixture of Jesus’ ministry and his teaching produces a more measured air; instead of the breathless dash of Mark’s bou…
The Living God - An almighty God: power, compassion and suffering
The Living God - An almighty God: power, compassion and suffering
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
An almighty God: power, compassion and suffering 3 It is among my most vivid memories of my early schooldays. One lunchtime, when I was about seven years old, I got into a heated conversation with two classmates over whose father was the most important. Every school playground in…
The Living God - Seeing God in the events of history
The Living God - Seeing God in the events of history
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Which God Are We Talking About? 1 Seeing God in the events of history Universities are wonderful places for having arguments yet staying friends afterwards. A colleague and I were swapping views on God. He liked the idea of God he found in the writings of the seventeenth-century …
52 Reflections on Faith - Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering
52 Reflections on Faith - Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
25 Christ the King: Overcoming Suffering On the feast of Christ the King, at the very end of the church’s year, it’s useful to note just how many different sorts of crucifix there are. Go into a few different churches in your area and you’ll soon see quite a variety. Look also at…
52 Reflections on Faith - Easter Sunday: transforming lives
52 Reflections on Faith - Easter Sunday: transforming lives
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Easter Sunday: transforming lives Once upon a time, a small caterpillar popped out of its egg and found itself sitting on a leaf. It had striped fur and was called Stripe. As Stripe made his way slowly along the branch of the tree and down the trunk, he looked into the distance a…
A Dead Sect
A Dead Sect
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 266 – A Dead Sect? John Wesley famously said, ‘I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist… But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 4 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 4 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 4 Deuteronomy 5: 12-15 2 Corinthians 4: 5-12 Mark 2: 23- 3:6 Today’s passages send out an alarmingly confusing set of messages. On the one hand, Deuteronomy tells us how vital it is to keep the Sabbath, while Jesus seems to suggest that we can sit a bit more lightly to tha…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
by SPCK - N T Wright
An Explanation is Called for Acts 3.11-16 ‘How did you do that?’ I stood beside the car as it spluttered into life. I had fiddled and jiggled with everything I could, and hadn’t been able to make it start. (This, I should say, was a long time ago, in the days when you could poke …
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 12 The Nature of Stories
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 12 The Nature of Stories
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Nature of Stories (i) The Analysis of Stories: Narrative Structure The way in which stories possess the power they do, by which they actually change how people think, feel and behave, and hence change the way the world actually is, can be seen more clearly by means of an anal…
How God Became King - 8c Power and Empire Within First-Century Judaism
How God Became King - 8c Power and Empire Within First-Century Judaism
by SPCK - N T Wright
Power and Empire Within First-Century Judaism As we saw earlier, the Judaism of the postexilic period had quite a well-developed narrative of God and empire. Even though many Jews longed for God to become king in the full, complete way he’d promised, they still believed that in t…
Meeting God in Paul - 3b The image of God in us
Meeting God in Paul - 3b The image of God in us
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
The image of God in us But there’s more to it, because of course what St Paul is evoking is not a Jesus who simply sits on the throne of heaven and receives our prayers, but a Jesus who – because his own life in time and eternity consists entirely in pouring out praise and love t…
Meeting God in Paul - 2d The healing sacrifice
Meeting God in Paul - 2d The healing sacrifice
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
The healing sacrifice I spoke in the previous chapter of how in his letter to the Romans Paul is, as it were, turning his head from side to side, saying, ‘You think you’ve got the point? Think again. And [turning rapidly] don’t you imagine that because they haven’t got it, you’re…
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 6b Recovering moral agency in a global neighbourhood