Tag Archives: Theology

How to understand the “Two Natures of Christ”? That’s the wrong question.

The “Two Natures of Christ” The first generation of Christians had no trouble understanding that Jesus was human, and that he was also divine. Arguments only arose subsequently, when the theologians had stopped asking the right questions.

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In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was gone…?

Lost in Translation So I was reading the New Testament in Tetum, the language of East Timor. I started to discover some interesting things that happen in translation. I thought I would blog about them, both to make notes, and to aid my fledgling comprehension of Tetum. The Tetum New Testament I am reading is […]

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Biblical Election: It’s not a Democracy

Is God a Voter, and each of us a Politician? Since at least the Middle Ages, the Biblical concept called “Election” has been thought of in terms roughly equivalent to the democratic process. The democratic process uses the same word. But that’s not what it means in the Bible. In the Bible the word has […]

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Become like a little child; Understand the Kingdom of Heaven

The Story of Cain and Abel This basic little story is not complex. It is structured like a children’s story. But for reasons I list below, theologians almost universally fail to understand it. It means what it says: “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” ()

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The Trumpet shall Sound, and the Dead shall be Raised – The Good News of Resurrection, Judgement, and Justice

“Do you hear what I hear?” I recently preached this message about the Resurrection, Justice, and Judgement. It focused closely on “hearing”, so this blog entry is mainly about audio. Blessed are those who have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

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Jesus’ strange sayings about God: Not so strange after all

Jesus is sent by God, and is God, and is equal to God, yet prays to God…? I was in discussion recently, and this topic arose. Some of the Christian rhetoric around the “Trinity” doctrine and other Christology can be hard to follow, and I get that. In fact there have been some fairly substantial […]

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Evangelism: A Revolution

That Old Question: What really is Evangelism? I’ve posted a couple of things previously which reveal my unorthodox take on what ‘Evangelism’ actually is, but more recently the threads that I had been alluding to have been woven together in a quite remarkable way in real life. It is time to review and restate what […]

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Asking the right questions about what “Son of God” means

What does it mean when Jesus says he is “Son of God”? Jesus claimed to be God’s son. He claimed to be both equal and subservient to God. This mystifies theologians today, because they find it hard to reconcile these two things. It isn’t supposed to be that hard. Let us ask not how Jesus […]

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John 1:29 – What does “Lamb of God” actually mean?

What does it mean: “the Lamb of God”? Property#1 / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND John (the Baptist), in the Gospel according to John (the Evangelist), uses the expression “the Lamb of God” to introduce Jesus (John 1:29). Scholars debate the origin and intended meaning of this phrase.

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1 Corinthians 11 – Why Head Coverings for Women? Does it apply today?

1 Corinthians 11:3-12 – The Head Coverings. Must women cover their heads to pray? Must men remove head coverings? That is what this passage says, but does it apply today?

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Who are these “angels”, and what do they want?

The heavenly host Who are all those angels, and what’s going on in the throne room of God? I wrote this as part of another article entitled, “The Angels at Christmas time: What’s with that?“. I pulled it out as a separate item in the interest of keeping all my posts a little shorter. This is […]

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Revelation 13:8. Jesus died when the world was made…?

Was the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world? Just a quick look at this verse, in order to show some difficulties in translation, and their effects. I don’t think it actually says that Jesus died since the foundation of the world, but the majority of translators do, so I need to explain why […]

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Christian Assurance, Apart From the Law: A Defence Against the Judaisers

Judaisers A ‘Judaiser’ is someone who insists that a believer in Christ must join the Covenant of Moses, which was ratified at Mt Sinai around 1300BC. The Apostle Paul was routinely persecuted by Judaisers, who were scandalised that Paul’s non-Jewish (“Gentile”) converts were not being circumcised. The Judaisers are back. There is a whole movement […]

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Sonny with a Chance

The Bible: A Book of Comfort My friend Sonny saw me in the Mall today and we had a bit of a chat. He said something very wise, which I pointed out was similar to something Jesus had said. At that point he produced a well worn, well loved Bible, and began reading it to me.

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Evangelism: A View from the Inside

A State of Being: Freedom I was reflecting, as I often do, on what the chances are that I will be able to impart my joy to others before I die. What a tragedy it would be if I, having received so indescribable a gift, should die without having shared it. May it not be so! […]

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“We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” – Hebrews 12:1

Who are the Witnesses? Aren’t all those people dead? Hebrews 12:1 assures us (the faithful), that “we are surrounded by … a great cloud of witnesses”, referring to the saints whom the whole previous chapter had been listing. But they’re all dead. What’s with that?

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Holiness: It’s not a process.

What is “holiness”? The term “holiness” conjures ideas of piety and moral uprightness. In fact, the word translated as “saint” from the New Testament is literally “holy person”. So we might well imagine very religious piety. Sanctification is a word based on the same Greek root word as “holy”. It means making something holy. Modern commentators will […]

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Street Theology: Justification by Faith

How Biblical Justification Looks “On the Street” Everybody loves being right. It’s even better when you are recognised as being right in front of other people. When those other people have scoffed and mocked you, the victory is all the sweeter. But the ultimate prize is when you are declared right, and your mockers declared wrong, and […]

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Why do innocent people suffer?

What would your response have been? I was aware that my friend had been grieving the death of her adult daughter, who had been murdered by White Supremacists. They left her hung by the neck, in a room covered in blood from obvious signs of struggle. The police declined to investigate, deeming it a suicide. […]

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The Angels at Christmas time: What’s with that?

Why is there so much about angels in the Nativity narratives of the Bible? The Biblical account is a narrative. It is constructed in the form of a story. So if the whole story of God is being told through the history of God’s dealings with creation, who is the story for? Who is the […]

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