These three similar sounding words are notoriously confusing. You may recognise ‘the Apocrypha’ as the collection of books founds in Roman Catholic Bibles but not in Protestant Bibles (e.g. Judith, Tobit, Maccabees). They were written during the time between the Old and New Testaments, not considered part of the Hebrew Scriptures – yet they were …
Forgiveness lies at the very core of Christian faith. Without it, where would we be? Christians uniquely understand forgiveness as deriving and emanating from the very heart of God, enabling us to be forgiven and making it possible (in fact necessary) for us to forgive. It’s a reflection within us of the very nature and …
Yes, the title is a pun. Time puns are inevitable. I nearly called this, ‘a second’s time around’. The previous article ‘God & Time’ pondered the question, ‘what is time?’, and clarified why time is truly a theological issue. But what about length of time – time as duration? Time is one thing – our …
As I write this, the whole of the UK (even including, I suspect, staunch anti-royalists), are out celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – along with Commonwealth Nations, and indeed much of the world. After all, she’s the first and only monarch to reign for 70 (adult) years in recorded history – and what a grand …
Marv who, I hear you ask? Marv Rosenthal was one of the greatest Bible teachers I’ve ever known. He passed away earlier this year at age 86 (graduating this life with high honours in Christ), and it got me thinking about all he’s taught me. It was largely due to Marv that I developed my …
What is time? We’ve probably all pondered that baffling question at one ‘time’ or another. The best answer ever? ‘Time… is what keeps everything from happening all at once.’ So true! And yet it sounds like a joke from a Christmas cracker. That ingenious answer was posited by the eminent physicist John Wheeler in a …
Whenever a question of biblical interpretation comes up, the first and foremost consideration must be context. In my days at theological college, the absolute importance of context was drilled into us. So in my very first lecturing role in hermeneutics (interpretation) at Domboshawa College in Zimbabwe, I taught my students to remember the phrase: ‘Context …
We’ve all heard of the argument called ‘the slippery slope’. Put one foot on the slope and it slips down further, try to correct it and it slips further again, and soon there’s no way back. A similar proverb claims: ‘What the parent allows in moderation, the children will take to excess.’ Christians often apply …
Everything that exists must have a beginning, right? Hmmm… It’s not as straightforward an assumption as we often think. Does a river have a beginning? Numerous explorers lost their lives attempting to find the source of the Nile – yet even today, it remains inconclusive. Lake Victoria is claimed (by Uganda) as the source of …
What does it mean to be ‘created in God’s image’? It’s a question theologians, scholars and ordinary Christians have pondered for centuries. Lots of ideas, no consensus. Everyone recognises that human beings are unique amongst the animal kingdom. But unique in what way? Morality? Use of tools? Ability to reason? Language, cooperation, rationality, intelligence, a …
