Theology

We tend to associate Advent with Christmas.  The word literally means ‘coming’ – so we think, ‘of course, Christmas is coming!’ The Advent calendar gives the countdown, with chocolates behind each window to sweeten the way.  But Advent is a Latin word translated from the biblical word parousia – which pointed to something (or someone) […]

In AD 325 a meeting took place in the small town of Nicaea, in the Eastern Roman Empire, the Asian side of modern-day Turkey. This was no ordinary meeting. It was the first council of the whole Christian church, bringing together bishops from across the Roman empire – even as far as India. But it

Written by Marilyn Baldwin As Christians in our modern world, are there certain things we deem to be unutterable?  On GTS courses, people have said that they struggle with many of the OT portrayals of God.  They cannot believe that He can be a God who loves his people when He wreaks barbaric physical vengeance in

Is there a theology of conflict?  Tough one.  If theology is the consideration of anything and everything in relation to God, then there must be.  Conflict exists.  But what would such a theology look like?  I have no answer to that question, but it’s nevertheless worth reflecting on – not only because of the horrific,

Christians sometimes assume that animals were sort of an optional extra in the biblical story of God and humanity. Maybe created for fun, or for our benefit – so we could have an interesting environment to live in, filled with useful and beautiful creatures, to name, eat, swat, watch, keep as pets, or use for

Here’s a radical idea; fasten your seat belt.  Will there be death in the new creation?  ‘Of course not’ (we think), and our minds instantly turn to Rev 21:4, ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’.  Hmm… Are we perhaps taking

The Greek word erchomenos is a strange one. It means both ‘coming’ and ‘going’. You only know which meaning is in view by its context. Was Jesus coming to Jericho or going from Jericho when he healed blind Bartimaeus? Jericho had two sections, an old section, and a new administrative zone (built by Herod) a

As my plane descended into Gatwick on the morning of the Queen’s funeral, the lyrics of an old song kept playing in my head: ‘Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name.’  The name of course was Jesus. The song was a 1970s Gospel tune by the Bill Gaither trio. 

Warning: this topic is pure speculation, but here we go… Humans are uniquely philosophical creatures: ‘Why am I here?  What’s the purpose of life?  Not to be flippant – but the Bible gives a pretty straightforward answer in Gen 1.  We were made to ‘rule over the whole earth’ as his image-bearers, to ‘fill the