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unPodcast: Does the narrative-historical method help us to answer the question “Why be a Christian?”

Thu, 18/10/2018 - 10:14 | Andrew Perriman

This is the script for the recent podcast of the same name for those who prefer the sound of the voice in their head.

Here’s the question that I want to address. It was sent to me by someone who gets the narrative-historical approach to reading the Bible and is wondering whether it has anything to say about the more fundamental matter of the credibility of the Christian view of God.

16 Oct 2018
Why did Jesus say he will crush some to pieces?

If you’re looking for a good example of how conservative evangelicalism gets the Jesus story wrong (albeit with the best of intentions), look no further than this piece on The Gospel Coalition site, in which Steve Mathewson asks, “Why Did Jesus Say He Will Crush Some to Pieces?”

It has to do with the parable...
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11 Oct 2018
Podcast: Does the narrative-historical method help us to answer the question “Why be a Christian?”

On my blog and in a few books I argue against the theological interpretation of scripture and for a consistently narrative-historical interpretation of scripture. Why? Because the method makes much better sense of the texts. But can it do more than that? Can it give us better answers to the big questions...
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5 Oct 2018
Podcast: The good news is the narration of history

Most people probably still think of the “gospel” as the offer of eternal life to individuals on the basis of Jesus’ atoning death. That is quite wide of the mark as far as the New Testament is concerned. I argue here that the good news was an unfolding story about how the God of Israel was transforming the...
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28 Sep 2018
The Bible Project New Testament Overview: story and history

Alex asked what I thought of The Bible Project’s telling of the biblical story in this video. The video is called a “New Testament Overview”, but really it’s a lively, line-drawn, animated presentation of the “epic complicated story of God’s covenant partnership with Israel and all humanity”. The point is...
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21 Sep 2018
Why is there no “gospel” in the Gospel of John?

Here’s an irony, surely. The Gospel to which everyone turns for their definition of the “gospel” is one of the few books of the New Testament in which the euangelion word-group does not appear. The other gospel-free texts are Titus, James, 2 Peter, the letters of John, and Jude—all minor epistles...
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15 Sep 2018
The “patriarchy paradox”: why both complementarians and egalitarians may have got it wrong (and right)

An article in the London Times today reports on what it calls the “patriarchy paradox”, which is that social equality between men and woman appears currently to reinforce rather than weaken gender stereotyping. You need to subscribe to the Times to view the article, but I’ll summarise the content here.

The...
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10 Sep 2018
What is the case against the case against women’s ordination?

Alastair Roberts is an astute, articulate and assiduous commentator on both scripture and society. I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of what he has written. But I’m disappointed by his defence of the complementarian view of male-female relations in family and church.

In a recent video he makes the case...
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4 Sep 2018
Podcast: The debate about “hell”: why both sides are missing the point

The popular debate about “hell” has been misconceived. Our narrow theologies of personal salvation have blinded us to the large-scale narratives that give meaning to the language of wrath and judgment in the teaching of Jesus and of those sent out to proclaim his name among the nations.

This first attempt at...
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