Why Jesus? Which Jesus?

The little book Why Jesus? is part of the materials for the Alpha Course. In it, Nicky Gumbel writes:

Jesus is the only man who has ever chosen to be born, and he is one of the few who has chosen to die. He said that the entire reason for his coming was to die for us. He came ‘to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45).

To say that Jesus is “the only man who has ever chosen to be born” is faintly ridiculous even on high christological terms. The only possible New Testament support for it is the idea expressed in Philippians 2:6 that he did not grasp at a certain type of being equal to God or a god, my views on which can be found here.

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The kingdom of God—temporal or spiritual?
What is the kingdom of God? The standard evangelical view is that it is the aggregated rule of God in the hearts of believers in advance of (“now and not yet”) a glorious future kingdom, usually confused either with heaven or the new creation. The main alternative these days would be the “… ( | 11 comments)
The order of the descending city visions in Revelation and why it matters to us
I thought we were done with the two visions of the descent of the holy city from heaven, but another question has come up, an obvious one. Why are the visions the wrong way round? Why does John first see the descent into the new creation, then the descent into history after the… ( | 3 comments)
Why the “bride, the woman of the Lamb” is not what I thought it was
The story so far… At the end of the book of Revelation the holy city, new Jerusalem, is twice seen descending out of heaven, from God, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” These are two different moments in the apocalyptic narrative, I think, not the same moment repeated. To make matters… ( | 7 comments)
So here’s the real reason why the holy city descends twice at the end of Revelation
I posted this yesterday as a response to Kaz’s probing question about the presence of the “holy city, new Jerusalem” in the new creation that appears to John after the final judgment. I won’t repeat the argument of “Why does the holy city Jerusalem descend from heaven twice at the end of Revelation… ( | 2 comments)
Why does the holy city Jerusalem descend from heaven twice at the end of Revelation?
At the end of the book of Revelation John sees the “holy city, (new) Jerusalem” descending out of heaven from God twice, seemingly after the final judgment (Rev. 21:2, 9). Why? Are these different events? The same event depicted twice? I have argued before that the sequence of visions in chapters… ( | 2 comments)
Apocalyptic thinking and the fate of the dead in the New Testament
I “attended” an online workshop yesterday hosted by the Centre for the Study of the Bible at Oriel College, Oxford. The theme was “Apocalyptic thinking.” We were treated to some excellent presentations from a good range of scholars, including such luminaries in the apocalyptic firmament as Loren… ()
Conversation with Rob Bavington about church-planting in Bradford, UK
I’ve got to know Rob Bavington through his connection with Communitas. He has been something of an accidental church-planter, first in Sweden for some years, now in Bradford. We talk about what he’s learned, what he’s learning, and some of the less obvious cross-cultural… ( | 2 comments)