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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Progressive Christianity and the narrative-historical method
I noticed recently that in response to the question “What are your favorite progressive Christian resources on the Book of Revelation?” on Twitter, a friend recommended my book The Coming of the Son of Man or “Really anything by Andrew Perriman.” Thank you, friend! His tweet got two likes… ( | 9 comments)
A happy disappointing Christmas to everyone!
Here is a disappointing post to celebrate a disappointing Christmas—just a dreary list of previous Christmas posts. Something might pique your interest. I had neither the time nor the imagination to come up with a new piece. It’s even too cloudy and miserable here to get a sighting of the star of… ( | 1 comment)
Podcast: Talking with Lynsey and Stuart Gilmour about an “alternative” approach to mission in Scotland
I’m planning to do the occasional podcast interview with people doing mission in the Western secular context. This is the first one. I’ve got to know Lynsey and Stuart Gilmour through Communitas and I love listening to them talk about who they are and what they do. They live in Stenhousemuir,… ()
Podcast: The ends of the ages: church in the Anthropocene
This is the audio version of a recent post on my blog. There’s a lot going on in the world right now. Climate change and ecological destruction is relatively slow and longer term, but it is likely to constitute an existential crisis on an epochal, even geological, time scale. This podcast… ()
What did Paul mean by the groaning of creation? Does the argument work today?
In our age of intense ecological anxiety, Paul’s sympathetic portrayal of creation as a suffering thing, yearning for liberation from its bondage to corruption (Rom. 8:19-22) has an obvious appeal. It’s a remarkable image, but how much modern theological weight can it bear? Can it support the sort… ( | 17 comments)
New Testament eschatological texts categorised by horizon
Jon Hallewell asks whether I have a list of scriptures that point to the first, second, and final horizons of New Testament eschatology. I do now. The diagram illustrates the three horizons model. I think that the narrative-historical method obliges us to read the New Testament on the assumption… ( | 13 comments)
How beautiful on the mountains were the feet of Jesus
The SBL annual meeting is happening online this year, of course. In a highly stimulating and persuasive presentation yesterday David Burnett argued for revisiting the thesis of D.A.S. Ravens that Luke uses the story of the anointing of Jesus by a woman to portray him as the messenger of Isaiah 52:7… ()