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(how to tell the biblical story
in a way that makes a difference)

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Jesus as Alpha and Omega, first and last, beginning and end

Alex Revelation 1:18 and 2:8 seem to connect Jesus’ firstness with his death and his lastness with his immortality. The latter of which makes more sense than the former. Perhaps Jesus is the first of... (Tue, 13/11/2018 - 19:23)

More on the new Jerusalem in the midst of the nations

Peter Wilkinson Just as an aside, Bradley Jersak in “Her gates Will Never Be Shut” mentions in a footnote that the first Holy Roman Emperor (Otto I) was crowned in 962, and the last (Francis II) abdicated in 1806.... (Mon, 12/11/2018 - 18:24)
davo replied to Andrew Andrew… it might simply be that John’s ‘lake of fire’ was the DoJ, i.e., Jesus; ‘gehenna’ and thus the same scenario; some perished in the conflagrations while others did not — each, however, having... (Sat, 10/11/2018 - 02:27)
peter wilkinson replied to Andrew It’s an interesting idea, Andrew, and you pursue your theory rigorously. I just don’t think it works. My objections have already been detailed. It’s also fair to say that in history, the church has... (Thu, 08/11/2018 - 14:12)
Andrew replied to davo But in one case the wicked are destroyed in the lake of fire, which is the second death, in the other they are permitted to exist outside the city. It’s not at all obvious that the same... (Thu, 08/11/2018 - 09:45)
Andrew replied to peter wilkinson Even allowing for apocalyptic hyperbole, verses such as 21:23 become a mockery if applied to a fulfilment in the post Constantine’s church. In Isaiah 60 Jerusalem, having been restored after... (Thu, 08/11/2018 - 09:42)
davo replied to peter wilkinson …but does anybody think that the N.J. of 21 part 1 is at a completely different time in history from N.J. in 21 part 2? Fair comment IMO. As I understand it… both Rev 21:8 and Rev 22:15 make it... (Mon, 05/11/2018 - 03:02)
Andrew replied to Douglas Wilkinson I agree with you about Isaiah 65-66: he is describing a new but very worldly reality. John takes up this vision in Revelation 20:11-21:8 and adds to it a final judgment of all the dead, including the... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 10:04)
Andrew replied to Peter Yes, I think I might agree with with you there. (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 09:57)
Douglas Wilkinson I think your real problem is that the passage from which the phrases “New Heavens” and “New Earth” comes from (Isaiah 65-66) describes that era as one in which people still die, are still unsaved,... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 00:57)
Peter Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 00:38)
peter wilkinson replied to peter wilkinson You cite commentators who assume the existence of unredeemed people living outside and alongside the N.J., but does anybody think that the N.J. of 21 part 1 is at a completely different time in... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 19:40)
peter wilkinson I wouldn’t say that your previous piece on the new Jerusalem made the distinction you are now making between the N.J. in 21:1-9 and N.J. in 21:9-22:5, but anyway, you make it clear enough in this... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 18:43)
Andrew replied to Helge Seekamp Thanks, Helge. The main reason for the long dominance of the old paradigm has to be, I think, that as the church established itself in Europe, it lost touch—sometimes quite wilfully—with its Jewish... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 18:02)
Helge Seekamp Thanx, Andrew, The picture is getting clearer and clearer. I wonder, how the dominant old (eschatological = transcendent) Paradigma got for 2000 jears the power to captivate all the interpretations.... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 17:22)

Why does Jesus give the kingdom back in the end and become subject again to God?

Tony Conrad replied to peter wilkinson I think you somehow make it up as you go along calling it metaphysical and then adding your own thoughts instead which has made the verse meaningless to me. (Mon, 12/11/2018 - 18:22)

What was the most important lesson that the early church learned from Jesus?

Andrew replied to Keith Wansbrough Thanks, Keith. I’ve fixed it. (Fri, 09/11/2018 - 15:24)
Keith Wansbrough The “no atonement as such” link goes to the wrong place (it goes back to this page). (Fri, 09/11/2018 - 13:04)
Alex >It’s too easy for modern readers to zoom in on the beatitudes, or the greatest commandments, or the requirement of love for enemies, or his compassion for the sick, or his friendliness towards... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 04:17)
Peter Hear, hear! Nice post! (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 01:15)

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

Peter replied to Andrew I think your conclusion is better than most. Until I read Christopher Hays’ stuff on the parousia, it was the best explanation I had come across. I still think identifying the Roman Empire as the... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 14:56)
Andrew replied to Peter Obviously the Jews didn’t repent, even after the destruction of Jerusalem, but I think Paul knew that might be the case. But that doesn’t require YHWH to have changed his mind. Otherwise, it depends... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 12:24)
Peter Andrew, you say, “What the modern reader then has to decide is whether we are still waiting for that outcome or whether it makes more sense to suppose that it was fulfilled, in typically ambiguous... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 01:30)

How come there are bad people in the new heaven and new earth?

Peter replied to Andrew I would agree that we need to look at the Old Testament to find the roots of New Testament ideas, but we also need to remember that Jewish apocalyptic thought continued to develop after the books you... (Sat, 03/11/2018 - 00:31)
Peter replied to peter wilkinson Based on some of the material I’ve read, it seems some first-century Jews really believed Jesus was going to return in their lifetime and destroy Yahweh’s enemies. Some (or all) Jews would be... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 23:11)
davo replied to Andrew I always tend to look more at what I do have than what I don’t have, and so I may just have to settle for your tepid agreement, as per…“Indeed, that’s the preterist view, and I have some sympathy for... (Fri, 02/11/2018 - 04:28)
peter wilkinson replied to Andrew I think your explanation of kings coming and going as part of a normal political arrangement is an over-reading of Rev 21. You can infer it, but the passage doesn’t say it. The same is true of the... (Thu, 01/11/2018 - 09:56)
Andrew replied to peter wilkinson What Zechariah describes is a coming and going of the nations to restored Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. Even if the kings of earth bring their glory into John’s new Jerusalem and stay there... (Wed, 31/10/2018 - 18:58)
Andrew replied to davo But this is what I mean by allegorising. You assert that “creation” = Israel, “vanity” = the Law, the “old man” = the old covenant, the “new man” = the new covenant. But none of this is evident in... (Wed, 31/10/2018 - 18:35)

The widow of Zarephath, Naaman the Syrian, and the redemption of the world

Philip Johnson After 47 years since being made a new creature in Christ Jesus…after spending roughly 44 of those years (post-conversion) among ‘protestants’, Romanists, Eastern ‘orthodox’, House church groups et al... (Wed, 31/10/2018 - 16:25)