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

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Did Jesus avoid proclaiming a “day of vengeance” against Israel in the synagogue in Nazareth?

John G Presco replied to peter wilkinson Jesus was restoring the Jubilee and resetting the calendar that included the day of God’s wrath. (22 August, 2019 - 21:04)

That sinking faith feeling

Phil L. I have an email friend who has been asking me similar questions; I wonder if it’s the same person. Anyway, this was a great, helpful article and helps me rethink some of the answers I gave... (21 August, 2019 - 16:18)
Andrew replied to Alex That’s an interesting suggestion! In general terms the analogy with the exodus seems helpful. It helps us to understand, for example, how the death of Jesus can be understood as a historical event... (20 August, 2019 - 20:35)
Andrew replied to Samuel Conner Granting the possibility of the truth of the claim that Jesus really is the clearest representation or explanation of the Creator that we have… Personally, I would emphasise the historical rather... (20 August, 2019 - 20:21)
Alex But if we relocate the event in history, we have good reason to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. The radically new future that it anticipated actually happened—not in the idealised and... (20 August, 2019 - 19:57)
Samuel Conner Thank you, Andrew; this is very helpful. With some trepidation, I’ll offer this possibly useful supplemental thought which is not incompatible with the foregoing, and perhaps might speak... (20 August, 2019 - 19:24)

What sort of hope do we find in the New Testament?

Andrew replied to Samuel Conner Thanks, Samuel. Good point. I’ve added a link to an article on “justification by faith.” I also make the argument in The Future of the People of God. When Paul talks about being justified, he does... (15 August, 2019 - 10:19)
Samuel Conner Thank you; this is helpful. One question: in your concluding application statement, ” This is off the map of New Testament eschatology, but it’s the faith by which we will be justified.... (15 August, 2019 - 00:51)
Andrew replied to Callum Hi Callum.Coincidentally, I have the late first century AD text 4 Ezra open in front of me with this verse highlighted:I answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, my lord, show this... (14 August, 2019 - 21:43)
Callum Thanks for this I found it really helpful. When I listen to debates on ECT/annihilationism/universalism you do sometimes hear of non biblical Jewish literature in the first century that had... (14 August, 2019 - 17:21)

The “rolling interpretation” of the Old Testament

Samuel Conner replied to Andrew My bad. From my limited understanding of 2nd Temple period “theology”, such as it was, the conception of “what’s wrong” was more complex than the straightforward analysis “in Adam’s... (9 August, 2019 - 18:26)
Andrew replied to Samuel Conner Tertullian’s interest in 1 Enoch is worth noting, but I’m not sure it’s relevant here, is it? Does it affect how Christians in the early period reinterpreted the Old Testament? Perhaps how they... (6 August, 2019 - 18:14)
Samuel Conner Thank you; this is helpful. Perhaps one could include a faint dotted line from the bottom left text toward the bottom right. It has been suggested (credibly, to my mind; but what do I know... (6 August, 2019 - 15:05)

What’s wrong with the “Romans Road” to salvation?

Ron Craig replied to Greg Demmitt The goal of Evangelism was and always will be to present testimony of God and of Jesus Christ. It is not our responsibility to save them. We do not have the authority to do this. We have the... (7 August, 2019 - 05:56)
Ron Craig You don’t go far enough with the criticism of the Romans Road or modern evangilism rooted in the completely fabricated gospel of Calvin. These systems of preaching directly oppose the exact... (7 August, 2019 - 05:47)

Learning from Daniel’s prayer of confession

Alex Andrew, do you see the historical narrative approach leading us directly and particularly into environmental critiques of the post-Christian secular world? Or does the approach leave such critiques... (4 August, 2019 - 02:16)

Jesus as Lord in Mark

cherylu replied to Jaco Jaco, What if what Ed said is not just a “hollow threat”? There are many, many folks in this world that are quite convinced that belief in the deity of Christ is an absolute essential to salvation... (28 July, 2019 - 17:00)

Theses about evangelical Christianity

peter wilkinson Thankfully, we’re not all in the same evangellymould. (24 July, 2019 - 13:48)
Phil L. replied to Andrew Going back through the comments and some of Olson’s responses to them, I think you have it right. He does seem to think the whole Evangelical = Republican thing is an American thing and... (21 July, 2019 - 00:19)
Andrew replied to Phil L. I was picking it up, somewhat indirectly, from: “Evangelical Christianity exists in nearly every country in the world and is not uniquely American. It is simply ignorant to identify it with any... (20 July, 2019 - 14:16)
Phil L. replied to Andrew It probably worked until the 70s when the Moral Majority spun up. You’re right, those men he calls prototypes of evangelicalism could generally described as being apolitical, at least from... (20 July, 2019 - 14:10)
Andrew replied to Phil L. I think that’s part of what Olson is getting at. The evangelicalism of the seven wise men was resolutely apolitical, and that worked until when? the early eighties? But he laments the fact that... (20 July, 2019 - 08:57)
Phil L. I realize this is not the case everywhere, but in the United States, there’s not a single non-evangelical who would consider evangelicals “resolutely apolitical.” (20 July, 2019 - 08:51)
Samuel Conner This is a somewhat unkind thought, but in recent years it has seemed to me that the Romans 1 “under the sun wrath dynamic” is visible at times in the churches as well as beyond them. The... (19 July, 2019 - 13:12)

The message of the Bible in one sentence

Phil L. replied to Jeremiah Unfortunately, several of those names do not translate to the “English” meaning that is attributed to them. For example, “Methuselah” means “man of the javelin.” (22 July, 2019 - 15:03)
Jeremiah 1 Chronicles 1:1-3, first word of v.4: Adam seth enosh kenan; mahalalel jared enoch; methuselah lamech noah. I hope this blesses someone! Edit: I see someone already posted this; the... (18 July, 2019 - 09:08)

It’s a while since we’ve had a diagram about theology and history

Andrew replied to Samuel Conner Should we expect that some of these stories should or will come to be regarded to have the kind of authority that is currently ascribed to the old stories? You could compare modern storytelling to... (18 July, 2019 - 22:06)
Andrew replied to Jason Brubaker You’re barking up the right tree, Jason, and you make the point very well. But I think things will change. On the one hand, there is a vibrant dialogue under way amongst scholars and others around... (18 July, 2019 - 21:52)
Samuel Conner Thanks for another helpful post, Andrew. Question: it seems inevitable to me that if the approach to the Scriptures that you advocate is widely embraced within the churches, it will raise the... (18 July, 2019 - 14:05)
Jason Brubaker replied to Andrew Andrew Thanks for you post. My question is in response to your following statement: At the conservative/evangelical end of the spectrum, I think much of the interpretation is compromised by... (18 July, 2019 - 00:45)