How should Good Friday be observed? With mournful solemnity because this is the death of Jesus? Or with subdued but joyful celebration because this is the death of Jesus for our sins?

The question came up in church yesterday in connection with a joint churches walk of witness around the neighbourhood on Good Friday. Such an event is a rare piece of public religious theatre, of pious pageantry, with a cross being hauled along to remind people on the streets that we used to be a Christian country. It puts the “mystery” back into mystery plays. What are these people doing?

But there is, indeed, a lot of drama in Jesus’ last week, and I mean the word rather literally. Drama drenched in public meaning. But what emotions, what thoughts, what visions does it all evoke? Something other than either grief or joy on account of the personal benefits, I think. This is a quick run through the scenes. Follow the links for more detailed analysis.

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I’m not sure how much more I can do with the debate between James White and Dale Tuggy over the question of whether Jesus is regarded by the writers of the New Testament to be, in some sense, Yahweh. Tuggy’s approach doesn’t lend itself to the same sort of analysis, and after that it all gets a bit… ( | 4 comments)
The last passage that James White puts forward in support of his view that the New Testament identifies Jesus with Yahweh is 1 Peter 3:13-17*: And who is harming you if you should be zealots of the good? But if indeed you should suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed. Do… ()
The third passage that White considers in his opening presentation in the “Is Jesus Yahweh?” debate with Dale Tuggy is what he calls the “hymn to Christ as to God” in Philippians 2:6-11. It’s not a hymn and it’s not addressed “to Christ.” It’s effectively an encomium or paean, perhaps a condensed… ()
The first passage which James White considers in his debate with Dale Tuggy is Hebrews 1:10-12, in which the writer directly applies Psalm 102:25-27 to the Son. You can find my treatment of the second passage, which I did first, here. ()
For no particular reason, I have started listening to a recent debate between James White and Dale Tuggy on the question “Is Jesus Yahweh?” I’m thinking I’ll pass an impartial eye over contributions made on both sides, just to see what we can learn, starting with White’s claim that when John says… ( | 14 comments)
The Bible tells the story of the building and rebuilding of the people of God. I think that the church today is having to rebuild again, and I have been looking for a simple image or metaphor that captures the process and the basic components. This tower of five wooden blocks is about as… ()
In his new book The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities (2024), Stuart Murray says that the Anabaptist vision is “profoundly and resolutely Christocentric” to a degree not found in other traditions. Evangelicals, for example, make much of the birth and death of Jesus but… ( | 8 comments)