Laurence Davenport and Dan Weatherall continue delving into the gospel of Matthew. The focus this time is how well structured the book is around major themes that are developed throughout the book. Jesus is presented as someone with authority and he is given that curious name, Immanuel. What does that mean? And how would the first readers of Matthew have understood God to be with them?
We begin a new series in which we explore the deep questions around the relationship between God and Jesus, the Son of God. In this episode Josh Dean and Paul Davenport look at how Unitarians and Trinitarians both look at the same scriptural ‘raw materials’ but come to different conclusions. Why is that? How should we evaluate whether one view is more appropriate than the other? Are they both truly Christian perspectives?
Famous names and outsider characters – they’re all in the family tree of Jesus right at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel! Laurence Davenport and Dan Weatherall start a series of episodes that explores this book in greater detail to discover the real Jesus. Listen in to find out why some apparently dubious (but actually faithful) women feature in the opening verses of this Gospel and what that helps us to discover about Jesus!
You may wonder what happens to you when you die, but have you asked yourself what you were before you were born? If you have some belief in life that continues uninterrupted beyond death, such as an immaterial soul, then you may read something similar into passages such as Jeremiah 1:5. Does that mean that Jeremiah existed somewhere in some immaterial state? Does that mean that everyone is alive in some pre-existent way before they are born? Is this what the Bible is teaching?
Becky Lewis discusses with Paul Davenport whether it’s right to think of God as distant and unfeeling, as is often the portrayal in popular culture. By drawing from the Bible from the creation narrative through to how Jesus treated people and on through to the final chapters of Revelation, we find God revealed as deeply invested in seeking close relationships with people and indeed connecting people together in a family.
For our final podcast of 2020, we’re bringing you a discussion we recorded when lockdown started in the UK in March 2020. The subject is "Why read the Bible?" which seems just as relevant as we go into a new year in a world very much still in the grip of uncertainty. And so, whatever 2020 has been like for you, whether it's given you sadness or joy or additional stress and strain, perhaps it's comforting to know that the still small voice of the divine, revealed through an ancient text, will always be there waiting for us to listen.
Jesus taught many things that have become so common place in the western world that it’s so easy to ignore them. One of those things was a prayer that he gave to his followers to use.
This episode is all about the new book “Founding a Faith” by Tom Gaston. Dan Weatherall asks Tom about some of the concepts explored in the book, such as whether we should build our faith like a tower with a foundation or as a flexible web of interconnected ideas – which is more resilient?
This conversation asks another big question – what is human nature really like? Dan Weatherall and Stephen Blake, a professional counsellor, explore this topic and find that, although the Bible starts with the ideal of humans reflecting God’s image, it more often paints a picture of struggle and failure. Why is that and can anything be done about it?
If God exists, wouldn't he have made his presence known beyond doubt to everyone? And yet, so many people do not believe. Here we explore divine hiddenness and find a logical and rational story of meaningful relationships rather than a God of coercion and manipulation.