How should we read the Old Testament in the light of Jesus? Do we even need to pay it any attention now that Jesus has come? We consider what it means for Jesus to fulfil the Old Testament and find that, when Jesus reads and applies the different parts of the Hebrew Bible, he shows us how to bring it to life in our lives as Christians today.
To kick off a new series on Biblical themes, we look at 8 different ideas about the Kingdom of God. We find that both Jesus' statements about it and the expectations of his audience were deeply rooted in the Old Testament, Hebrew scriptures. This brings to life a tangible picture of what is involved but also something far greater and more universal than even the Jews expected!
When we are downcast and discouraged, is there anywhere we can turn to in order to feel valued again? And do Christianity and the Bible have any wisdom and encouragement to offer? Jesus directly addressed the "poor in spirit" in his famous Sermon on the Mount and it's just as relevant and powerful today as it was when he originally spoke those words.
We finish our conversation discussing whether the text of the New Testament is reliable by diving into some examples of accidental copying mistakes as well as more deliberate changes that a scribe might make when copying texts.
A recent survey puts a surprising number of American Christians outside orthodoxy in relation to the birth of Jesus and his supposed pre-existence. Is there a good explanation for this? Perhaps the straightforward narrative of scripture, and its teaching about the man Jesus Christ, is what sincere church-goers pick up on with good reason.
When Jesus said "I and the father are one", what was the context? Our discussions lead us to understand that the phrase shouldn't be a theological battleground but is part of an intensely profound and practical theme for the lives of believers in Jesus which weaves through all parts of the New Testament.
We talk about practical ways of getting to know Jesus even though we only have written accounts in the Gospels to work with. Just as we change when we know and love someone really well, knowing Jesus should change us too.
What do you find when reading the Gospels for the first time? What's the historical basis behind it all? How do you deal with all the miracles? We consider ways to think about both what Jesus said and what he did, and how faith might develop from reading the Gospels.
In this episode Dan chats with Professor Anna Whittaker about her expertise and how it relates to the Bible. There is plenty to learn from Jesus about stress and anxiety. He knows from experience of course, because he endured acute times of stress himself.
The first book of the New Testament is packed full of insight about Jesus, God, the problem with humanity and God's kingdom that Jesus announced. If you want to understand what the Bible and Christianity is really about, you can't go wrong starting with the gospel of Matthew.