In this episode Dan and Paul embark on an exploration of John's Gospel, unraveling its sense of majesty and mystery right from the opening verses. They discuss the unique structure and content of John's Gospel, comparing it to the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—highlighting its distinct opening, key themes, and the explicit purpose stated in John's narrative. They delve into the significance of belief, the role of witnessing, and the powerful symbolism of water and blood, offering a compelling argument for understanding John’s Gospel as a carefully selected collection of events aimed at strengthening the reader's faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
Dan welcomes guest, John Launchbury, to discuss the vital question: why did Jesus have to die? They explore the meaning of the word atonement and consider the pros and cons of some of the main atonement theories. As they explore the key scriptural passages involved they find that the impact of the death of Jesus can be just as profound today as it was in the 1st century - and it's all about changing us rather than changing God!
Paul chats to Mark Vincent, the author of a small book with big ambitions, entitled Life's Biggest Questions. They talk about how the book came about and step through some thoughts on those major questions - Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we headed?
The meaning of life is the stuff of song lyrics. But it's also the big question of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. At first reading the author of this book seems to be concluding that life is meaningless, but there's more than meets the eye, all of which leads (surprise!) to Jesus and his resurrection.
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.
There's so much that could be said about the record of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection so we focus this discussion on just one phrase that Jesus said on the cross. It's a heart wrenching moment, but what we think he meant is guided by who we think Jesus is. We explore the narrative, the Psalm in the background and end up with the reflections of the Apostle Paul and the conclusion of Matthew's gospel with the glory of the resurrection.
John's gospel climaxes when a series of people come to belief in Jesus. What’s fascinating is the different stages of belief that each individual represents - from scepticism to an embracing conviction and everything in between.
Here we are in Easter 2021 and Christians are still talking about the resurrection! What's the deal?! Josh and our guest for this episode, Nathan Sutcliffe, discuss the origin of this astonishing claim and highlight the historical phenomena that simply refuse to be explained by anything else other than Jesus actually rising from the dead.
The Hole in History is a short book that systematically goes through the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus in a clear and accessible way.