Bible Feed

We're always encouraging people to read their Bibles and we often suggest starting with the Gospels.  Josh and Paul discuss what you're likely to come across if you're a new reader of the Bible, coming to the Gospels for the first time. What's the historical basis behind it all? How do you deal with all the miracles?  They consider ways to think about both what Jesus said and what he did, and what to look out for as unique and special in Jesus that is 'proclaiming the kingdom of God'. They finish up by thinking about how faith might develop from reading the Gospels.

Paul and Dan spend some time in this episode talking about hell. No doubt all sorts of terrifying images come to mind with that word!  By building it up gradually from the Biblical words Sheol, Hades and Gehenna they arrive at what seems to be a coherent picture. But it's also a hopeful picture which makes sense in the light of a moral God who has shown himself in the face of Jesus as full of grace and truth.  Listen in and tell us what you think!

This episode is something of a concept study - what or where is heaven?  From the musings of a small boy on a football pitch, through Genesis to Revelation with a couple of stops in between, Laurence and Paul explore what "heaven" meant to the Biblical writers.  The ideas that emerge seem much less about a physical location and much more about the presence of God and a relationship that ordinary people (on earth) can have with him through Jesus.  Enjoy listening, and we'd love you to get in touch to tell us how you'd explain the concept of heaven!

There's no denying that most of us are affected by stress and anxiety at some point. In this episode Dan chats with Professor Anna Whittaker who studies the interaction between psychological factors, stress, and physical health in her research. They talk about the times Jesus touched on anxiety in his teaching and how he invites everyone to come to him to find rest and peace of mind. He knows from experience of course, because, as Anna and Dan explore, he endured acute times of stress himself. Listen in to find out more.

We invited Tom Gaston back onto the show to answer your questions on Unitarianism and the Trinity.  The writer and editor of ‘One God, the Father, a defence of Biblical Monotheism’ gives us his thoughts on the opening of John 1, the influence of Justin Martyr, the virgin birth and why any of this should matter to Christians.  Listen and enjoy!

Paul and Dan move on from scribbling diagrams of the structure of the whole book and get into some of the detail of the first few chapters.  They find that, right from the start, the word-pictures that John presents come straight from the Old Testament.  As they move into chapters 2 and 3 they discover the difficulties facing some of the early church communities and it all seems quite familiar and down to earth. But suddenly with chapter 4 the perspective changes with a view of a throne in heaven.  The rest of the episode is Paul and Dan reflecting on how the church's down-to-earth experience and the view from heaven might come together.

Laurence and Dan wrap up our series on the Gospel of Matthew.  There's so much that could be said about the record of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, but they focus the discussion on just one phrase that Jesus said on the cross: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"  It's a heart wrenching moment, but what we think he meant is guided by who we think Jesus is.  Join Dan and Laurence on their exploration of these words, from the Psalms, to the reflections of the Apostle Paul, through to the conclusion of Matthew's Gospel with the glory of the resurrection.  

For this second episode on the book of Revelation, Paul and Dan get their paper and pencils out and attempt to draw a diagram on a single sheet of paper that represents the whole book!  They pick out the markers in the text that open and close the main sections, the sort of audio cues that an original audience might have picked up on.  They then start to explore how the structure could be drawing out some of the key points the book is communicating.  Check out our show notes to see our drawings and a short explainer video which explains the structure in a little more detail. 

Dan and Laurence get to the heart of the matter in episode 5 of our series on Matthew's Gospel.  They set out to answer the question: "Who is Jesus?" by focusing on Matthew 16, where the disciple Peter declares what he thinks.  In the space of just a few verses, four different phrases to describe Jesus emerge and they explore the meaning of each of them in turn.  Join Dan and Laurence as they put the pieces together to arrive at a full answer to "Who is Jesus?" 

Our first anniversary seems like a good time to start a new series!  Paul and Dan are tackling the Book of Revelation together.  It's mysterious and confusing, but Paul and Dan start by putting it in its place in the Biblical story - right at the transition from the Apostles to the next generation who are taking the early churches forward into ... whatever comes next!  They lay the foundations by establishing what kind of book it is and defining an approach which aims to hear the text as it would have been heard by the churches of Asia to whom it was first read.  Join us in listening to the message of this amazing piece of literature!