Gospel Conversations podcast

Hebrews opens with two very important chapters that take Jesus out of the religious box, lifting him to the Maker of the Universe. From that lofty position, Apollos makes his biggest move and uses Psalm 8 to put humanity right there beside Jesus—ruling the cosmos. Through his explorations, Tony will translate these rich theological themes into in language that speaks to our world today.

The Epistle to the Hebrews breaks new ground in the debate over religion and grace. In this talk we look at who wrote it, and what problem it is trying to solve—really important questions since it is such an alien book to us modern people in many ways. We delve into the book of Acts in detail and uncover the deep struggle between Jerusalem and Rome that defined the faith in its early days. And we find in the writer to the Hebrews, the man who arguably took over the baton of thought leadership in the early church from Paul and pushed the gospel to its natural boundaries far from the confining views of Jerusalem.

Dr Sarah Golsby-Smith will be giving her second talk on "Reading the Bible as Literature". In her first talk, she introduced us to the rich resources that a literary reading brings to the Bible. In this talk, she will take a deeper dive in Genesis and give us a more detailed picture of these exciting tools at work in a major book.

Dr Sarah Golsby-Smith takes us on a journey to discover the riches of reading the Bible using the toolkits and methods of literary analysis. She argues that Christians tend to read the Bible as an instruction manual—not literature—and this narrows its richness and indeed our view of God. Instead, she opens up the more living and vast world of reading the Bible literature.

What do we mean when we say "The Bible is the Word of God"? Does the Bible itself make this claim? In today's postmodern world we cannot afford to make glib claims like this—we need to think through what we mean. In this talk, Tony goes back to literary and rhetorical theory to lay a much stronger foundation for how we should treat the Bible, and interpret it.

To wrap up the year we structured this event differently. Instead of a talk, we had a time of dialogue structured by the question, “What areas of interest and questions have Gospel Conversations raised for you this year?”

We push the boundaries in Gospel Conversations, but often don’t have the time to explore the ideas further on the nights after the talks. We didn't aim to always arrive at clear cut answers since some topics may simply be too complex for us to come to easy conclusions about.

Following three remarkable talks by Professor Edwin Judge, Mark has been tracing Paul’s role in three great shifts in western thought and life: from Closed Cosmos to Open Cosmos, from Closed Society to Open Society, and from Closed Heart to Open Heart. In this last session, Mark will focus on how Paul’s translation of the gospel ends the obligation to the law and the grip of morality, religion, and superstition. On the back of his implicit critiques of dualism (Closed Cosmos) rank and status (Closed Society), Paul built an unprecedented vision of every person as unique, equal, and gifted. What emerges is a renewed sense of calling as an empowered agency within the world.

Last month Mark began his series building the picture of the apostle Paul’s extraordinary contribution to the shape of western thought and society. These are legacies in which we all live whatever our convictions. This month Mark focuses on how grace opened the way for a society without the markers of ethnicity, gender, status or religion, marked instead by love and gifting. Mark will also outline why he reads Paul, contrary to many scholars, as a radical advocate on behalf of women.

More and more philosophers recognise that the three giants of classical thought, and the shapers of western thought down to our day, are Plato, Aristotle and—Paul. In large part, Plato and Aristotle refined and codified a tradition much older than themselves. But Paul represents the great turning point of western thought away from the hold of classical tradition.

In three recent seminal talks, Professor Edwin Judge demonstrated how the story of Jesus implied three great shifts:

1. from Closed Cosmos to Open Cosmos


2. from Closed Society to Open Society


3. from Closed Heart to Open Heart

In three further sessions Mark, who studied with Edwin, will show how Paul’s translation of the Gospel affected these three shifts. Taking Paul out of the religious framework where many have boxed him, Mark will help us appreciate the vast, pervasive, and revolutionary impact he has had on the whole world, not just Christianity. Mark will base his sessions on Paul’s extraordinary letter to his friends living within the shadow of Caesar in Rome.

More and more philosophers recognise that the three giants of classical thought, and the shapers of western thought down to our day, are Plato, Aristotle and—Paul. In large part, Plato and Aristotle refined and codified a tradition much older than themselves. But Paul represents the great turning point of western thought away from the hold of classical tradition.

In three recent seminal talks, Professor Edwin Judge demonstrated how the story of Jesus implied three great shifts:

1. from Closed Cosmos to Open Cosmos


2. from Closed Society to Open Society


3. from Closed Heart to Open Heart

In three further sessions Mark, who studied with Edwin, will show how Paul’s translation of the Gospel affected these three shifts. Taking Paul out of the religious framework where many have boxed him, Mark will help us appreciate the vast, pervasive, and revolutionary impact he has had on the whole world, not just Christianity. Mark will base his sessions on Paul’s extraordinary letter to his friends living within the shadow of Caesar in Rome.