Press On Journal

Jesus is the True Vine and not Israel. Choosing Jesus over natural Israel is not an academic exercise: it has real world consequences. We can only be fruitful through him. We must be fruitful; not in the desire to become ‘management’ in the Kingdom; or in seeking to understand all prophecy, all mysteries and all knowledge; but through simplicity, in bearing the fruit of the Spirit. This is the life that Jesus wants us to enter now.

This article explores the teaching of Jesus through his use of parables. Jesus taught in both synagogues and the Temple, as well as out in the countryside. He answered questions, corrected misunderstandings, made full use of the the Old Testament, enacted parables, told short stories and also fully fledged parables. Many people understood his teachings and became disciples: while some understood and therefore wanted to kill him. Jesus taught ‘doctrines’, which are central to the Christian faith, through the use of parables and these teachings apply to us today.

“Would you still be a Christian if you found out that there was no future Kingdom after your death?” This life is not all about “getting to the Kingdom” it’s a lot about trying to be more like Jesus in everything we do, which makes life so dynamic and worthwhile. This life is not a “Waiting Room”, it’s a “Living Room”. The grace God has given me elicits a response from me: activities which show my gratitude to the one who created me. I realise I am beautifully and wonderfully made. I want to make Him happy because of what He has done for me. I know that I have been given an amazing opportunity to give the Great Creator tremendous pleasure -in this life - and I want to grasp that prospect.

This historical perspective will help us to think about how we fit into the broader history of Christianity, leading us both to consider what is valuable in the historical influences that have shaped us, and to reflect on how we see ourselves in relation to other Christians today. We are part of the rich tapestry of Christian thought and discussion, inheriting ideas, practices and debates that have come down to us through the centuries.

This articles seeks to show how the Bible continues to speak with depth and coherence to the people of God in every generation. For us, the NT’s use of the OT provides a model of reading and understanding that is both relevant and dynamic. The authors encourage us to read the Bible as a unified theological witness - to look for patterns and precedents, as well as prophesies - and to see Christ at the centre of it all.

What is the Christadelphian’s stand on evolution and how did it become tantamount to a first principle? Where do our beliefs around this topic originate? What do we mean by old-earth creation, or young-earth creation, or theistic evolution? In this in-depth overview about the Christadelphian understanding of this controversial topic we will discover that we do not all share the same views, and that our beliefs are heavily influenced by evangelical American christianity.

This article explores the practicality of trusting in God even though we cannot see the end from the beginning. There is freedom in realizing that God is more interested in who we are rather than what we do. Jesus trusted in his Father implicitly, and he is inviting us to share our journey with him as our compassionate and capable leader and to realize that the process of becoming more like Him is forged through our daily, small decisions.

The authors of the Gospels and epistles routinely appeal to Israel’s Scriptures, not merely as historical background or for moral instruction, but as the theological and narrative framework within which the significance of Christ must be understood. This is not a matter of isolated proof-texting, but of reading the OT as a divinely orchestrated narrative that finds its culmination in Jesus. This article identifies some of the methods they used to show that the story of Israel reached its climax in Christ.

Using a historical perspective, this article considers how Christadelphians ‘fit’ in the broad sweep of Christian history by addressing the background to Christadelphian beliefs, with reflections on different understandings of what a ‘church’ is, examples of movements seeking to reform or break away from the established church, and accounts of communities which shared aspects of Christadelphian beliefs including believer’s baptism and non-Trinitarian understandings of God.

Using personal experience as a starting point, this article explores the process of faith deconstruction and reconstruction within the Christadelphian community. It examines how foundational beliefs about biblical inerrancy can become entangled with personal identity and the need for certainty, and what happens when those foundations no longer hold. Drawing on Heschel's philosophy of sacred time and Girard's mimetic theory, the article develops a mirror metaphor: we see distorted reflections of ourselves through culture and ego, but God's loving gaze reveals our true image. The result is a faith rebuilt on the teachings of Jesus rather than doctrines about scripture, emphasizing transformation over transaction.