Renew Your Mind

One of the criticisms levelled at Rob Bell's book 'Love Wins' is that of universalism- that is, the idea that in the end, everyone will be saved. He seems to argue most strongly for this position in chapter 4 "Does God get what God wants?", where he quotes (among others) 1 Timothy 2:3,4, which he translates as 'God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.' (p. 97)  On reading the whole of chapter 2, it seems that Paul ( or the writer of 1 Tim)  backs up this verse by referring to Jesus, who 'Gave himself a ransom for all' 1 Tim 2: 6. So I was really interested to look back at Mark 10:45, where Jesus himself is reported as saying 'For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' Did Jesus give his life for all, or for many? Why did Paul choose to write 'all', and Mark choose 'many'? Are these two writers trying to make different points, for differe...

Conclusion: A Personal Response I identify myself as a feminist theologian for several reasons. Firstly, I believe that God is good news for women [1] . When God created human beings in his image, he created them to be male and female (Genesis 1: 27), and when He saw them He pronounced them ‘very good’ (Genesis 1: 31). Despite what Church History may have taught, I believe that God delights in both His sons and His daughters. Secondly, I believe that Christianity offers the only hope of a redeemed humanity. Paul’s great statement of equality in Galatians 3:28 points to the re-institution of the equality of relationships present at creation: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’ Thirdly, I believe that the church needs theologians of both genders to see more clearly the injustices of the past, to begin to redress them, and to move forward to a future where the church can truly be a ...

A Pilgrimage to the Cross Walking through Lent with Jesus Easter Sunday April 24 th On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!                   Luke 24: 1-7 Luke began his gospel with women, and with the story of their impossible conceptions. Here we come to the tomb with women again, only to find the impossible has happened again- the place of death has become a place of life, the tomb of sorrow has become a garden of hope, ...

A Pilgrimage to the Cross Walking through Lent with Jesus Saturday April 23 rd Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man,   who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.  The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.                            Luke 23: 50-56 When Pharoahs died, their bodies were laid in a...

A Pilgrimage to the Cross Walking through Lent with Jesus Good Friday April 22 nd It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.                                     Luke 23: 44-49 It is Good Friday today- for some places, a public holi...

A Pilgrimage to the Cross Walking through Lent with Jesus Thursday 21 st April The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”  The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”                                     Luke 23:35-39 If truth doesn’t fit into our worldview, we try our best to neutralize it. Sometimes this is by direct confrontation, as Herod and Pilate tried. This is the stuff of playground battles- ‘My Dad’s car is better th...

A Pilgrimage to the Cross Walking through Lent with Jesus Wednesday 20 th April Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.   Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found...