Many have found the book of Revelation, and especially some of its imagery, quite confronting. It has often led some Christians to dire predictions of the end of the world, ultimately leading to their own disappointment, as well as the ridicule of non-Christians.
Matt unpacks one of Revelation’s images, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, to help shed light on a better way to approach not only that passage, but also the book of Revelation entirely. He also touches on a better way forward in terms of Christians viewing the eschaton, when Christ will return.
Have we been misreading the gospels for centuries? New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has considered this issue in his book “How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels”. Have evangelical Christians read Paul’s atonement theology back into the gospels to such an extent that they do not see what the gospel writers are really saying? Jesus is the culmination of the story of Israel, the Jewish messiah promised in the Old Testament as God returning to dwell with his people, thereby transforming his people in a way that includes non-Jews and inaugurating the ‘kingdom of God’. The main emphasis of the gospels is not that individuals can be saved to go to heaven but changed so that they can participate in the kingdom of God on earth.
Dr Denise Gamble presents a summary and assessment of NT Wright’s argument.
Are the early chapters of Genesis credible? Are they meant to be history or are they mythical stories to convey lessons? One of the credibility challenges is the large ages of Noah’s ancestors. For example, Genesis 5 states that Methuselah died at the age of 969. Geoffrey Russell believes that there are some intriguing aspects to these stories that should cause us to think more carefully before jumping to hasty conclusions.
A central claim of the Biblical Old Testament is that God (YHWH) appeared to Moses and empowered him to lead the descendants of Jacob out of their slavery in Egypt back to the land of Canaan promised to them 430 years earlier when their ancestor Abraham dwelt there.
This thin strip of land between the south east coast of the Mediterranean and the Jordan River is now one of the most disputed territories on Earth contested by two peoples descended from Avraham (Jewish pronunciation of Abraham) otherwise known as Ibrahim (to the Arab people).
The Biblical book of Joshua gives an account of how the Israelite people conquered this land with the miraculous help of YHYH some 1200-1440 BC and is the main source of the Jewish claim to the territory that is still in dispute today. So, can the Joshua account be believed?
This presentation looks at the Joshua account, the disputed timing and the archaeological evidence for accepting the plausibility of Joshua’s account.
The Bible records that God delivered the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt by the hand of Moses and formed them into the new nation of Israel.
At that time, God gave them a Law, about which He said:
“If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)
In this address, Geoff Russell considers some aspects of this Law which, if obeyed, would result in far better health and well-being for the nation of Israel than that experienced by Egypt and other neighbouring nations. In particular, he looks at toilet hygiene, treatment and isolation of infectious diseases, circumcision, and sexual morality. Were these rules beneficial to the ancient Israelites and are they relevant to us today?
The Acts of the Apostles is vital to the overall credibility of the New Testament. It alone provides a historical account of the development of the early church immediately after Jesus’ ministry. Unsurprisingly, there are diverse views on the reliability of Acts. FF Bruce claimed that “Luke’s reputation as a historian is unsurpassed”, whereas the Acts Seminar claims that it is a 2nd century document that reflects the nature of the church at that time. Who is right?
This presentation discusses:
Manuscript reliability, dating and authorship,
Key developments in Acts scholarship,
Consistency with Paul’s letters, and
Historical reliability.
The presentation and discussion can be viewed on You Tube
“The idea that a good God would send people to a burning hell is utterly damnable to me – the ravings of insanity, superstition gone to seed! I want no part of such a God.” – Luther Burbank The age-old question “How can a good God send people to Hell?” has bothered Christians and been used by others as proof that Christianity is rubbish. But what exactly is Hell, and what is Heaven? Can the concepts of God and Hell be reconciled? An afterlife is not exclusive to Christianity, but is common to almost all cultures. Where did such a concept come from? Brian Schroeder attempts to show that the concepts of Hell and of a good, loving, all powerful God are perfectly compatible and together do make sense.
Genesis chapter 22 describes how Abraham was called by God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. This story is set about 4,000 years ago and is stunning. Some people say that it is horrible, barbaric, and even pagan, and that the religion of the Bible is primitive and no better than that of other ancient peoples. Yet this story is important to the Jewish and Christian faiths, and even in the Islamic faith, and has been so for many centuries.
Geoff Russell believes that it’s a wonderful story, which gives us significant insights into the mind and heart of God. This very story gives us reasons to believe that God is good, and that the Bible is His revelation to us.
The presentation and discussion can be viewed on You Tube
One of the miracles ascribed to Jesus is that of feeding over 5000 people with 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish. Interestingly this is one of very few stories that appears in all 4 gospels. So, how are these stories different and how do they differ?
Kevin does not try to prove that this miracle really happened, but shows that there are a large number of incidental details which strongly indicate that, at the very least, this story is based on an actual event.
