STUDY RESOURCES
CONTACT ME if you'd like me to present, lead or share in the discussion with you, either in person or by Zoom. I make no charge for my own involvement, just any necessary expenses.
Adobe Acrobat document [491.7 KB]
The FREE STUDY NOTES above give you all you need to facilitate a study day/weekend or a series of group meetings, alongside reading this classic book from 1963 together, still easily available second hand through Amazon etc. 2023 will be the 60th anniversary of the book's publication. How about making time to revisit it by then?
Like all theology it reflects its time and context. You need to disregard the now outdated sexist language about 'men' when he means everyone! But over a million copies were sold; people literally queued up to buy it as fast as they could be printed. It's challenging of course, but not so difficult to understand, even if a bit of guidance helps!
' I believe we are being called, over the years ahead, to far more than a restating of traditional orthodoxy in modern terms. Indeed, if our defence of the Faith is limited to this, we shall find in all likelihood that we have lost out to all but a tiny religious remnant. A much more radical recasting, I would judge, is demanded, in process of which the most fundamental categories of our theology - of God, of the supernatural and of religion itself - must go into the melting'. (‘Honest to God’, SCM, Preface, 24th impression 1999).
He was obviously right in his prediction. What a missed opportunity! Where is that debate now? It seems to me that while most people have decided that Christianity is not for them, most conventional believers have made the situation even worse by ignoring the questions he raises: What do we mean by 'God'? What was the death of Jesus all about? What kind of world do we live in and how do we make moral choices? What is the Church actually for? None of these questions have passed their sell-by date, but most mission strategies simply don't ask them. No wonder they fail. Is there another way? You decide.
Microsoft Power Point presentation [502.6 KB]
A PowerPoint for individual or group study. The Bible didn't fall from heaven ready-written (in English). It has a history; it evolved over hundreds of years and exists with literally tens of thousands of different variations in the text. There are no 'original' first versions of any book. Perhaps there never was such a thing. What do we know about its authors? What contexts do the books arise from? What order and languages were they written in? Scholarship over the last 250 years has told us a great deal - it's a pity that most of it seems to have been largely ignored.
An evangelical fundamentalism which effectively worships the Bible is a very recent idea: the historic Creeds make no mention of its final authority or as being THE Word(s) of God. So what is it and how did we get it? Even many of those who regularly read the Bible couldn't say how it came about or are aware of what different kinds of literature it contains and how they relate to each other. So let's talk about what it actually is: a human library of insights that tells a story, not a recipe book to be followed to the letter. Why not find out more and then reflect on what it means for you?
WELCOME. This website contains a variety of resources to interest those looking for a radical and progressive approach to the Jesus story. You may have been told there is only one response; take it or leave it. That may be true for most believers and non-believers alike. I'm more interested in those who may have given it all up or are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth but who are open to finding a new way to go in our C21st context.
Do you have to believe the whole Bible literally? What do we mean by 'God'? Who was Jesus really? What does it mean to walk in his 'Way'? For those who are prepared to risk losing the 'faith' they have or searching for something that makes sense in the modern world, I hope this will encourage you to continue in your own journey. Feedback or invitations to speak are always welcome.
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