New Testament

Mike, Jane and Chris explore the strengths and weaknesses of different translations of the Bible, including the King James Version, the New International Version, and The Message. The team also addresses the question of what we are to make of apparent contradictions in the Bible. Can all such passages be reconciled with one another? Or are they reflections of the different concerns of their authors? And, finally, did the Holy Spirit reveal truths to the Church Fathers that hadn't been revealed earlier to the apostles? [Recorded 21 May 2009]

Should Christians be vegetarians for ethical reasons? The regular team debates this, and the question of how Old Testament laws fit into New Testament ethics.

Why didn’t Jesus write his own Gospel? Chris Tilling joins Graham, Mike, and Jane again to discuss the legacy of Jesus in the writing of the New Testament, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the institution of the sacraments. And can God answer the prayers of people who wouldn’t consider themselves Christians, or who follow other faiths? How might we think about the intercession of saints?

New Testament scholar Crispin Fletcher-Louis joins the regular team to talk about the ‘Historical Jesus’. Have Jesus’ bones been discovered, and would it matter if they have? Crispin also gives his take on the mysterious ‘Nephilim’ mentioned in Genesis 6.

Tom (N.T.) Wright, Bishop of Durham and an internationally respected New Testament theologian, joins Mike and Jane to discuss the Gnostic Gospel of Judas. Looking at the Gospel in its historical context, Tom addresses its relationship to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What does it mean to say that Jesus is Lord, in the 21st century, as in the 1st? And what do the Gnostic and canonical gospels have to say about the place of women?

Alister McGrath joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss issues raised by prominent secular atheists such as Richard Dawkins. What can we say about the character of God as portrayed in the Bible, and what is the relationship between the Old Testament and the New? What about the relationship between science and faith? Joined by students from St Paul’s Theological Centre, Alister also considers revelation in scripture, in Jesus, and in the natural world.

Mark Stibbe, New Testament theologian and vicar of St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, joins the regular team to discuss Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code.