Category Archives: Spirituality

The big fish and the wiggly worm: Part two

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The more I read Jonah, the less like a historical account it seemed. The tie-in between ‘Jonah son of Amittai’ of this book and the individual in 2 Kings 14:25 was not necessarily conclusive; the height of Nineveh’s power came a century or so after the events of 2 Kings 14, and the book could easily have used Jonah pseudonymously. Moreover, the events were so melodramatic – the lament from inside the fish, the repentance of an entire capital city overnight (even the animals wore sackcloth!) and the miracle of the rising and dying plant – that they seemed almost theatrical. Maybe the Book of Jonah is, in fact, a play; a sharply satirical parable belonging more to Wisdom literature than Prophetic. Continue reading →

The big fish and the wiggly worm: Part one

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As I thought about the issue of genre, and felt more free to read the Bible in critical new ways, familiar events and stories began to emerge in unexpectedly fascinating form. One of the most striking was the children’s classic story of Jonah – the recalcitrant prophet and the huge whale. Continue reading →

Genre and authority

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Three Amigos

My favourite film in my teens, and still the film I’ve seen more than any other, is The Three Amigos, a very silly slapstick western in which three movie stars are mistakenly hired to defend a Mexican village against the local thug. Much hilarity ensues, as you’d imagine given the talent involved. The theme is repeated in Galaxy Quest, a Star Trek spoof in which, once again, actors are mistaken for heroes. Continue reading →

Slippery slope: Part two

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The first of the objections to inerrancy in my previous post was the subjectivism that comes with dethroning biblical authority. The charge I had always used to myself (and, maybe, to others) was that this would result in a gradual drift away from objectivity and an increasing marginalisation of core evangelical doctrine. Crucially, it would undermine the Bible’s ability to judge and challenge one’s views and practices. Continue reading →

Rethinking the Bible – other arguments for inerrancy

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Another argument for the authority of Scripture, especially the Old Testament, is that Jesus and Paul both quote from it extensively and attribute authority to it. For example, in Matthew 22:29 Jesus retorts to his opponents that ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.’ What to make of this argument? Continue reading →

Authority, inspiration and that verse in Timothy

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In the past, whenever I  (or anyone I knew) needed to point to the Bible’s inerrancy and authority, the verse of choice was 2 Timothy 3:16:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (vv16-17 NIV)

For many evangelicals, this is the second most important ‘3:16’ in the Bible (the John verse trumps it) and all but settles the argument. ‘All Scripture…’ not just some of it; ‘God-breathed’ i.e. the very spoken words of God. Continue reading →

Journeying again

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Well, here I am again after more than three years. Yesterday I turned 40. It’s hard to even type that. And I decided I was going to write again, about this journey into (un)faith and adventure. So here I am.

When I last posted, I was a lifelong evangelical (with some new-church charismatic experiences), a part-time pastor, a childless husband desperate for our infertility to end, and hoping beyond hope for a miracle. Now I’m a gloriously proud father, awaiting the birth of our second child, but no longer the fervent evangelical. Something profound has happened in those three years. It has led me out of prayer lines and into IVF clinics, out of church leadership and into newfound friendships, out of ‘born-again’ certainties and into a more unsteady, more organic faith. I now know far less than I did.

At times it’s a bewildering, numbing experience, at other moments more joyously intense than any other experience in my life. I am daily close to crying and to shouting. I am angrier than ever, happier than ever, lonelier and more relational than ever.

I called this blog Eventful Journey. I thought it sounded cool and hip. I didn’t realise just what a journey it would prove to be.