Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 03085 The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus, apart from the resurrection, that appears in all four Gospels. Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15 each record it, with John providing the most developed theological reflection on its significance. That level of independent attestation across all four…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03081 At first glance, Jesus cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit looks like an overreaction to a piece of vegetation. It is one of those Gospel episodes that, taken in isolation, sits awkwardly. But when it is read in context and against the background of how the fig tree functions throughout the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03079 The account of Jesus walking on the water tends to provoke one of two responses: either straightforward acceptance as a miraculous act by the Son of God, or a search for a naturalistic explanation that preserves the story whilst removing its supernatural content. What the text actually says, and what it means theologically,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 1129 This question gets at something important: when we say we take the Bible literally, does that commit us to a particular view of science? And when scientists speak of observing the “literal” facts of nature, are they using the word the same way? The relationship between biblical literalism and scientific investigation is more…