Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09081 Ephesians 4:11 lists the gifts Christ has given to the church: “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.” The phrasing of the final pair in the original Greek has generated a longstanding debate: are “pastors” and “teachers” two separate callings, or is Paul describing a single, combined role? The answer…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09102 1 Corinthians 14 addresses both the gift of prophecy and the regulation of teaching within the gathered assembly, but it does not always make the boundary between the two as neat as systematic theology would prefer. Understanding the distinction is important, because confusing them in either direction leads to practical problems in church…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09105 Few verses in the New Testament generate as much heat as 1 Timothy 2:12. Paul’s statement that he does not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man has been dismissed by some as culturally irrelevant and weaponised by others as a blanket prohibition on women doing anything at…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 3057 Jesus was a master storyteller. When crowds gathered to hear him, he often taught through parables: short, vivid stories drawn from everyday life. The sower and the seed, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, the talents, the pearl of great price. These images have shaped the imagination of the world for two thousand…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 0005 The word “theologian” carries a certain mystique. We imagine scholars in book-lined studies, poring over ancient manuscripts, debating the fine points of doctrine in language most people cannot understand, which for some, is true! Theology seems like a specialist pursuit, for the select few. But in reality, every person who has ever thought…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 0004 When Paul instructs Titus to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1), he uses a word that might surprise us. The Greek term translated “sound” is ὑγιαίνω (hygiainō), and its most natural meaning is “healthy” or “wholesome.” We get our English word “hygiene” from it. Paul is not just saying that correct…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 0001 You can find my sermon on the Introduction to Doctrine here: Why Does Doctrine Matter? When someone mentions ‘doctrine,’ many Christians feel their eyes glaze over. It sounds academic, dusty, perhaps something best left to theologians in their ivory towers. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Doctrine simply means ‘teaching,’ and…