A generation ago, liberal thought managed to get rid of sin; and, with sin, most theories of atonement were dismissed as odd and unnecessary. But in our own generation we have rediscovered guilt; we have plenty of shame and violence; we have alienation at all levels. And we don’t know what to do with it, either at a personal or at a corporate

The power of God, says St Paul in 1 Corinthians 1, is therefore revealed in human weakness, supremely in the weakness of Jesus. At the heart of the Christian gospel stands the ridiculous paradox that true power is found in the apparent failure, and the shameful death, of a young Jew at the hands of a ruthless empire. Why? Because there are more

The task of the Church is to get on with implementing the victory of the cross; and if we grasped that vision and lived by it, we would be able at last to address some of the problems in the Church and the world that loom so large and seem so intractable. The battle has been won; let’s get on and implement it. Let us follow our victorious Lord

The letter to the Colossians is all about saying ‘thank you’. Paul begins by thanking God that there is a church in Colosse at all (1.3). His prayer for them focuses on their being able to give thanks to the Father (1.12). The central section of the letter begins with thanksgiving (2.7); and, when Paul sums up the whole long argument, this is how

In this confused and dangerous world, many cling to this or that form of Christian belief and expression as an anchor, hoping thereby to escape the worst. But that was never Jesus’ way. ‘What is that to you?’ he said to Peter. ‘You follow me.’ My hope and prayer for this new edition is that it will encourage many to do just that.

They lived in a world of ‘powers’. The great historian Robin Lane Fox, writing about pagan beliefs of this time (and using evidence from Hierapolis among other places), points out that when things went wrong, people didn’t blame each other:

And if we ask why it is that this planet is perfectly capable of growing enough food and distributing it to every man, woman, and child who breathes, and yet millions of them are starving, the answer is the same. There are forces which stop us doing it.

Mark invites us to stop projecting the guilt and fear we feel inside ourselves out on to the rest of the world. And he invites us to take up our own cross and follow Jesus. He paints a tragi-comic picture of the disciples — blundering about, getting it all wrong, failing to see what Jesus was on about, and letting him down totally. And yet he

Therefore, we are not to be surprised if living as Christians brings us to the place where we find we are at the end of our own resources, and that we are called to rely on the God who raises the dead. Living by faith rather than by fear is so odd for us, so scary for us, that it takes a lot of learning. Bit by bit we must open ourselves to the