Jesus was not a failed prophet

Posted on 29/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

Today is Palm Sunday, when the promised Messiah son of Joseph was acclaimed by his people as he came to Zion, but subsequently, in fulfilment of Scripture, was slain in saving them, and was even rejected by the nation (though ascending to God), leading to a new exile for Israel until the coming of the Messiah son of David as a conquering king, inaugurating the eternal kingdom of God.

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Before knowing your enemy recognise his enmity

Posted on 19/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

In a comment on my last post, Ben links to an X post that compares Islam to Tolkein’s ring of power, arguing that whoever tries to control it will be controlled, and then destroyed, by it.

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Posted in History, Politics and sociology, Theology | 3 Comments

Christendom has its advantages

Posted on 14/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

I was recently in touch with a friend from my old church in Essex, which has now grown to over 1,000 weekly attenders. There were only about 80 when I joined in 1987, and it has grown steadily since. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s doing something right – Hillsong and Bethel were bigger, after all, and look what’s happened to them. But in this case it is, and it’s a cause for personal rejoicing.

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Posted in History, Politics and sociology, Theology | 10 Comments

The many-faceted Israel (2)

Posted on 08/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

I understand that some modern Jews do not even know that Jesus “the Nazarene” is a Jew, explaining his ministry from the Hebrew Scriptures and (uniquely) obedient to torah throughout his life. Christianity seems to be regarded by them as a Gentile heresy to which Jesus, or Paul, or both, “converted.”

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The many-faceted Israel (1)

Posted on 06/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

If we consider Christians’ attitudes towards Israel, I suggested in my last post that there is a need to identify what they actually mean by the term “Israel.” The Bible gives a surprising number of options. Here I’m mainly going to list as many of the meanings as I can, and even then I may miss some. Today I’ll focus on the Hebrew Bible, with a follow-up post on the New Testament, and my conclusions, next time.

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Christian Replacement Zionism (or something)

Posted on 03/03/2026 by Jon Garvey

The prominence of Israel’s conflicts against genocidal Islamism and an unexpected surge of Western antisemitism, together with my recent studies in the Jewish roots of Christianity through Seth Postell, David C Mitchell and others, have brought into focus the wide range of views about “Israel” amongst those calling themselves Christians.

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Luke – historian and literary stylist

Posted on 27/02/2026 by Jon Garvey

Our church sermon and Bible-study series on the Book of Acts has reached chapter 12, and the miraculous escape of Peter from Herod’s prison.

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The generations of pre-adamic man

Posted on 25/02/2026 by Jon Garvey

I came across a short clip of a discussion between the late Michael Heiser and Joshua Swamidass. It is on the Genealogical Adam theory Josh and I developed, he in the mainly scientific Genealogical Adam and Eve, and I in the almost simultaneously published, and primarily theological, Generations of Heaven and Earth.

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Posted in Adam, Creation, Genealogical Adam, Science, Theology of nature | Leave a comment

Fearfully and wonderfully bodged?

Posted on 18/02/2026 by Jon Garvey

Back in October 2020, I participated in a Webinar organised by the Christian Scientific Society, which also included Stuart Burgess from the UK, and Fuz Rana, Scott Minnich and David Snoke from the US.

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Posted in Creation, Science, Theology of nature | Leave a comment

Knowing God or hearing God

Posted on 16/02/2026 by Jon Garvey

The current Charismatic claim (but only since the particular flavour of that theology that came in with John Wimber in the 1980s) is that God speaks to us during prayer if we listen hard enough. My response, so far unrefuted, is that nothing in Scripture teaches this (and what is not in Scripture is, of course, unscriptural teaching). But the justification for it is that Scripture may have been jolly good for “then,” but we need to hear God’s word for now.

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Posted in Music, Theology | 2 Comments