Godpod

Nicky Gumbel, vicar of HTB, joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss the Alpha Course and its global impact.

Tom Wright returns to talk about Israel as the historical people of God and as the modern political state. What is the place of the Jewish people and the land of Israel in the promises of God, from creation to new creation? Tom, Mike and Jane also discuss the ‘Rapture’, and the impact of how we think about ‘the end times’ on the ways we live, how we treat the world, and how we engage with political concerns.

Tom (N.T.) Wright, Bishop of Durham and an internationally respected New Testament theologian, joins Mike and Jane to discuss the Gnostic Gospel of Judas. Looking at the Gospel in its historical context, Tom addresses its relationship to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What does it mean to say that Jesus is Lord, in the 21st century, as in the 1st? And what do the Gnostic and canonical gospels have to say about the place of women?

Reflecting on their recent visits to China and Russia, while Mike is left running the place, Graham and Jane discuss the global church. Graham relates his experience of the Alpha course in the Orthodox Church, while Jane talks about the state and underground churches in China, covering subjects such as persecution and church growth, and the relationship between secular authorities and the church. The team also consider guidance, calling, and spiritual discernment.

Graham, Mike and Jane turn their attention to the question of God’s plans for our lives. What are his promises to us, and to the Church as the people of God? And why does God sometimes seem to sit back and allow bad things to happen to us?

From prophecy to speaking in tongues, and healing to administration, the Apostle Paul talks at length in his first letter to the Corinthians about the Gifts of the Spirit. Graham and Mike are joined by HTB Associate Vicar Archie Coates in fielding questions from the floor about spiritual gifts.

How might we live as Christians with loved ones in our families who don’t share our faith? Graham, Mike, and Jane are joined again by Rod Green in thinking about individual salvation and the salvation of households. What is the place of evangelism and prayer in the family? And what does it mean for our identity and self-esteem to know that we are made in the image of God? 

Rod Green, a former student at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford and now a curate at Christ Church Spitalfields in London, is this week’s special guest. What is the nature of God’s action in our lives, and does he ever call us to do things that are bad for us? Are we predestined? And does God choose us or do we choose him?

Alister McGrath joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss issues raised by prominent secular atheists such as Richard Dawkins. What can we say about the character of God as portrayed in the Bible, and what is the relationship between the Old Testament and the New? What about the relationship between science and faith? Joined by students from St Paul’s Theological Centre, Alister also considers revelation in scripture, in Jesus, and in the natural world.

Jon March joins Mike and Jane again to talk about evangelicalism, postmodernity and church leadership in the 21st century.

Why did God create the world? And why has God allowed Satan to exist? Jon March, a curate at HTB, joins Mike and Jane to debate the origin of the world and of evil… and to discuss the important question of whether or not it’s legitimate to pray for your football team to win.

Is God fair? Why does he seem to choose some people and not others? And if we can ‘just forgive’ each other, why can’t God just forgive us, without Jesus having had to die for our sins? Graham, Mike and Jane discuss the doctrines of election and atonement, and also talk about the Name of God. 

Mark Stibbe, New Testament theologian and vicar of St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, joins the regular team to discuss Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code.

What was the nature of Jesus’ resurrection, and how does it relate to our own hope for life after death? In fact, is such hope just for our own lives or for the whole of creation? Graham, Mike, and Jane discuss the bodily resurrection of Jesus and its affirmation of the goodness of physical matter, drawing out its implications for the way we live our lives now as well as our hope for the future. They also address the question of whether there is a hierarchy in heaven. Do some people get better mansions than others?

Our three theologians grapple with the doctrine of the Trinity and its relation to the cross. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). What does this cry of dereliction tell us about the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Can God suffer? Can he change? Is God’s action sometimes ‘hidden’, as Pascal suggested? Graham, Mike, and Jane go on to consider the relationship between prayer and time and the nature of human participation in the work of God. Can we pray for things that have already happened? Can we pray for our loved ones who have died?

Dr Ashley Null joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss the life and theology of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury under the Tudor monarchs at the time of the English Reformation.

The questions are rolling in, and Mike and Graham are joined by Jane Williams for the first time. What does it mean to be baptised, and what is the relationship between the sacrament of baptism and our salvation? What do we think about the practices of infant and adult baptism? And, on a different note… how do dinosaurs fit into the Christian account of creation?

Where does evil come from? And what happens when we die? Graham Tomlin and Mike Lloyd dive straight in with two of life’s biggest questions on this, the first GodPod.