What was first century Israel like? Who were the main players of the day? And into what kind of world was Jesus born? 

This first session of Theology Matters will help us to understand the historical background of the gospels and give us fresh insights that will help us read the story of Jesus’ birth in context.

What are gospels anyway?! Why do we have four of them? And why are there differences between the accounts? How were they written? And what are the particular challenges involved in reading them? This session will give some guidelines for how we can get the most of our reading the gospels.

Each of the gospels tells the story of Jesus in a particular way, for a particular purpose. In this session, Liam Thatcher and Andy Tuck look at Matthew and Mark and try to work out why they emphasise certain themes and what particular points they are trying to make about who Jesus is and what he has come to do.

Each of the gospels tells the story of Jesus in a particular way, for a particular purpose. In this session, Liam Thatcher looks at Luke and John and tries to work out why they emphasise certain themes and what particular points they are trying to make about who Jesus is and what he has come to do.

How do the gospels fit into the grand story of Scripture? How should we understand Jesus’ life, teaching, ministry, death and resurrection as a continuation of the biblical story? This session will help us to understand Jesus’ ministry in its wider context, and will explore the central theme of the Kingdom of God.

Why did Jesus spend so much time telling confusing little stories? Why are they often so hard to understand? And what do they have to teach us about the main themes of Jesus’ ministry? In this session Liam looks at how to understand and apply the parables of Jesus.

In this seminar, Liam Thatcher and Andy Tuck look at how Jesus treated the central symbols of Judaism. In particular, they consider what he had to say about Monotheism and Election: who is God and who are His people. Please note, a small part of this recording was lost due to a technical error.

In this seminar, Chris Oldfield and Liam Thatcher look at how Jesus treated the central symbols of Judaism. In particular, they consider what he had to say about the Temple and the Law

Why did Jesus spend so much time doing miracles? Some of them seem so strange, or arbitrary: is there a purpose behind them? This session will help us to understand and interpret Jesus’ miracles in the context of his wider ministry, message and self-understanding.

What is the ‘coming of the Son of Man’? When and how will it happen? And what should we make of Jesus’ end-of-the-world language in Mark 13? This session will use lessons we’ve learnt throughout the series as tools to help us interpret Jesus’ cryptic sayings.

What are the historical reasons for the crucifixion of Jesus? And what did Jesus make of his own impending death? In this session we consider the Jewish charge, the Roman charge, and Jesus’ own understanding of the significance of his death.

Easter Sunday is the climax of the story of the gospels. But its meaning can be just as perplexing to us as it was to the original disciples! What does the resurrection mean, and how does it change the way we think about life, both now and after death?