andygoodliff

British Baptist Theologians No. 2: Paul S. Fiddes

 DPhil - Oxford (1976) D.D. (Oxford, 2004), D.D. (Bucharest, 2004)

 Research Fellow, Regent's Park College (1972-1989)
 Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford (1989-2007)
 Professor of Systematic Theology, Oxford (2002) 
 Director of Research, Regent's Park College, Oxford (2007-)

 Fellow of the British Academy (2020)

 1979-80 Whitley Lectures 

2005 Bampton Lectures - Seeing the world and knowing God: ancient wisdom and modern doctrine.
2008 Holley-Hull Lectures, Samford University
2009 Nordenhaug Lectures, International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague 
2018 Richard E Myers Lectures — 'The Play’s the Thing: Shakespeare and Religion'
2020 St Hild Lecture
2022 D. W. D Shaw Memorial Lecture

Chair of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Doctrine and Inter-church Cooperation (2000-2010)
Co-Chair of the Anglican Communion-Baptist World Alliance International Conversations (2000-2005)
Co-chair of the Baptist World Alliance-Roman Catholic Church Conversations (2006-2010)

Director, Study of Love in Religion (2012-)

Selected Publications

___ Charismatic Renewal: A Baptist View (1980)
___ 'The Signs of Hope' in A Call To Mind: Baptist Essays Towards a Theology of Commitment (Baptist Union, 1981)
___ 'God and History', Baptist Quarterly 30 (1983), 85-88
___ 'The Theology of the Charismatic Movement' in Strange Gifts? A Guide to Charismatic Renewal edited by D. Martin and P. Mullen (Oxford, 1984), 19-40
___ A Leading Question: The Structure and Authority of Leadership in the Local Church (Baptist Union, 1984)
___ 'Covenant - Old and New' in Bound to Love: The Covenant Basis of Baptist Life and Mission (Baptist Union, 1985), 9-23
___ 'Woman's Head is Man': A Doctrinal Reflection upon a Pauline Theme', Baptist Quarterly 31 (1986), 370-83 
___ The Creative Suffering of God (Clarendon Press, 1988)
___ 'C. S. Lewis the Myth-Maker' in Rumours of Heaven: Essays in Celebration of C. S. Lewis edited by J. Patrick and Andrew Walker (Eagle Publishing, 1988)
___ Past and Present Salvation: The Christian Idea of Atonement (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1989)
___ 'The Status of Women in the Thought of Karl Barth' in After Eve edited by Janet Martin Soskice (Marshall Pickering, 1990), 138-55.
___ Freedom and Limit: A Dialogue between Literature and Christian Doctrine (Mercer University Press, 1991 [2000])
___ "The Cross of Hosea Revisited: The Meaning of Suffering in the Book of Hosea," Review & Expositor 90 (Spring 1993), 175-90.
___ 'Divine Suffering' and 'Process Theology' in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought edited by Alister McGrath and Duncan B Forrester (Blackwell, 1995)
___ (ed.) Reflections on the Water. Understanding God and the World through the Baptism of Believers (Regent's Study Guides 4; Smyth & Helwys, 1996)
___ '"Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?": Job 28 as a Riddle for Ancient and Modern Readers' in After the Exile: Essays in Honour of Rex Mason edited by John Barton and David J. Reimer (Mercer University Press, 1996)
___ 'Regent's Park College, Oxford', American Baptist Quarterly 18.2 (June 1999), 106-17
___The Promised End: Eschatology in Theology and Literature (Challenges in Contemporary Theology; Blackwell, 2000)
___ Participating in God: A Pastoral Doctrine of the Trinity (Darton, Longman & Todd, 2000)
___ (ed.) The novel, spirituality and modern culture (Religion, Culture and Society; University of Wales Press, 2000)
___ 'Facing the End: The Apocalyptic Experience in Some Modern Novels' in Called To One Hope: Perspectives on the Life to Come edited by John Colwell (Paternoster, 2000)
___ 'Story and Possibility: Reflections on the Last Scenes of the Fourth Gospel and Shakespeare's The Tempest' in Revelation and Story: Narrative Theology and the Centrality of Story edited by H. Sauter and John Barton (Ashgate, 2000)
___ (ed.) Doing Theology in Baptist Way (Whitley, 2000)
___ (ed.) Faith in the Centre: Christianity and Culture (Regent's Study Guides 9; Smyth and Helwys, 2001)
___ 'The Story and the Stories: Revelation and the Challenge of Postmodern Culture' in Faith in the Centre edited by Paul Fiddes (Smyth and Helwys, 2001)
___ 'Creation out of Love' in The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis edited by John Polkinghorne (Eerdmans, 2001)
___ 'Millenium and Utopia: Images of a Fuller Presence' in Apocalyptic in History and Tradition edited by Christopher Rowland and John Barton (Sheffield Academic Press, 2002)
___ 'Baptism and the Process of Christian Initiation' in Ecumenical Review 54.1 (2002), 49-65.
___ 'Baptism and the Process of Christian Initiation' in Dimensions of Baptism: Biblical and Theological Studies edited by Stanley E. Porter and Anthony R. Cross (Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), 280-303.
___ 'The quest for a place which is not-a-place: the hiddeness of God and the presence of God' in Silence and the Word: Negative Theology and Incarnation edited by Oliver Davies and Denys Turner (Cambridge University Press, 2002), 35-60.
___ Tracks and Traces: Baptist Identity in church and Theology (Studies in Baptist History and Thought Vol 13; Paternoster, 2003)
___ 'The Canon as Space and Place' in John Barton and Michael Wolter (eds.), The Unity of Scripture and the Diversity of the Canon (Walter de Gruyter, 2003), pp.126-149
___ 'Baptism and Membership of the Body of Christ. A Theological and Ecumenical Conundrum' in Gemeinschaft der Kirchen und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung: die Würde des Anderen und das Recht anders zu denken; Festschrift für Professor Dr. Erich Geldbach edited by Lena Lybæk et al (LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2004)
___ (ed.) with Anthony J. Clarke, Flickering Images: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Regent's Study Guides 12; Smyth and Helwys, 2005)
___ 'When Text Becomes Voice: You've Got Mail' in Flickering Images edited by P. S. Fiddes and A. Clarke (Smyth and Helwys, 2005), 97-112.
___ 'Baptist Ecclesiology: A Response to David Carter's Article Review of Tracks and Traces', Ecclesiology 1 (2005) 87-100.
___ 'On God the Incomparable: thinking about God with John Macquarrie' in In Search of Humanity and Deity: A Celebration of John Macquarrie's Theology edited by Robert Morgan (SCM , 2006), 179-99.
___ 'Participating in the Trinity', Perspectives in Religious Studies 33.3 (2006), 361-73.
___ 'The Place of Christian Theology in the Modern University', Baptist Quarterly 42 (April, 2007)
___ 'Salvation' in The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology edited by John Webster, Kathyrn Tanner and Iain Torrance (Oxford University Press, 2007)
___ 'The Passion Story in Literature' in The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology edited by A. Hass, D. Jasper and E. Jay (Oxford University Press, 2007), 742-59.
___ (ed.) Under the Rule of Christ: Dimensions of Baptist Spirituality (Regent's Study Guides 14; Smyth and Helwys, 2008)
___ 'Spirituality as Attentiveness: Stillness and Journey' in Under the Rule of Christ (Smyth and Helwys, 2008)
___ 'Baptism of Believers' in Baptism Today: Understanding, Practice, Ecumenical Implications edited by Thomas F. Best (Liturgical Press, 2008)
___ 'Baptists and Receptive Ecumenism', Louvain Studies 33 (2008), 54-75.
___ 'Ex Opere Operato: Rethinking a Historic Baptist Rejection' in Baptist Sacramentalism 2 edited by Anthony R. Cross and Philip E. Thompson (Paternoster, 2008), 219-38.
___ 'Christianity, Culture and Education: A Baptist Perspective' in The Scholarly Vocation and the Baptist Academy: Essays on the Future of Baptist Higher Education edited by Roger Ward & David Gushee (Mercer, 2008)
___ 'Concept, Image and Story in Systematic Theology', International Journal of Systematic Theology 11.1 (2009)
___ 'G. M. Hopkins' in The Blackwell Companion to the Bible in English Literature edited by R. Lemon and C. Rowland (Blackwell, 2009)
___ 'Something will come of nothing: on A Theology of the Dark Side' in Challenging to Change: dialogues with a radical baptist theologian. Essays presented to Dr Nigel G. Wright on his sixtieth birthday edited by Pieter J. Lalleman (Spurgeon's College, 2009)
___ 'Daniel Turner and a Theology of the Church Universal' in  Pulpit and People: Studies in Eighteenth Century Baptist Life and Thought edited by John H. Y. Briggs (Paternoster, 2009), 112-27.
___ 'The Body as Site of Continuity and Change' in New Topics in Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Contestations and Transcendence Incarnate edited by Pamela Sue Anderson (Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 2009)
___ 'Church and Sect: Cross-currents in Early Baptist Life' in  Exploring Baptist Origins edited by Anthony R. Cross and Nicholas J. Wood (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, 2010)
___ 'On Theology' in The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis edited by Robert MacSwain and Michael Ward (Cambridge, 2010)
___ 'Ambiguities of the Future: Theological Hints in the Novels of Patrick White', Pacifica 23.3 (2010)
___ 'Dual Citizenship in Athens and Jerusalem: The Place of the Christian Scholar in the Life of the Church' in Questions of Identity: Essays in honour of Brian Haymes edited by Anthony R. Cross and Ruth Gouldbourne (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, 2011)
___ 'Christian Doctrine and Free Church Ecclesiology: Recent Developments among Baptists in the Southern United States', Ecclesiology 7.2 (2011)
___ 'The Sublime and the Beautiful: Intersections Between Theology and Literature' in Literature and Theology: New Interdisciplinary Spaces edited by Heather Walton (Ashgate, 2011)
___ 'Prophecy, Corporate Personality, and Suffering: Some Themes and Methods in Baptist Old Testament Scholarship' in The "Plainly Revealed" Word of God? Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice edited by Helen Dare and Simon Woodman (Mercer, 2011)
___ 'A Theology of Public Prayer' in  Prayers of the People edited by Karen E. Smith and Simon P. Woodman (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, 2011)
___ 'Not anarchy but covenant: a nonconformist response to Matthew Arnold's view of religion and culture' in Theology and Human Flourishing: Essays in Honor of Timothy J. Gorringe edited by Mike Higton et al (Cascade, 2011)
___ 'The Root of Religious Freedom: Interpreting Some Muslim and Christian Sacred Texts', Oxford Journal of Law and Religion (2012)
___ 'Ecclesiology and Ethnography: Two Disciplines, Two Worlds?' in Perpsectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography edited by Pete Ward (Eerdmans, 2012)
___ 'Patterns of hope and images of eternity: listening to Shakespeare, Blake and T.S. Eliot' in Art, Imagination and Christian Hope edited by Trevor Hart, Jeremy Begbie and Gavin Hopps (Ashgate, 2012)
___ 'Ancient and Modern Wisdom: The Intersection of Clinical and Theological Understanding of Health' in Stephen Finamore and John Weaver (eds.), Wisdom, Science and the Scriptures: Essays in Honour of Ernest Lucas (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage and Bristol Baptist College, 2012) 
___ 'Suffering' in The Oxford Handbook of Theology and Modern European Thought edited by Nicholas Adams, Graham Ward and George Pattison (Oxford University Press, 2013)
___ 'Baptists and 1662: the Effect of the Act of Uniformity on Baptists and its Ecumenical Significance for Baptists Today', Ecclesiology 9.2 (2013)
___'"For the Dance all Things Were Made": The Great Dance in C.S. Lewis' Perelandra' in C. S. Lewis's Perelandra : Reshaping the Image of the Cosmos edited by Judith Wolfe and Brendan Wolfe (Kent State University Press, 2013)
___ 'Sacrifice, Atonement and Renewal: Intersections Between Girard, Kristeva, and Balthasar' in Sacrifice and Modern Thought edited by Julia Meszaros and Johannes Zachhuber (Oxford University Press, 2013), 48-65.
___ with Günter Badder, 'Whatever Happened to a Pauline Text? 2 Corinthians 3.6 and its Afterlife' in The Spirit and the Letter: A Tradition and a Reversal edited by Günter Badder and Paul S. Fiddes (T & T Clark, 2013)
___ 'The Late-Modern Reversal of Spirit and Letter: Derrida, Augustine and Film' in The Spirit and the Letter: A Tradition and a Reversal edited by Günter Badder and Paul S. Fiddes (T & T Clark, 2013)
___ Seeing the World and Knowing God: Hebrew Wisdom and Christian Doctrine in a Late-Modern Context (Oxford University Press, 2013)
___ 'Relational Trinity: Radical Perspective' in Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity edited by Jason Sexton (Zondervan, 2014)
___ with Brian Haymes and Richard Kidd, Baptists and the Communion of Saints: A Theology of Covenanted Disciples (Baylor, 2014)
___ 'Wisdom and Spirit: The Loss and Re-making of Relationship', Perspectives in Religious Studies 41.2 (Summer 2014)
___ 'The Church Local and Universal: Catholic and Baptist Perspectives on Koinonia Ecclesiology' in Revisioning, Renewing, Rediscovering the Triune Center: Essays in Honor of Stanley J. Grenz edited by Derek Tidball, Brian Harries and Jason Sexton (Cascade, 2014)
___ 'War and Poetry’ in Step Into Your Place. The First World War and Baptist Life and Thought edited by Larry Kreitzer (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Studies, 2014), 1-22.
___  ‘Law and Divine Mercy in Shakespeare’s Religious Imagination: Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice’ in Poetry and the Religious Imagination: The Power of the Word edited by Francesca Knox (Ashgate: 2015).
___ ‘Charles Williams and the Problem of Evil’, in C. S. Lewis and His Circles: Essays and Memoirs from the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society edited by Judith Wolfe and Brendan Wolfe (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015).
___ ‘God and Story in the Church and in Doctrine. Reflections on the Ecclesial Basis of Method in Theology’, Ecclesial Practices (2015).
___ ‘Restorative Justice and the Theological Dynamic of Forgiveness’, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion (2015).
___ (ed.), Sharing the Faith at the Boundaries of Unity. Further Conversations Between Anglicans and Baptists (Regent's Park College, 2016)
___ 'Dystopia, Utopia, and Millennium: Competing Images of Presence in an Anxious World', Perspectives in Religious Studies 43.1 (Spring 2016)
___ 'Baptists and Theological Education: A Vision for the 21st Century' in Baptist Identity into the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Ken Manley edited by Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley College, 2016).
___ 'Versions of Ecclesiology', Ecclesiology 12.3 (2016), 331-53.
___ 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit: The Triune Creator in Hymn and Theology' in Gathering Disciples: Essays in Honor of Christopher J. Ellis edited by Myra Blyth and Andy Goodliff (Pickwick, 2017).
___ 'Covenant and Participation: A Personal Review of the Essays', Perspectives in Religious Studies 44.1 (Spring 2017).
___ 'A Fourth Strand of the Reformation', Ecclesiology 13.2 (2017), 153-59.
___ with Anthony J. Clarke, Dissenting Spirit: A History of Regent's Park College. 1752-2017 (Oxford: Regent's Park College, 2017).
___ 'Christianity, Atonement and Evil' in The Cambridge Companion to the Problem of Evil edited by Chad Meister and Paul K. Moser (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
___ 'Shakespeare in Church: Reflection on an Intertextual Liturgy Based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream', Ecclesial Practices 4.2 (2017), 199-217.
___ 'The Sacramental Modernism of David Jones and the World as Text' in David Jones: A Christian Modernist? edited by Paul S. Fiddes et al. (Brill, 2018), 227-48.
___ 'Covenant: An Ecclesiology of an Undivided Christ' in David S. Dockrey et al (eds.), Worship, Tradition, and Engagement: Essays in Honor of Timothy George (Pickwick, 2018)
___ 'Covenant and the Inheritance of Separatism' in The Fourth Strand of the Reformation edited by Paul S. Fiddes (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Series, 2018)
___ 'Baptist Concepts of the Church and their Antecedents' in Paul Avis (ed.), The Oxford Handbook to Ecclesiology (Oxford University Press, 2018)
___ 'A Theological Reconsideration of 'The Wild'', Louvain Studies 41.3 (2018), 317-27
___ 'The Rhythm of God on Monday' in Rhythm of Faithfulness: Essays in Honor of John E. Colwell edited by Andy Goodliff and Paul Goodliff (Pickwick, 2018) 
___ 'The Trinity, Modern Art, and Participation in God' in C. R. Brewer (ed.), Christian Theology and the Transformation of Natural Religion: From Incarnation to Sacramentality: Essays in Honour of David Brown (Peeters, 2018)
___ 'Religious Rights and Freedoms within the Baptist Tradition: Theological Foundations' in Crossing Baptist Boundaries edited by Erich Geldbach (Mercer, 2019).
___ (ed.) with John H. Y. Briggs, Peoples of God: Baptists and Jews over Four Centuries (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Series, 2019)
___ 'The Web of Peacemakers' in 'A World Order of Love': Baptists and the Peacemakers edited by Paul S. Fiddes (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Series, 2019).
___ 'Is This the Promised End? Shakespearen Tragedy and a Christian Tragic Theology for Today' in The Transformations of Tragedy edited by Fionnuala Tonning et al (Brill, 2019).
___ 'Forgiveness, Empathy and Vulnerability: An Unfinished Conversation with Pamela Sue Anderson', Angelaki 25.1-2 (2020)
___ with Brian Haymes and Richard Kidd, Communion, Covenant and Creativity: An Approach to the Communion of Saints through the Arts (Cascade, 2020).
___ 'Ecumenical Relations and the Creation of Liturgy' in Reconciling Rites: Essays in Honour of Myra N. Blyth edited by Andy Goodliff et al (Oxford: Centre for Baptist Studies, 2020).
___ 'Baptist Ecclesiology' in T & T Clark Handbook of Ecclesiology edited by Kimlyn J. Bender and D. Stephen Long (T & T Clark, 2020).
___ 'Sacraments in a Virtual World: A Baptist Approach' in Baptist Sacramentalism 3 edited by Anthony R. Cross and Philip E. Thompson (Pickwick, 2020).
___ 'Creation in Freedom and Love' in Theology of Freedom: Religious and Anthropological Foundations of Freedom in a Global Context edited by Irina Yazykova (2021).
___ 'Wisdom in Christian Theology' in The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible edited by Will Kynes (Oxford University Press, 2021).
___ 'Shakespeare and Spirituality' in Re-Membering the Body: The Witness of History, Theology and the Arts in Honour of Ruth M. B. Gouldbourne edited by Anthony R. Cross and Brian Haymes (Pickwick, 2021).
___ 'A Short History of the Angus Library and Archives, Regent's Park College, Oxford', Baptist Quarterly 52.3 (2021).
___ (ed.), Love as Common Ground: Essays on Love in Religion (Lexham, 2021).
___ 'God is Love, but is Love God? Towards a Theology of Love as Knowledge' in Love as Common Ground: Essays on Love in Religion (2021)
___ Charles Williams and C.S.Lewis: Friends in Co-inherence (Oxford University Press, 2021)
___ Iris Murdoch and the Others: A Writer in Dialogue with Theology (T & T Clark, 2021)
___ 'A Sacramental World: Refiguring the Sacred and the Secular in David Jaspar's "Sacred" Trilogy' in Sacred Modes of Being in a Postsecular World edited by Andrew Haas (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
___ 'Baptists in the Age of Brahms' German Requiem', Baptist Quarterly 53.1 (2022).
___ More Things in Heaven and Earth: Shakespeare, Theology, and the Interplay of Texts (Virginia, 2022).
___ 'Imagination, Theology and Literature (D. W. D. Shaw Memorial Lecture 2022', Theology in Scotland 29.1 (2022) 7-22.
___ 'Ministry and Poetry' in Ministry in Conversation: Essays in Honour of Paul Goodliff edited by Andy Goodliff and John Colwell (Wipf & Stock, 2022).
___ 'The Mythology and Theology of the Unicorn' in Attending to the Margins: Essays in Honour of Stephen Finamore edited by Helen Paynter and Peter Hatton (Regent's Park College, 2022).
___ 'Revelation and Normativity' in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research edited by Pete Ward and Knut Tveitereid (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022).
___ 'Unity and Universality, Locality and Diversity According to Baptist Thinking about the Church' in Receptive Ecumenism as Transformative Ecclesial Learning: Walking the Way to a Church Re-formed edited by Paul Murray et al (Oxford University Press, 2022).
___ 'Outlines of an Eco-Love-Theology' in Loving the Planet: Interfaith Essays on Ecology, Love, and Theology edited by Paul Fiddes (Firedint, 2022).
___ 'Covenanting Churches' in Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology edited by Teun van der Leer et al (Cascade, 2022).
___ 'Baptists and the Writing of Literature in the Nineteenth Century', Baptist Quarterly 54.1 (2023).
___ 'The Baptist Idea of a University', Perspectives in Religious Studies (2023).
___ 'The Suffering of God' in T & T Clark Handbook to Suffering and the Problem of Evil edited by Matthias Grebe and Johannes Grossl (T & T Clark, 2023).
___ 'Jesus as the Pattern of Love in Atonement', St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology
___ 'Synodality: A Perspective from the Baptist Tradition of Covenant', Ecclesiology 20.1 (2024)
___ 'Sam Sharpe: The Scriptures that Motivated Him and their Implications for Today', Baptist Quarterly 55.3 (2024)

God's Companions: Reimagining Christian Ethics

I love a good book and this one arrived on my doormat this morning. It's the new book by Sam Wells, author of Improvisation, which was one of the best books I read in 2004/5. This one could be one of the best of 2006. As I continue to wrestle with ecclesiology and the implications of being church, this is another book to help. Wells' argument is that God in Jesus, the church and the eucharist has given us everything we need to God's companions. He wants to see the way we be and do church, especially the elements that make up the eucharistic service, as the resources required we to live the Christian life. That is what we do and say is moral training or discipleship for the Christian life. The book is full of stories which demonstrate Well's argument and that show the simplicity of being members of God's people can enable us to embody the Christian life.

British Baptist Theologians No. 1: John Colwell

John has kindly allowed me to ask him a few questions.

What theologian/book has had the most influence on your theology?
Hard to reduce to one: Barth, Gunton, Hauerwas, Trible, Aquinas.

What was the last book you read?
I’ve just finished Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (probably not what you wanted). I’m presently reading Eugene Rogers' After the Spirit: A Constructive Pneumatology from Resources Outside the West

What do you think will be major discussion points in baptist theology over the next 10 years?
I hope that the twin pressures of post-denominationalism and ecumenical relationships will compel us to think more consistently about sacramentality in general and the nature of ministry and the Church in particular. However, I suspect (sadly) that discussions will be dominated by issues of sexuality.

What do you think is the greatest challenge for those in ministry today?
The coherence and credibility of the Church as a distinct culture/society.

Can you tell us anything about your current writing project?
I’m trying more resolutely to integrate doctrine, worship, and ethics – others must judge the degree of success.

How would you describe yourself in three words?
Either ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ or ‘eccentric, provocative, and funny’  - take your pick

John is a provocative theologian, who is unafraid to speak his mind on a subject, which is probably why I like him so much.

Tutor in Christian Doctrine and Ethics, Spurgeon's College (1994-2009)
Senior Research Fellow, Spurgeon's College (2009-)

John completed his Ph.D at King's College London under Colin Gunton.

Selected Publications:

___ 'A Radical Church? A Reappraisal of Anabaptist Ecclesiology', Tyndale Bulletin, 38 (1989): 119-41 
___ Actuality and Provisionality: Eternity and Election in the Theology of Karl Barth (Rutherford House, 1989 / Wipf & Stock, 2011)
___ 'Alternative Approaches to Believer's Baptism (from the Anabaptists to Barth)', Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 7 (1989), 3-20
___ 'Proclamation as Event: Barth's supposed "universalism" in the context of his view of mission' in Mission to the World: Essays to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ordination of George Raymond Beasley-Murray to the Christian ministry edited by Paul Beasley-Murray (Baptist Historical Society, 1991), pp.42-46
___ 'The Contemporaneity of the Divine Decision: Reflections on Barth's Denial of "Universalism"' in Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell edited by Nigel M. de S. Cameron (Baker Book House, 1993), 139-60
___ 'Christ, Creation and Human Sexuality' in The Way Forward? Christian Voices on Homosexuality and the Church edited by Timothy Bradshaw (Hodder & Stoughton, 1997 / SCM, 2003), 88-98
___ 'Characterisation and Character: an ethic of integration in Anthony Trollope's The Warden', Studies in Christian Ethics 10.2 (1997), 1-12
___ 'Perspectives on Judas: Barth's implicit hermeneutic' in Interpreting the Bible: Historical and Theological Studies in honour of David F. Wright edited by A. N. S. Lane (Apollos, 1997), 163-179
___ 'Baptism, Conscience and the Resurrection: A Reappraisal of 1 Peter 3:21' in Baptism, the New Testament and the Church: Historical and Contemporary Studies in Honour of R. E. O. White edited by S. E. Porter and A. R. Cross (Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 210-27
___ (ed.) Called To One Hope: Perspectives on Life to Come: Drew Lectures on Immortality (Paternoster, 2000)
___ 'The Glory of God': Justice and the Glory of God's Grace: Contemporary Reflections on the Doctrine of Hell in the Teaching of Jonathan Edwards', in Called to One Hope (Paternoster, 2000), 112-29
___ Living the Christian Story: The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics (T & T Clark, 2001)
___ 'Offending in Many things: a comparison of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas on the nature of sin in the believer' in Wesley Papers: Papers presented to The Wesley Fellowship Conference in 2000 edited by Paul Taylor (The Wesley Fellowship, 2002), 3-14
___ 'The Sacramental Nature of  Ordination: An Attempt to Re-engage a Catholic Understanding and Practice' in Baptist Sacramentalism edited by Anthony R. Cross and Philip E. Thompson (Paternoster, 2003), 228-46
___ Promise and Presence: An Exploration of Sacramental Theology (Paternoster, 2005)
___ 'The Church as Ethical Community' in The Bible in Pastoral Practice edited by Paul Ballard and Stephen R. Holmes (DLT, 2005)
___ 'Mission as Ontology: a question of theological grammar', Baptist Minister's Journal (July 2006), 7-12
___ 'In Defence of Christendom', Baptist Minister's Journal (April 2007), 21-29
___ The Rhythm of Doctrine: A Liturgical Sketch of Christian Faith and Faithfulness (2007, Paternoster)
___ 'The Church as Sacrament: A Mediating Presence' in Baptist Sacramentalism 2 edited by Anthony R. Cross and Philip E. Thompson (Paternoster, 2008), 48-60.
___ 'Catholicity and Confessionalism: Responding to George Beasley-Murray on Unity and Distinctiveness', Baptist Quarterly 43.1 (2009)
___ 'The Coherence of freedom: can Church and state ever be truly free?' in Challenging to Change: dialogues with a radical baptist theologian. Essays presented to Dr Nigel G. Wright on his sixtieth birthday edited by Pieter J. Lalleman (Spurgeon's College, 2009)
___ Why Have You Forsaken Me? A Personal Reflection on the Experience of Desolation (Paternoster, 2009)
___ 'Provisionality and Promise: Avoiding Ecclesiastical Nestorianism?' in  The Theology of Colin Gunton edited by Lincoln Harvey (T & T Clark, 2010)
___ 'A Matter of Conscience: A Quest for Otherness' in Questions of Identity: Essays in Honour of Brian Haymes edited by Anthony R. Cross and Ruth Gouldbourne (Regent's Park College, 2011)
___ 'The Word of His Grace: What's So Distinctive about Scripture?' in The "Plainly Revealed" Word of God? Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice edited by Simon Woodman and Helen Dare (Mercer, 2011)
___ 'Theology, Piety and Prayer: On the Study of Theology', European Journal of Theology 20.1 (2011), 51-59
___ 'What is Truth? Evangelicalism, Foundationalism and a Hermeneutic of Witness' in Grounded in Grace: Essays to Honour Ian M. Randall edited by Pieter J. Lalleman, Peter J. Modern and Anthony R. Cross (Spurgeon's College and Baptist Historical Society, 2013)
___ 'A Conversation Overheard: Reflecting on the Trinitarian Grammar of Intimacy and Substance', Evangelical Quarterly 86.1 (January 2014)
___ '"In the Beginning was the Word ...": On Language and Presence' in Within the Love of God: Essays on the Doctrine of God in Honour of Paul S. Fiddes edited by Anthony Clarke and Andrew Moore (Oxford, 2014)
___ 'Doctrinal Ethics', Baptist Ministers' Journal 332 (October 2016)
___ 'Integrity and Relatedness: Some Critical Reflections on Congregationalism and Connexionalism', Baptist Quarterly 48.1 (January 2017)
___ 'Indwelling the Gospel Story', Baptist Ministers' Journal 342 (April 2019)
___ '"A profound mystery": The Real, the Mystical, and the Sacramental' in Baptist Sacramentalism 3 edited by Anthony R. Cross and Philip E. Thompson (Pickwick, 2020)
___ 'The Lord's Supper: A Personal Journey Through a Confusing Ecclesial Landscape', Baptist Quarterly (2022)
___ 'Colin Gunton' in British Evangelical Theologians of the Twentieth Century edited by Jason Sexton and Thomas Noble (IVP, 2022)
___ 'Ministry as Prayer' in Ministry in Conversation: Essays in Honour of Paul Goodliff edited by Andy Goodliff and John Colwell (Wipf & Stock, 2022)

The Open Church

What would it be like if Christian congregations and communities were no longer to regard themselves only as "the communities of saints," or the "congregation of the faithful," but as such a "community of friends"? Then they would have to overcome the much-lamented disconnectedness among churchgoers, and make it possible for a person to feel at home in their community. Then they would have to break through their unconscious and sometimes, unfortunately, also very deliberate exclusivity with respect to the "evil world" and "unbelievers," and be ready for friendship with the friendless.

(The Open Church, Jurgen Moltmann, 1978, SCM, p.62)

Wake up you lazy blighters!

From Archbishop Sentamu's Maundy Thursday Sermon:

Children are always challenging and for ever bringing me down to earth.

In Birmingham I visited a school preparing for its OFSTED inspection, just before Holy Week. The children knew very well the events of Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. We got to the Garden of Gesthemane and I asked, “What did Jesus say to his three disciples who were sleeping?”

A ten-year old piped up and said, “Wake up you lazy blighters! Judas is here: he’s been paid to get me nicked! Don’t forget what I told you. I said to you, “This is my body, this is my blood. Stick to bread and wine; don’t touch my Easter Eggs. I will be back on Sunday!”

EASTER ICONS: seeing the face of Christ

Easter Icons a walk about exhibition with things to do and see that will help you to contemplate, reflect, question and wonder at the easter story (suitable for all ages). That's how I described it. We used readings, pictures (Christ We Share / Pictures of Jesus A + B / plus others) and sculptures and symbolic actions. These were designed to help people take a fresh view of the easter story, shake us out of our Western picture of Jesus and engage and involve us in the easter drama. We were open from 12-8pm yesterday and we had over 100 people come and visit. You can see photos and some of the stuff used here. 

1. The Last Supper (Luke 22.14-30) - Sarah and Naomi Hollands

2. The garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22.39-46) - Jude Purvey | symbolic action: draw round your hand and write of prayer of thanks

3. Jesus is disowned by Peter (Luke 22.54.62) - Andy Goodliff | reading: 'I did not know the man' from Open to Judgement: Sermons and Addresses, by Rowan Williams (1994, DLT) | symbolic action: Peter leaves his fishing nets to follow Jesus, walks on water, is called Satan, is named the future leader of the church, denies knowing Jesus, and is forgiven and reaffirmed. With Peter what you see is what get. This man has strengths and weakness. In saying ‘I am Peter’ we recognise that we are disciples-in-training, people whose lives bear fruit and also live among weeds. Write down your strengths and weaknesses around the statement ‘I AM PETER’ acknowledging and accepting who you are and asking God to continue the work of transforming us in to the image of Christ.

4. Jesus before Pilate (John 18.33-19.16a) - Helen Swinyard | symbolic action: Pilate asks Jesus what is truth? He wants Jesus to explain truth in propositional terms – statements which can be proved or disproved. Jesus remains silent, because he is truth: the truth of God, who reveals the truth about he world and humanity, who reveals the truth about ourselves (see John 3.16-21). Jesus gives Pilate his answer not in words, but (ironically) in crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus is truth embodied, truth given flesh. We encounter the truth of God not in following a scientific theorem or philosophical argument, but in facing the face of the crucified and risen Christ and following on his coat-tails. As a reminder, write the name Jesus using any of the materials on the table and take it home with you.

5. Judas betrays (Matt. 26.14-16, 47-50; 27.3-10) - Hannah Goodliff | reading: 'the Judas I Never Knew' by Kester Brewin (Complex Christ blog) | symbolic action: The tradition of the church has been prone to making Judas one-dimensional, to make him something less than human. Judas’ moment of betrayal is also a moment of revelation as he finally recognises completely that Jesus will not be made to fit Judas’ expectations of the Messiah (hat-tip to Kester Brewin). When Judas throws the money back at the chief priests, it is a sign that he has let go of his agenda for Jesus. As you are invited to throw the coins into the baptistry, let it be a sign of repentance, a sign that we let go of our attempts to mould Jesus into our image and rather we allow Jesus to mould us into his image.

6. Simon of Cyrene helps carry the cross (Luke 23.26) - Miriam and Ella Pugh | symbolic action: Jesus did not just talk about ‘taking up your cross’, but picked up his cross and carried the means of his death through the narrow streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. As a sign of your commitment to walk the way of the cross, lift up the piece of wood (it was heavy!) and pray.

7. Jesus on the cross (Mark 15.36 [24-36]) - Hannah Goodliff | symbolic action: Golgotha where Jesus was crucified would have had the smell and taste of death, a place where hope appears absent, a place where God appears absent (the cry of Jesus is the cry of abandonment). Soak a piece of sponge in the bowl, smell and taste the vinegar as you read the passage. Do you identify with Jesus’ cry of abandonment? The story of Easter, the story of the Christian faith is a story where hope can appear absent, where God appears absent. Yet the words of Jesus before he dies ‘It is finished/complete/accomplished’ are a flicker in the deep darkness that hope is not lost.

8. The passion of Christ (a flash video) - Steve Goodliff

9. Seven words from the cross (Mark 15.34; Luke 23.43, 46; John 19.26-27, 28, 30) - Helen Swinyard

10. The curtain is torn (Mark 15.37-38) - Helen Swinyard | symbolic action: The temple curtain tearing into is a sign that the way to God is open, through Jesus we die to sin and self and live for God. On the piece of paper draw or write anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God. Then tear it in half as a sign that through Jesus you are accepted and forgiven.

11. Facing the face of Christ (2 Cor 3.18; 4.6) | symbolic action: As we face the crucified and risen Jesus, as we live our lives before him, as we seek to follow in his footsteps, so we believe we are transformed. Salvation is not just a saving from sin and death, but a saving for a life that ‘loves mercy, acts justly and walks humbly with our God’ (Micah 6.8). Take a picture of the face of Jesus home with you and stick it on your fridge or bathroom mirror to help you live before, and seek, the face of God.

I also did some readings based round key words: face / icon / servant / choices / salvation / betrayal / denial / death / devotion / suffering / guilty / facing the face of Christ - I got this idea from Chris Curtis

Some comments:

'Thought-provoking'

'An engagement of the senses'

'good to be brought out of our "good" non-conformist evangelical mould to face Jesus in more unexpected ways'

'thankyou also for the opportunity to share this as a family, particularly hands on/visual aspects for us all'

'the atmosphere on entering the church was awesome'

Thanks to my awesome team - Hannah, Helen, Ashley and Richard (we were at the church setting up thursday night from 9pm-1.30am) and those who contributed artistically - Sarah and Naomi, Jude, Rosie, Edna, Freda, Steve and also my dad for helping me with some of the reflections.

The Bible in TransMission

The Bible in TransMission has been a flagship publication for Bible Society since the late 1990s.  You can download and read loads of good article here. Authors include Steve Holmes, Stuart Murray, Kevin Vanhoozer, John Drane, Chris Partridge, Nigel Wright, Ched Myers, Luke Bretherton, Brian Draper, Tom Wright, Eddie Gibbs, Jonathan Bartleby, Duncan Forrester. Worth checking out.

'Dallas Willard calls the issue of poor or non-existent discipleship the elephant in the Western Church. It's there in the middle of all we do. We walk around it, make allowances for it and try to live with it. But we rarely name it as the biggest obstacle in our missional task, and are even less likely to intentionally shift it'
(James Catford speaking with Steve Holmes, The Bible in TransMission, Summer 2002)

Baptists on children and church

If we are not to exclude believing children in our fellowship we thus need to think in a more open way about what 'membership' means. Believing children are already members of the body of Christ, but they have not yet covenanted with other members ... They are members of the body, but not yet commissioned ... Before this, children do not have a vote in church meeting, but they do have voices to which we need to listen as we think about the meaning of the life and the mission of the church. As members of the body of Christ, they supply some of the limbs through which Christ will become visible. The face of Christ will have empty patches if the features they supply are missing ... Christ wants to show himself to us through them, not through 'child-preachers' but through their simply being children.

(Paul Fiddes, Tracks and Traces: Baptist Identity in Church and Theology, 2003, 139)

One of the Five Core Values of the Baptist Union is being 'an inclusive community': 'our lives together will transcend barriers of gender, language, race, class, age and culture creating communities which welcome and accept those on the margins of life and learn from them.'

'... we cannot be a whole community unless children play a full part, nor can children develop in their discipleship unless they participate and belong in a meaningful way to a community of people of all ages committed to one another on the pilgrim journey'

(Anne Dunkley, Seen and Heard: Reflections on children and Baptist tradition, The Whitley Lecture 1999-2000, 1999, 33)

Questions about church

Not for the first time questions about church are in my focus. Here are some I am answering.

Why would we want to include children in our worship services, when age-appropriate groups are better for them and for us?
Why do our children need to be present in worship services for them to be included?
Why would we want to include children in our worship services, when our children find them boring?
Why should the life and mission of the church be shaped by our children?
Why is whole church worship necessary or important?
What is church?
Why do we gather together for worship services?
What scares us about including children in our worship services?
Are we afraid worship services will become out of control and unpredictable?
Are we afraid that adults will be uncomfortable in a worship service where children are included as equal participants?
Are we afraid adults will leave our church if we include children in our worship services?
Are we concerned that the sermon will become a less important part of the worship service?
What happens to church when we dare to assume that children have the same claim on worship space, ritual, style, content of worship as the adults?
How can including children in our worship services be seen as prophetic?
Why do we provide children's work and youth work? Who's benefit is it for?
What comes first a theology of church or a theology of mission?
Is our church shaped by consumer concerns?
Does the way we do church reflect that we are overly concerned with control, order, structure, uniformity and cleanliness?
Does the way we do church enable us to grow in our discipleship? What does growing in discipleship mean?
What does it mean to be a child in our church? Do we recognise them as members of the church community?
What are our expectations of our children? Are children disciples?
What groups in our church are 'not seen and not heard'?
What does it mean to be family in our church?
What does it mean to say we are community?
Is language of 'active participation' in worship services idealistic? Why?