The new nation of Israel is coming into existence, and its institutions have to be created from scratch. Everyone has questions, there's much to be decided and Moses feels he's the only one who can do it. He makes himself permanently availa...

Exodus 19 depicts God as someone to be feared – not just in the sense of awe and respect, but in the sense of terror. The presence of God on Mount Sinai is life-threatening to all except his chosen mediators, Moses and Aaron.

After the terrifying display of God’s power and holiness that ends with the giving of the Ten Commandments, these last few verses of Exodus 20 are remarkably undramatic. An altar of earth seems nothing special. It is not ornate or valuable in itsel...

In this chapter Paul is continuing his encouragement to the Corinthian Christians to be generous in their giving. His words are inspiring, but need to be read with care. When he says that 'the one who sows many seeds will have a large crop'...

In chapter 10, the tone changes. From writing a beautiful hymn to generosity, Paul becomes more combative. He is facing opposition from people who don't think he is a very impressive figure (verse 10) and are questioning his authority – and th...

Paul's irritation at those who criticised his ministry sometimes boils over. This is one of those times – he is frustrated that the Corinthians are being led astray by smooth talkers who don't really grasp the heart of the gospel (verse 4...

We shouldn't, of course, think that Paul's life of discipleship was one of unrelenting suffering, as the previous chapter might suggest. Far from it: he was given visions of glory that sustained him in his discipleship.

At the end of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he moderates the fierceness of his tone towards them with expressions of loving care. He prays that they will be 'perfect' (verse 9) and blesses them (verse 13). He has been sharp with th...

The healing of the man at the pool of Bethzatha, or Bethesda, makes a very rich story. The pool is known as a place of miracles – it was believed that an angel disturbed the waters from time to time, and that the first person in the water after tha...

Jesus' miracles impress the people. But when he starts to talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood – veiled references to his sacrificial death, and to the sacrificial meal worshippers shared – he loses them. They can't believ...

At this point in John's Gospel, Jesus is facing a lot of opposition from 'the Jews', as some translations say – it was really the Jewish leaders, who were threatened and worried by his revolutionary message, and modern translations t...

Corinth had a reputation throughout the Roman Empire for being a particularly immoral city, prone to all kinds of sexual licence. In Paul's day it may have been no worse than any other seaport, but mud sticks. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul picks on s...

Paul was writing at a time when the idea that people's bodies were in any way sacrosanct had very little traction. Slavery was normal. People's physical appetites were there to be satisfied – 'Food is for the stomach and the stomach ...

This chapter is sometimes mined for its teaching about marriage. But step back from the details, and what strikes us is its common-sense approach not just to marriage, but to living faithfully in the world as it is. Perhaps Paul is dealing with peopl...

At first glance, a passage about food sacrificed to idols might not have much to say to twenty-first century readers. In Paul's time, animals would routinely have been dedicated to a particular god or goddess when they were slaughtered and the m...

In this chapter, Paul is stressing his absolute focus on fulfilling the mission God has given him. It would be perfectly reasonable and right, he says, for him to be supported in his work by the churches and to live a normal family life. But he'...

At the beginning of this chapter, Paul goes back into Israelite history to make a point about responsibility. As the people wandered in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, they repeatedly sinned against God, and suffered accordingly. So, says Paul, C...

The Lord's Supper, or Communion, Eucharist or Mass, is meant to be the point at which the whole Church comes together. The number of names for it indicate that it's often the point at which we're most divided, as different traditions a...

Sometimes Paul writes very dense theology that we puzzle over and decide is too hard for us. At other times, like this, he is luminously clear. The Spirit gives us all different gifts, he says. Underlying his teaching to the Corinthian church is the ...

There’s no comfort in the words of Job’s friends, who insist on seeing his suffering as a sign of his guilt. Neither defending himself nor staying silent alleviate his situation. It does seem like God is his enemy.