How would you reply if a student asks you this question? It is right to say that Jesus suffered an innocent death on the Cross, and in the place of all, me or you. You are also correct in saying that the cross was a punishment of some sort, though as you stated not a punishment for Jesus’ error, as He was innocent. Scripture tells us that the cross was a punishment for the sin of the world that justified sinners before God (Romans 5:9). However the punishment of Christ’s death on the Cross cannot be considered as God abusing His child, as we see through Scripture and commentaries, the Christian understanding is that Jesus Christ did not let His human body die begrudgingly (as if it were a circumstance out of His control), but willingly, out of choice and compassion for us, His creation. He was the Word who created us who also chose to save us. The majority of what I base my discussion on is found in St. Athanasius’ argument and writing On the Incarnation ( De Incarnatione Verbi Dei...

Elective Study - Question A A music student in your CU / MN group emails you out of the blue asking to go for a coffee because they would value your advice on their future. They came to music college / university convinced they wanted to be an orchestral player, but they’re wondering whether in fact they’d be more useful to God by going into ministry What advice would you give? What things would you try to cover? What questions would you ask them? To which passages of the Bible might you take them? I’m encouraged that your motive for potentially changing careers is because you want to be as useful to God as possible. That is a good thing to want. Though I want to question your idea of what actually makes a person more or less useful to God, and what the Bible has to say on it. I don’t think I can think of anywhere that specifies Christians are more useful if in ministry roles than if in secular jobs. One passage that may be used in defence of that view could be Matthew ...

Core Study Response Four: Seminar titled ‘Creation: Made to be Human’ Rewind back 3 years ago, when I was helping out on a cereal bar with Kingston CU (the idea was that passer-byers came with a question and we gave them an answer and free cereal in return); there came a young man enquiring about my view on evolution. In attempt to fast-forward to the good stuff of the gospel, my reply was something along the lines of ‘well if I’m honest, I don’t think there’s a point in discussing evolution because it’s claimed to have happened so long ago we cant check, and I dont think it matters to our lives whether the world came about in a million years or in five days.’ I remember the conversation distinctly because of its abruptness. After my reply this young man sternly said ‘I think this is where our conversation comes to an end’ and walked away. I later tried to find him and apologise for my miscommunication, but I really did hold to that belief for a very long time. So, when I first he...