You Tube Theology

Series One: God acts in history

In the first few weeks of this video series, we will explore the idea that God is not remote and disinterested, but rolls up his sleeve and gets involved in the real events of the past and the present.

Episode Four: He laughs at kings
In this episode we explore God's dealings with the arrogant powers of this world - in biblical times and today.

The poem quoted in today's episode was Malcolm Guite's Herod. It can be found here https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/herod/

Series information.
In a world which seems to be spirally more rapidly into chaos with every passing year, what grounds can there possibly be for hope? Can we avoid lapsing into sheer pessimism without falling into the traps of blithe denialism or saccharine platitudes?
In this weekly series, Baptist minister and biblical scholar Helen Paynter takes viewers through some of the chief biblical reasons for hope. This is not a parade of inspirational Bible verses extracted from their context but a deep dive into the rich and foundational truths of God's word, embedded in the rich themes and live-giving narrative of Scripture.
Wherever life finds you right now, you are invited to join us for this year-long journey. Through our engagement with his word, may God lead us all into a deeper understanding, a stronger faith, and a surer hope for God's promised future.

Revd Dr Helen Paynter is Tutor in Biblical Studies at Bristol Baptist College (https://www.bristol-baptist.ac.uk/). She is the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/). Please see the CSBV's website and our YouTube channel for plenty of other content.

You may also be interested to view Helen's lockdown Tour of the Bible, with one video for each book of the Bible (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkJ0iVHAOGVtlGc7QMTtkzyjjAGZfbkJE).

Helen is the author of a number of books including:
God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today? Wrestling honestly with the Old Testament (BRF, 2019);
The Bible Doesn't Tell Me So: Why you don't have to submit to domestic abuse and coercive control (BRF, 2020);
Blessed are the Peacemakers: A biblical theology of human violence (Zondervan, 2023)