On the 500th anniversary since Martin Luther supposedly posted his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg - effectively ushering in what would become known as the protestant reformation – Rev Canon Steve Chalke is launching the new ‘Chalke Talk’ video web series. Through a weekly succession of videos, Steve will focus minds on ninety five burning questions that he believes the Church needs to face up to as part of a radical rethink of its theology, engagement and role in society.
Rev Canon Steve Chalke says, “In the early years of the 16th century, German priest and scholar Martin Luther came to believe that the shape of the established Church and its relationship to the State did not fit the needs of the world in which he was called to live and serve.
“In the early years of the 21st century it is clear, once more, that the shape of the established Church and its relationship to the State no longer fits the needs of the world in which we are called to live and serve. It is time, once again, to reimagine the role of faith, Church and its place in the public square.”
Over the coming two years Steve Chalke, who as well as leading Oasis Globally serves as the senior minister of Oasis Church in Waterloo, central London, will be posting his ninety five revolutionary questions about the way the Church operates in video form, one at a time, week-by-week, on the worldwide web. So far the series consists of:
WATCH week 1: Introduction and an invitation to conversation
WATCH week 2: Luther, the state and misunderstanding Scripture
WATCH week 3: Bad theology costs lives
WATCH week 4: The Church needs heretics
WATCH week 5: Here I stand, I can do no other
WATCH week 6: Dealing with the difficult bits of the Bible
WATCH week 7: We must interpret the Bible or we make it irrelevant
WATCH week 8: If it doesn't look like Jesus, it's not God
WATCH week 9: The way we use the Bible is driving down church attendance
WATCH week 10: Take the Bible seriously, not literally
WATCH week 11: Dealing with the Bible's contradictions
WATCH week 12: Calling the Bible infallible has stopped us taking it seriously
WATCH week 13: Juvenile Bible reading endangering LGBT mental health
WATCH week 14: The Bible is a library that invites debate
WATCH week 15: 100 years after women get the vote, the church still lags on social change
WATCH week 16: The Bible cannot have the final word on morality
WATCH week 17: The catastrophic consequences of misunderstanding Paul
WATCH week 18: Society needs spirituality and character
WATCH week 19: Jesus abandoned the letter of the law to embrace the spirit of it
WATCH week 20: Jesus got angry - but only with the religious
WATCH week 21 - The story of Genesis is the story of inclusion
WATCH week 22: The scandalous inclusion of Acts 8
WATCH week 23: Jesus wasn't afraid of scandal when it came to inclusion
WATCH week 24: Heaven can't just be for Christians
WATCH week 25: Christianity NOT about life after death
WATCH week 26: God is not angry; God is love
WATCH week 27: Anguish is different than Anger
WATCH week 28: We're made in God's image, but he's not made in ours
WATCH week 29: We all need to worship something
WATCH week 30: To journey with God is to know God
WATCH week 31: Holiness means engaging, not withdrawing
WATCH week 32: God suffers too
WATCH week 33: Traditional view of the cross "cheapens God's forgiveness"
WATCH week 34: Misunderstanding the Cross has made Church 'judgemental' and 'angry'
WATCH week 35: Christianity is not a personal rescue plan
WATCH week 36: Banning conversion therapy is still in danger of missing the heart of the issue
WATCH week 37: Making the cross about vengeance stops us from loving our enemies
WATCH week 38: The Cross and the Pain of Loss
WATCH week 39: Why does good theology matter?
WATCH week 40: What are life's biggest questions?
WATCH week 41: The Spirit or The Letter of the Law?
WATCH week 42: Original sin or original goodness?
WATCH week 43: Can we really believe the story of Adam and Eve?
WATCH week 44: What does the "image of God" mean? Part I
WATCH week 45: What does the "image of God" mean? Part II
WATCH week 46: So what is a Christian anyway?
WATCH week 47: Did Paul defy Jesus' teaching?
WATCH week 48: Whose God is it anyway?
WATCH week 49: Jesus 'couldn't care less' about religion?
WATCH week 50: Does God love religion or people?
WATCH week 51: Is religion the invention of the powerful – the ultimate mechanism for maintaining control?
WATCH week 52: Is the Bible the Word of God, or does it point to the Word of God?
WATCH week 53: Does God always get his own way?
WATCH week 54: How do we take evil seriously?
WATCH week 55: Is God's grace really available to everyone?
WATCH week 56: Is the "good news" for ALL people?
WATCH week 57: Why bother with Christianity if "everyone goes to heaven?"
WATCH week 58: If God loves everyone, what is the point of Jesus's life?
WATCH week 59: Is our salvation dependent on the cross?
WATCH week 60: Christianity: Leisure or Revolutionary?