Psephizo is the blog of Revd. Dr Ian Paul, the Dean of Studies at St John's College, Nottingham.

Jan 27, 2025 · For the first decade of the 2000s I was a vicar in suburban southwest London. Part of my inheritance from the previous regime was a church with close links to a cult. It was a very British kind of cult, with an emphasis on high culture, old-fashioned values and the 1662 Prayer Book. A sepia-tinted nostalgia for old England was combined with an eclectic mix of Eastern mysticism and esoterica ...

My name is Ian Paul. Originally from London, I studied pure maths at St John's College, Oxford and applied maths (Operational Research) at the University of Southampton before working in industrial business with Mars Confectionery in Slough in planning, manufacturing and personnel. I trained for ordination in the Church of England at St John's College,

Jan 2, 2023 · Like millions of others, I stayed up on Saturday night to ‘see in’ the New Year, which for us included watching on TV £1.5m going up in smoke (with some spectacular lights) on the River Thames, and the obligatory replay of the last ten minutes of ‘When Harry met Sally’. In some ways, seeing in … Continue Reading

Come with me, if you will, on an adventure of biblical imagination in Revelation 21 and 22. The New Jerusalem that is described there by John is mostly taken to be a place in which the people of God dwell with the presence of God—but what would happen if we interpreted everything in the vision as a … Continue Reading

Jan 30, 2025 · For the first decade of the 2000s I was a vicar in suburban southwest London. Part of my inheritance from the previous regime was a church with close links to a cult. It was a very British kind of cult, with an emphasis on high culture, old-fashioned values and the 1662 Prayer Book. A sepia-tinted nostalgia for old England was combined with an eclectic mix of Eastern mysticism and esoterica ...

Stephen Kuhrt writes: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis was first published in February 1942. The book is made up of thirty one letters from a senior demon called Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood is a junior tempter assigned to lead a man who has recently become a Christian away from God. By viewing the Christian life from the perspective … Continue Reading

Speaking subjects I have taught in churches, area groups and dioceses on a wide range of issues, including: Understanding the Book of Revelation Overviews of and introductions to each of the four gospels The Acts of the Apostles Paul’s theology The letter of James Issues relating to sexuality, including male-female relations, same-sex relations and transgenderism Aspect of …

May 11, 2015 · If you make use of Scripture Union’s Encounter with God Bible reading notes, then you will be reading through Revelation 4–9 this week. (If you don’t, why not subscribe?) Here are the comments I wrote on these chapters; for more detailed comment, see my Grove booklet How to Read the Book of Revelation. For my notes on chapters 1 to 3, see my previous post.

Mar 20, 2024 · Laurie Clow offers this review of Carl Trueman’s new book Strange New World (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois: 2022): As I move inexorably to the end of my sixth decade and celebrate (?) over 25 years ordained, I find myself increasingly becoming a grumpy old man. My background in social sciences, a graduate of Economics, Politics and … Continue Reading