Revd Professor Keith Ward in discussion with Blogging Theology

Keith Ward discusses his work with Paul Williams of Blogging Theology.
We discussed the gospels, Jesus, God, the early Church, and was a Muhammad a prophet of God.
Keith Ward FBA is an English Anglican priest, philosopher, and theologian. He is a fellow of the British Academy and a priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford, until 2003. Comparative theology and the relationship between science and religion are two of his main topics of interest. He was Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1991 to 2004.

[BloggingTheology]

0.01 to 3:45 Introduction.
3:35 to 15:25 Keith Ward rejects Biblical inerrancy citing a serious error in the Bible.
15:25 to 35:05 Was Jesus mistaken about his Second Coming? Who was Jesus - a god or a man?
35:15 to 57:20 Ward states that there was a radical change in Christian beliefs in the very first generation
57:20 to end Keith Ward says Muhammad was a genuine prophet of God and nearly all of his Christian theologian colleagues think so too!

[johnnymonoxide]

A fascinating interview to say the least. I think that average Christians would be shocked by the revelation that Keith and his colleagues affirm the Prophethood of Muhammad ( Saw) and the divinity of the Quran.

[Zeek]

Dear Paul & Keith-

Thank you for the wonderful intelligent and informative discussion video, much respect to both of you. Respect to Keith acknowledging what he believes about islam even though he is christian. God bless you both Kind Gentlemen !

[mahboobkhan]

Qur'an mentions such knowledgeable, honest, people of the Book.

[shadowcapital]

I think Keith Ward has reached a high level of understanding of what God wants a man is supposed to be. He is calm, charming, gentle, mature, wise, peaceful. Overall, he has a pleasant personality. So, in every religion, there is level (maqom), just like in martial arts there is white belt, black belt, and other various colours in between.

[abdoify]

"You surely cannot guide whoever you like ˹O Prophet˺, but it is Allah Who guides whoever He wills, and He knows best who are ˹fit to be˺ guided"28:56

[mrifox]

57:27 he answered the question very honestly. May ALLAH guide us all to his correct path.

[BloggingTheology]

Questions for Keith Ward:

1) On Page 16 of Vision to Pursue you say you felt compelled to reject the traditional Christian doctrine of the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible because of a glaring error so serious that it was impossible to deny its existence: this is found in just one sentence in the gospel of Matthew 24:34:

‘Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.’

This refers to the Second Coming of Jesus and it obviously did not occur within the generation of those then living. Either the gospel writer was in error in attributing this saying to Jesus or Jesus was mistaken. You conclude on page 18 that Jesus was probably mistaken. You mentioned much wriggling and squirming to evade the point! I identify!

But in light of this searing honesty how can Christians today still hold to the doctrine of the Trinity and belief in the Incarnation of God in Jesus? After all, God does not make mistakes.

2) In your later work Re-Thinking Christianity you state (p. 9) that:

‘At the very start of Christian history there was a radical change in Christian beliefs and expectations. Far from being a changeless faith - ‘once delivered to the saints’ - it changed sharply and unexpectedly in its earliest years, in the very first generation.

Could you elaborate further?

3) How do you as a Christian theologian see the prophethood of Muhammad?

[blazehucane]

Superbly handled, you asked all the questions that kept coming to my mind as the interview progressed. Absolutely Delightful! What a treat!

[RahmanKhan-vkol]

What a pleasant human with remarkable clarity and honesty.

[madihamza]

Paul messed it up, Paul is fixing it. Thank you brother.

[dawah]

brilliant interview! Keep bringing this unique content. It's amazing the massively wide disconnect between the beliefs of the general masses of Christians and the belief of their own scholars.

Three persons in one substance, a technical word just pulled out of the air!~ Pr. Keith ward 😂

[sanamt]

Inshallah Mr. Ward ever comes to Islam, Brother Paul would be part of it, for getting him to think along those lines. Brave question, brother Paul.

[anjham]

He acknowledges that the prophet(pbuh) is a prophet of Allah(swt)
He acknowledges that the glorious Quran is the literal words of Allah(swt)
Yet somehow he cannot bring himself to Islam.

The ego is the veil between Humans and God- Rumi
How true

[masterblaster]

That was an amazing interview. Paul, I could see you had immense respect for Keith Ward and you thoroughly enjoyed that interview. In many instances, you were like a kid in a sweet shop

[ronakram]

May God bless Professor Keith Ward with a long life and good a beautiful human being:) His smile reflects kindness and love. Prayers and well wishes for both the speakers.

[omarmian]

Pleasant change from the usual speakers corner discussions.

[yesplease]

Delightful discussion! But this video should have been in the general 'Videos' playlist.

[leonardodavinci]

What brother Paul is achieving in these interviews out matches what would 10 other theology channels are doing, what a wonderful and highly pact with education this one was!

[palmierlover]

Excellent ! i liked it even if i'm not a english speaking person (i'm in France), i clearly understood every word. That's academic level i like with intelligent humour. Bravo Paul!