Questions are revealing. It is exciting, therefore, in this book to study not only how Jesus' use of questions characterises his ministry and his style of teaching, but also how those questions reveal his train of thought as events unfold, and what they reveal about him as a person in relation to himself, his neighbour, his environment, and God. This book engages with the milieu and the different Gospel accounts of Jesus' life. It examines 108 of his questions in some detail together with their parallels, amounting to 299 questions in all. It explores Jesus' use of questions to promote his teaching and ministry and sometimes, more aggressively, to defend his disciples or discomfort and discredit his critics and opponents.
Hopefully, being alive to the questions put by Jesus and even wondering, perhaps, how we might answer some of them, helps to sharpen our personal beliefs.
The Rev. Prof. Beazley is an emeritus professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Liverpool. Prior to retirement as Dean of the Medical faculty, he trained for the Anglican Ministry at St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, and has served as a non-stipendiary minister in the Diocese of Chester, Carlisle, and now Oxford.
His ministry has included the regular provision of study days, teaching seminars, and quiet days for those interested in understanding more about their Christian beliefs. His personal interest in The Questions put by Jesus stretches back over sixty years and has evolved steadily over that time.