“‘Bread’ is a common metaphor used throughout the Biblical story to demonstrate the presence, and mystery, of God.”
Our Content
BreadBytes believes that God allows us enormous scope for questioning and wrestling with ideas, and we see doubt as a partner on the journey of faith.
We strongly believe that faith and theology is a journey. Opinions change, ideas shift, and experiences shape how we respond to the idea of God. We are interested and educated, but can make mistakes. The content offered on BreadBytes represent the views of individual contributors at time of publication. However, please allow for our humanity as information and positions may change over time!
While we are a Christian resource site, we uphold the right for contributors and guests to critically engage with, and respectfully challenge beliefs of Christianity. This means that we require respectful engagement with a diversity of views and opinions on a range of aspects of Christian faith.
“While we are a Christian resource site, we uphold the right for contributors and guests to critically engage with, and respectfully challenge traditional Christian beliefs. This means that we require respectful engagement with a diversity of views and opinions on a range of aspects of Christian faith.”
Tiles from the Church of Loaves and Fishes, Tabgha, Israel. (J. Hunter, 2007)
Why BreadBytes?
Our core purpose is to make theology accessible, breaking it down into 'byte-sized' chunks.
"Bread" is a common metaphor used throughout the Biblical story. For Jews and Christians, it can demonstrate the presence, and mystery, of God. Examples include the Passover in Exodus and manna in the desert, the feeding of the 5000 and the Last Supper in the Gospels, the 'daily bread' in the Lord's prayer, the communion service of the early church, and Jesus' own self-identification as the "Bread of Life". We look at "BreadBytes" as a way of thinking about a divine presence in the physical sustenance of life, as well as in mysteries that we can't fully comprehend.
We also think about bread as an ancient symbol of hospitality - the hospitality extended by God to us, and the hospitality we are called to offer others. You are welcome here in sharing this hospitable space. All we ask in return is that you engage in extending this welcome to others, sharing in a conversation of mutual respect.
Reconstruction of ancient kitchen, Nazareth Village, Israel. (J. Hunter, 2007)
Describing Christian Theology
Christian theology begins and ends with Jesus. Christians believe that God—the creator of the world—is most fully revealed to humanity through Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew calls Jesus ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God with us’. The Gospel of John calls Jesus ‘the Word made flesh’—the voice of God, through whom all things are created, taking on the form of ‘one of us’. In other words, the best picture that we will ever have of the divine being who shapes our existence is to look at the life and death of a man who lived two millennia ago.
In this site, we hope that you gather the sense that it is about Jesus. It does not always speak of Jesus, and a lot of our discussion will wander across a range of topics. However, our thinking here completely revolves around Jesus. We should think of who Jesus is, and what Jesus calls us to do. We should consider the world in which Jesus lives, and the books that we know Jesus from. We should consider the ethics that Jesus asks us to consider, and the attitudes that Jesus held. We should consider the Hebrew Bible, which helps us understand the world of Jesus, and the New Testament, the world shaped by Jesus.
As Christians it is through Jesus that we see God. We hope that in some way this site helps you understand Jesus, God and your own faith in a new way as you grapple with the questions, ideas and challenges within.
“As Christians it is through Jesus that we understand God. We hope that in some way this site helps you understand Jesus, God and even your own faith in a new way as you grapple with the questions, ideas and challenges within.”