David Ford Reflects on Scriptural Reasoning, the Gospel of John, and the Five Moods of Faith
CTI recently released the latest episode of our flagship podcast, Theology for Our Times, featuring Professor David Ford in conversation with host Joshua Mauldin. The conversation explores Ford’s extensive career, his role in the development of Scriptural Reasoning, his decades studying the Gospel of John, and the importance of recovering the neglected “moods” of faith.
Ford begins by tracing his academic journey from Trinity College Dublin to Yale Divinity School and the universities of Cambridge and Tübingen. He credits these experiences with teaching him the importance of “generosity” in theological exchange, a quality he sought to embed in the practice of Scriptural Reasoning as he helped to pioneer it at CTI and elsewhere in the 1990s. Ford describes Scriptural Reasoning as a “radically hospitable” practice where Jews, Christians, and Muslims—and now adherents of other traditions globally—read their scriptures together and engage “deep to deep.” Ford emphasizes that the goal of Scriptural Reasoning is not to reach a superficial consensus but rather to “improve the quality of our disagreements” through intensive, shared study and intellectual friendship.
Much of the episode concentrates on Ford’s 20-year project on the Gospel of John. Ford discusses his decision to abandon 15 years of writing on the topic in 2015 and to rewrite the commentary in a more accessible genre that balances rigorous scholarship with spirituality. The resulting 2021 commentary presents John as a “text for our times” and indeed one of the greatest works ever written.
Turning to the future of theology, Ford reconsiders the “five moods of faith.” He contends that modern theology has too often focused on the indicative (what is true) and the imperative (what to do) moods to the detriment of the interrogative (the art of the question), the optative (the language of desire), and the subjunctive (the realm of “perhaps” and imaginative possibility). Furthermore, he suggests that habitual, “religious reading” of scriptural texts is a potent way to recover appreciation for the moods of faith that modern theology has typically neglected.
Ford concludes the conversation by arguing that “theology is basically wisdom seeking.” At a time when religious literacy is at a low ebb—even among the intellectual elite—Ford’s vision for a “wise faith” offers a compelling alternative to both facile fundamentalism and secular indifference. As CTI continues its mission to cultivate a theological renaissance, Ford’s insights offer a welcome reminder that the Christian tradition’s foundational texts offer wisdom that remains relevant even in an era of unprecedented challenges.
David Ford, OBE, is Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Selwyn College. Founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme and a co-founder of Scriptural Reasoning, he is the author of The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (Baker Academic 2021) and most recently Meeting God in John: Inspiration and Encouragement from the Fourth Gospel (Brazos 2026).