Have a listen to the Underground talk on baptism

The elder son represents anyone who's heart is 'religious' - i.e. thinking their own good behaviour merits God's favour. Tim Keller's book the Prodigal God is a wonderful exposition of this theme.

Enoch isn't the only person described in the Old Testament as someone who 'walked faithfully with God', neither was he actually the only person not to experience death! In 2 Kings 2, Elijah the prophet is taken by God in a whirlwind.

This doesn’t mean that either of them was perfect (e.g. 1 Kings 19:4) – it just means that they were believers – they had faith in God and walked lives of faith. Because God has provided in Jesus full payment for their sins, there was no absolute necessity for them to face death (the penalty of sin), though physical death is indeed the normal end of our time on this earth for Christians.

The way that Rupert talked about us being made in the image of God had to do with relationships and community - which can exist within groups of people of the same sex as well as within mixed groups and marriages. So we don't need to conclude that one member of the Trinity is female. In fact, the Bible uses predominantly male language about God (Father, Son, 'husband', King etc) and exclusively male pronouns (he, his - even of the Spirit).

However, the idea of difference-with-equality within male-female relationships is certainly mirrored in the Trinity. This is one important perspective on how men and women should relate within marriage and the church - just as the Father and the Son and the Spirit are all equal, yet have different roles, so too men and women in marriage and the church have different roles without any inequality.

There is no clear New Testament command to fast. Jesus instructs his disciples how to fast, but not explicitly to fast. If it genuinely helps someone to concentrate on prayer or a particular decision, then why not, but I wouldn't be too upset if you're not currently into fasting.

Yes, Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ biological father - but in that sense he had no human biological father. So it’s still true to say that Joseph was his human father, the legitimate father of the family of which Jesus was legitimately a part. The fact that the mechanics of his conception didn’t involve Joseph (while theologically important for other reasons!) doesn’t mean he isn’t counted Joseph’s son for all intents and purposes (including legal and inheritance-wise).

Think about it – he’s not an illegitimate child, and Joseph is the legitimate father of the family, therefore, Joseph is his legitimate father.