Saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace – Jer 8:11
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with nine “Beatitudes” that readers often unfortunately reduce to platitudes. The seventh, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” for example, can sound like a call to passivity and placidity: “Blessed are those who accept life with serenity, remaining calm, preserving calm, spreading calm.” Both the context and Continue reading “Blessed are the peacemakers” – Matt 5:9
“For it is the time to begin judgment with the household of God;if we are first, what will be the end of those who not believe in the gospel of God?”
1 Peter 4:17
How one negotiates times of crisis often reveal fundamental truths about one’s character. New Testament scholars identify 1 Peter, along minimally with 2 Peter, Titus, Hebrews, and Revelation, as “persecution literature,” literature produced during a period in which Christians faced oppression and persecution simply because of their faith. Typically, such literature admonishes believers, tempted to escape persecution by renouncing their faith, Continue reading A Time of Testing
The end of the semester rushes up to meet me; the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature with its editorial board meetings and panel presentations begins at the end of this week; Thanksgiving will be waiting as soon as I return. You will forgive me, I trust, if I take a couple of weeks off from blogging.
Instead, I have just posted in the “Sermons and Lectures” section recordings of the first two of five sessions I led in October on the topic of “Israel’s Ancestral Narratives” at First Presbyterian Church here in Richmond. Have a listen. I will post sessions three through five next week.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! If you will be travelling, please take extra precautions on the highways. Rest well before setting out, stop frequently to refresh, and drive defensively.
“For God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound judgment” (2 Tim 1:7)
I went to vote first thing this morning on the way into the seminary for an early meeting. I cast my ballot. When I asked, the precinct workers reported that turnout was up somewhat over recent elections even at the early hour. I stuck my “I Voted” sticker on my lapel. I left. Continue reading What Now?
1 Thess 5:2
“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” – Chicken Little
Paul wrote his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, which scholars date to the early 50’s CE making it probably the oldest document in the New Testament, largely to send greetings and encouragement, but also to assuage a fear that had arisen in the church. The New Testament provides ample evidence that the early church eagerly anticipated the Continue reading “Like a Thief in the Night” 1 Thess 5:2
We teach children the adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” to equip them against hateful and harmful things that people say. The saying means to remind people – the adults passing it on and the children learning it – that what people say about us does not necessarily have anything to do with who we actually are. Continue reading Sticks and Stones
Do Unto Others
Read in tandem, Genesis 1 and 2 state perhaps the most fundamental polarity of human existence. Genesis 1 describes God’s creation of humankind in God’s very own “image and likeness.” It is difficult to imagine a more definitive declaration of the dignity and significance of being human. Humans bear God’s image; every human being is like God. Of Continue reading Dirt to Dust
Matt 28:19
The pendulum swings to and fro in the field of (higher, including theological) education from extreme to extreme, returning briefly to the center only to pass through it again. Early in my teaching career, the watchword was “transformational education.” The primary object of education, according to proponents of the philosophy, involves changing Continue reading The Syntax of Discipleship
1 Kgs 19:14; Exod 4:1; Acts 5:38-39; Amos 9:7
On a recent rainy weekend following a particularly demanding work for both of us, my wife and I spent a significant portion of Saturday afternoon watching a “Matlock Marathon” on cable TV. I found it amusing that, quite formulaically, the moment came in every episode we saw when Matlock would stop cross-examining the witness (invariably the true Continue reading A Little Leeway
Jer 28
When my children were still at home, one of them would sometimes find me sitting at my desk apparently doing nothing. Inevitably, he or she would ask what I was up to; invariably I would answer,”Working.” I remember several such encounters very well because the child in question would also, without exception, express disbelief. Continue reading Take Some Time