So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 1 Cor 15:42-44 The last two weeks (6th and 7th Sunday after […]
From John Kutsko, the Executive Director of SBL. April 16, 2019 Dear Christian Brady, I am pleased to inform you that JSTOR has invited SBL into a two-year pilot program that provides access for all SBL members to more than eighty journals in JSTOR’s Religion and Theology Collection. Members may access the collection by visiting the member benefits page of the SBL website and then logging in. Once logged in, a new link will appear under the JSTOR member […]
There is much debate about the Museum of the Bible, their exhibits and the provenance of some artifacts. One manuscript whose provenance is not in doubt is the Targum MS Valmadonna 1, this was purchased the Green Foundation at Sotheby’s on December 22, 2015 and was gifted to the MOTB. It is the MS I have used for much of my research and I see they now have a nice page up about the MS […]
This image was on a Facebook meme, so I am not sure of the source of the quotes. The one from Lewis is in keeping with various other analogies which he has made in The Problem of Pain. [Others have pointed out that the quote above is from his Reflections on the Psalms.] There is a passage in his chapter “Divine Goodness” (pp. 32-33) that also provides an analogy with dogs that speaks to this […]
For those who enjoy photography, a reminder that I have a photoblog which I periodically update. This past weekend I was in Tybee Island with family for our nieces’ baptism. It was a beautiful weekend with gorgeous sunrises.
We are fast approaching Good Friday and the interwebs is filling with people post and reposting essays about the crucifixion. The ones that always nag at me are those that seek to argue that Jesus’ death was not somehow an atoning sacrifice offered for our sins.1 The usual objection is based upon a rejection of penal substation or any of the other various models of atonement theory. The link provided has a very nice summary […]
It turns out, judging by the notes in the margin, I had read C. S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain some time ago. I did not remember having done so, but perhaps it impacted my thinking more than it did my memory of the actual reading of it. Or perhaps I had already come to similar conclusions before I read his book. I have no way of knowing. Below are a few quotes from that […]
A friend recently shared this quote from James Finsley and I am still not sure what I think of it. On some levels, it rings true. We are not protected from the vicissitudes of the world, the “effluvia of the fall,” as Carson calls it. But then, I am not sure. Please leave your thoughts and comments. “The love of God will protect you from nothing, but it will sustain you in all things.”
My SEC colleague from Vanderbilt this week graciously gave me the gift of a slim volume by a former professor of his. The book is A Boy Thirteen: Reflections on Death (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), by Jerry A. Irish. Their 13 year old son Lee died of meningitis in 1973, the second of their three sons to die within 4 years. The younger son had been born with a serious heart defect and died before […]
I am very pleased and proud to announce that I have signed a contract with Westminster John Knox Press to publish Beautiful and Terrible Things! The publication date is Fall 2020. I am so thankful for everyone who has and continues to engage with me on matters relating to the biblical theology of suffering and grace. This book is intended for all audiences and your feedback, pushback, and questions are integral to the refining and […]
Ash Wednesday First reading Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Psalm Psalm 51:1-17 Second reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Ps. 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Amen. Today is Ash Wednesday, marked literally and figuratively by the ashes that will be placed upon our foreheads as a sign and reminder of our mortality. It is the beginning of Lent, which is the season of forty days and forty […]