Bible

321 posts
Bible Christianity Grace Sermon Suffering

God in the Storm: Season of Creation Week 3

“Where is your faith?” God in the Storm: Season of Creation Week 3 – September 15, 2019, St. Raphael’s Lexington This congregation was working through the “Season of Creation” lectionary. The readings were Job 28:20-27, Ps. 29, 1 Corinthians 1:21-31, and Luke 8:22-25. Some of the commentaries online (here and here) have a woeful misreading of Job, “God discovered wisdom imbedded in nature.” (Perhaps written by the same person?) I may post something another time […]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.4MB)

TgRuth 1:1 Solger MS
Academics Aramaic Bible Rabbinics Ruth Targum

Derek R. G. Beattie, d. 31 August 2019. A scholar who will be greatly missed.

1 comment

This past week I received word from Paul Flesher that Derek Beattie died on Saturday, 31 August at his home in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire. He was 73 years old. His son has said that plans for the funeral are still in process, but it is likely to be on 13th September. One of my great regrets now will always be that I was unable to meet Derek in person. We corresponded quite a bit while […]

Bible Christianity Death Grief Mack Suffering

Why “It is better to go to the house of mourning.”

This quote comes from Ecclesiastes which I have been working with (as I strive to finish my book by the August 1 deadline!). For the first time I noticed the rest of the verse. It is better to go to the house of mourningthan to go to the house of feasting;for this is the end of everyone,and the living will lay it to heart. Ecclesiastes: 7:2  “For this is the end of everyone and the […]

Bible Christianity Faith New Testament Sermon

“Declare what God has done for you.”

1 comment

Audio is available at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd site. Proper 7 (12) (June 23, 2019) 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a Psalm 42 and 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39 19:11 [God] said [to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, […]

Bible Christianity Sermon

Pentecost – A Holy Fire

Pentecost – Whitsunday 2019 Good Shepherd, LEXYear CRCLAudio @GoodShepherdLEX Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-35, 37 Romans 8:14-17 John 14:8-17, (25-27) “Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, […]

Bible Christianity Politics

Billy Graham Warned Us: “The hard right has no interest In rellglon except to manipulate It.”

Billy Graham was a great man, by any estimation. It is often assumed that he was very conservative politically and his son Franklin certainly takes that position. But in many things in life Franklin has not listened to his father. As Franklin calls for his followers to align themselves with the political agenda of the President, many are sharing a “meme” with the above quote from his father Billy. As Abraham Lincoln once famously said, […]

Academics Bible Christianity Judaism Rabbinics

How to Read Ancient Texts

I am reading the proofs of my contribution to The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. The following quotes from Daniel Boyarin are true not only for dealing with what the Talmud has to say about Jesus but for any time we are engaging ancient texts. The effort must be made to read the texts in their own context and resist the temptation to ask of the texts the questions we have, but […]

Bible Christianity

Why “Shepherd”?

1 comment

This past Sunday was “Good Shepherd Sunday,” so-called because of the reading from John 10. The entire chapter is full of sheep and shepherd imagery and, for many of us, it is a reminder of how far away from that agrarian experience we are. A colleague on Facebook asked, “So what’s a good 21st C equivalent of a Good Shepherd? Good Librarian? Good Trash Collector? Good Barista?” I think it is an excellent question, a […]

Academics Bible SBL

SBL Bible Odyssey & Cruise!

1 comment

Many who read this blog are members of the Society of Biblical Literature or familiar with it, but many are not aware of the NEH-supported project “Bible Odyssey.” BO was developed to help address the fact that while the Bible has tremendous impact on history, literature, popular culture, and politics, it is more often than not misunderstood, misrepresented, and misused. It was to address such concerns that the Society of Biblical Literature launched the website […]

Aramaic Bible Rabbinics Targum

Targum MS Valmadonna 1 in the Museum of the Bible

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 […]