Thirty years ago in August, Elizabeth and I were married. Over our honeymoon, I was encouraged to send in an application to the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew & Jewish Studies for their one-year “Graduate Diploma.” I was admitted and received a full scholarship, so we deferred the offer from […]
History
13 posts
The Great Vigil of Easter 2017 – St. Bartholomew’s, Nashville. This is my homily from this year’s Great Easter Vigil. The service is gorgeous, but long (hence a homily and not a full sermon) and since it starts after sundown it does not end until quite late. Some parishes will have the service […]
This sermon was preached at St. Bartholomew’s, Nashville, TN on Sunday, November 13, 2016. The previous week Donald J. Trump had been elected as President of the United States. Proper 28 (33) (November 13, 2016) First reading and Psalm Isaiah 65:17-25 98 Second reading 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Gospel Luke 21:5-19 […]
I have never read as much Spinoza as I feel I should have (and I thought about that again while in Amsterdam). I had a colleague at a previous institution who was a HUGE Spinoza fan. He was also very reformed and, as this piece points out, would portray Spinoza […]
I can’t believe that I have actually been wasting the last decade of my life. Goodbye Internet, this comic has saved my life.
Looking through old files on my computer for something else, I came upon this snippet of a thought. Comments or reaction? History and Objectivity Can one do “history” of individuals who are still alive, or whom we have known? Some would say we are too close, but does chronological and […]
This post was sent to me by a colleague. I wasn’t sure of the WW2 connection at first. The other was talking about how Babylon 5 wasn’t that great, but at least the plot was “consistent and believable.” Unlike Doctor Who where if it were the least bit realistic the […]
Given that we are in the last days of Lent and almost to Good Friday, this is perhaps providential. My automatic Google notification for “Aramaic” brought up a curious article from Psychology Today, “It’s in the Bible…Isn’t It?” This is not a publication I read so I am unfamiliar with Stephen […]
This is an amazing Shockwave production showing in 90 seconds the ebb and flow of empires in the region of the Mediterranean basin and beyond. Sure, we can (and I hope some will) quibble about the details but I think this will give a nice broad sense of the region […]