Continuing … !
I had occasion to discuss this passage a couple of days ago, and it reminded me of many discussions I have had regarding this parable. (It’s Matthew 20:1-16, by the way.) This is a short note and not an extended discussion. The most common response I hear to this is that it isn’t fair. My…
One of the great benefits of owning a publishing company is that there are always a number of smart people who will answer my e-mails. Thus, when I saw the brouhaha about Michael Patton’s post calling ‘Roman Catholic scholarship’ an oxymoron, I remembered immediately that I have just contracted Dr. Robert LaRochelle to write a…
I join with Laura in welcoming Discovering the Heart of God as a new Philophronos Blogroll member. Go check out his blog. I’m going to link to a specific post from the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter to which I’m the primary contributor.
I receive regular newsletters from the Christian Alliance for Progress, and I really appreciate that organization for its work to reclaim Christianity from the religious right. Christianity is about moral and ethical values, and about caring for our neighbor, and not about making small numbers of people rich or about right wing politics. None of…
It appears that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to congress, is also quite an effective politician. He wants to be sworn into congress holding a copy of the Qur’an, to which a number of “traditional” Christians have objected (on which more in a moment), and has chosen to do so on a copy previously…
[ncs_ad pid=’0664239013′ adtype=’aer.io’] I’m reading through Luke Timothy Johnson’s commentary in the New Testament Library and have just completed the introduction. I have a couple of thoughts today, not least of which is to note the problem with writing introductions. For a reader to truly follow an introduction, it would best come after the commentary…
I am not an expert in Biblical criticism, but could it be that the writing in Ephesians is different from that of Galatians because Paul, not having to be in an apologetics mode, could allow his thoughts to flow through his pen onto the page without the feelings of defensiveness, without fear of counter attack? However, if Paul did not write Ephesians, it must certainly have been someone who had accepted his gospel, and been endowed with double portion of the Spirit that inspired him. In that connection I have often wondered, as I read Melancthon, what we might have learned from Martin Luther, as well as Paul, had not they been forced to always be on the front lines of battle. I think of Luther as a mighty rushing cataract, a warrior, sweeping away centuries of the false; while Melancthon, like a good shepherd, with stones forming gentle, still pools of water so that the lambs and sheep can drink safely. To me this represents the difference we see in the writings of Galatians and Ephesians.