I located this video today, and while I’m not blogging much these days, I wanted to share it. Alden was one of my teachers at Walla Walla College when I was in the Biblical Languages program there. I now publish his book Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?, now in it’s fourth edition. There…
I’ve probably mentioned a few times that I studied under Dr. Alden Thompson at Walla Walla University (then WWC). He’s the one who taught me Hebrew, though actually I joined his class in the second year, and also introduced me to Aramaic. But more importantly, he introduced me to what I believe is a very…
From Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Christian Classics Ethereal Library), commenting on Hebrews 11:13-16. All emphasis is mine. What then? Did they mean that they were “strangers” from the land that is in Palestine? By no means: but in respect of the whole world: and with reason; for they saw therein none of…
From St. John Chrysostom, On the Epistle to the Hebrews 20.5, from Hebrews: Ancient Christian commentary on Scripture, New Testament X p. 167 Knowing then these things, let us be patient when we suffer evil and forthright in offering kindness. This is all the stronger if we think lightly of wealth and honor. He that…
I’ve given up the enterprise of reading this book through from cover to cover, so these notes are based on using it as reference while I’m reading 2 Corinthians itself. The fact is that I found the book impossible to read straight through. As I mentioned previously in using it as a comparison to Matera’s…
At first glance, this is a good sign for a Christian. After all, Jesus replaces “an eye for an eye” with “Do not resist the one who is evil” (Matthew 5:38-39). But I think it illustrates the way we fail to understand certain phrases as they were intended. “An eye for an eye” or lex…
… In the Tanakh, faith does not mean believing in spite of the evidence. It means trusting profoundly in a person, in this case the personal God who has reiterated His promise. (from The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation, page 35.) I think that’s an excellent statement of what faith…
The Old Testament Lectionary passage for the first Sunday in Lent, cycle C is Deuteronomy 26:1-11. It’s kind of an odd text for this season. You might almost use it as a text for Fat Tuesday. I’m going to comment more on the lectionary texts this week, if for no other reason than because I’ve…
It’s been some time since I posted on the Mosaic Bible in connection with lectionary reading, but we’re entering an excellent season for using these tools together. (For what it’s worth, I use The Text this Week for the lectionary passages.) While the passages don’t match for the first week of Lent, the Mosaic Bible…
Clayboy has an excellent post on preachers who say “What the Greek really means…” or words to that effect. I was drawn to this one because of my own experience. My wife tells me that when we first got married she quickly got used to watching me during sermons. I need to tell you that…