Psalm 119, section He, highlights knowledge of God and knowledge of self. In Psalm 139, this question of knowledge of self is paramount: Who knows the truth about me, the truth inside me? Do I know it myself? Do you know the truth inside me? Inside yourself? Does anyone? Am I in a position toContinue reading “Knowing oneself, knowing others (Psalm 139)”
Monthly Archives: June 2020
In Memoriam: James D. G. Dunn (Eerdword)
“Everyone enjoyed the evening with you. We are growing accustomed to your face, a custom which grows by what it’s fed on.” So wrote Bill Eerdmans Jr. to “Dear Jimmy” Dunn on December 4, 1996, following up on a dinner at the SBL meeting at New Orleans a couple of weeks earlier. Bill had written toContinue reading “In Memoriam: James D. G. Dunn (Eerdword)”
I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange
I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange.He finds the quirky places,reads them out,wide-eyed,astonished,and scans your face,looking for you to be astonished too. He finds places that don’t line upwith what they always said in church.And if you have been thinkingthat these texts are comfortable,that they line up perfectly—then look again: are youContinue reading “I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange”
Psalm 119 now!
This longest psalm in the Bible does go on for a while. Having a stanza—another turn around the mulberry bush—for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet means twenty-two stanzas, from alef to tav, or aleph to tau, or however you want to spell them. Not twenty-three, because when they teach you to say the HebrewContinue reading “Psalm 119 now!”
Hey, Psalm 119!
Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, will either bore your socks off or fascinate you endlessly. At least that’s my experience. Right now it’s fascinating. I think that’s because I’m spending so much time wondering about things like: How does anyone know anything? How can two people be looking at the same thingContinue reading “Hey, Psalm 119!”
Praying Psalm 118: Who is the cornerstone?
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” What stone is this? Who is the cornerstone? The key, perhaps, in praying the Psalms is to know who is speaking. This is the question of “person.” Who is this “I”? Already in the text of the Psalm the I is complex. The I isContinue reading “Praying Psalm 118: Who is the cornerstone?”
Going to heaven? Why the heck not?
Here’s another paradox of “biblical” Christian theology. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) What could be clearer? The apostle tells us that no one has imagined, noContinue reading “Going to heaven? Why the heck not?”
Procopius of—Gaza!?
I love my life. I live at an intersection where several worlds meet. One of those worlds sends me announcements like the one below. Have you ever heard of Procopius of Gaza? I have. But I haven’t read him. My PhD dissertation was on a Christian writer in Alexandria in the fourth century. Procopius livedContinue reading “Procopius of—Gaza!?”
On eating Aunt Jemima syrup sacrificed to idols
The people complaining about the rebranding of Aunt Jemima don’t know history and would rather deny its significance than learn it. They see only an inoffensive picture of a normal woman who happens to be black. But the people who are offended are not just seeing what is there in front of their eyes rightContinue reading “On eating Aunt Jemima syrup sacrificed to idols”
On respecting and submitting to the governing authorities
“Been following some of your facebook posts. How do you reconcile your views with passages like Ephesians 4:2 and others that require us to submit to and pray for those who God has placed in positions of authority over us? Just wondering . . . “ That’s a question I received today from one ofContinue reading “On respecting and submitting to the governing authorities”
Verba Sparsa 