1 Kings

Sacramentality is the breath of Christian life—life that springs from the sacraments and life that yearns to return to them.

Sacramentality is the breath of Christian life—life that springs from the sacraments and life that yearns to return to them.

If Solomon were an older and more experienced ruler when God appears to him in his dream, I wonder if he would ask for wisdom.

George Steiner said that "the translator invades, extracts, and brings home." In this remarkable volume, Everett Fox does all of this.

What goes on in the mind of a leader who tires of building consensus and just strives to get things done?

Despite bleak forecasts, many of today’s teenagers refuse to buy the marketed temptations to despair and fear. They’ll find a way.

When the angel of the Lord told Elijah to go to Mount Horeb, Elijah knew he would encounter God. After all, Horeb was where God spoke to Moses with fire and to Israel with a storm. But for Elijah, God didn’t show up as expected. 

When the angel of the Lord told Elijah to go to Mount Horeb, Elijah knew he would encounter God. After all, Horeb was where God spoke to Moses with fire and to Israel with a storm. But for Elijah, God didn’t show up as expected. 

“The story of Naboth is old in time but daily in practice,” said Ambrose of Milan. “Who of the wealthy does not strive to drive off the poor person from his little acre and turn out the needy from the boundaries of his ancestral field?”

Our world was and is ruled by those who control militaries and cartels, banks and corporations—the heirs of King Ahab’s insatiable desire and unrestrained power.

I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid. At the university where I teach part time, students write this honor code statement on every exam, essay and homework submission. It is up to the instructor to identify what constitutes authorized aid for each assignment or exam.

When Luke set out to write his “orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,” there seems to have been no concept of unauthorized aid.

I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid. At the university where I teach part time, students write this honor code statement on every exam, essay and homework submission. It is up to the instructor to identify what constitutes authorized aid for each assignment or exam.

When Luke set out to write his “orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,” there seems to have been no concept of unauthorized aid.

American culture focuses on the law. But Naboth's vineyard reminds us that a healthy society is about relationships first and rules second.

After Solomon built the Temple, or rather, after his laborers built it, he stood and offered a prayer for its dedication.  In his prayer, he admitted that the Temple, for all its human splendor, could not contain or limit God.