Scripture
“Dad, why does Deuteronomy 20 talk about killing the boys and girls?”
My daughter wants to know. Even as a biblical scholar, I don’t have a good answer.
The distortions of the God Bless the USA Bible
The conflation of Christianity and American patriotism has never done either one any favors.
July 11, Ordinary 15B (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19)
The gap in the lectionary’s account of the return of the Ark of the Covenant echoes a pattern we have seen too often in our country.
July 4, Ordinary 14B (2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10)
Whatever else David is, he is recognizably human and not a fairy-tale king.
June 27, Ordinary 13B (2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27)
When David praises Saul and Jonathan, is he acting out of expediency, faithfulness, or both?
Deconstructing the Republican Jesus
Biblical scholar Tony Keddie shows how the conservative movement enlisted the Bible to help its cause.
June 20, Ordinary 12B (1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49)
Saul would have provided better odds against Goliath. But God might not have favored him in the matchup.
June 6, Ordinary 10B (1 Samuel 8:4-20)
What happens when Samuel reads his people the fine print?
May 30, Trinity B (Isaiah 6:1-8; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17)
When words fail, the church sings—especially on Trinity Sunday.
May 23, Pentecost B (Acts 2:1–21)
Maybe we should see Pentecost as a celebration of land and labor in which the Holy Spirt is made known.
May 16, Easter 7B (John 17:6–19)
Jesus’ high priestly prayer is a call to a new kind of knowing and loving.
May 13, Ascension (Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53)
What we see reminds us of what we miss, and vice versa.
May 9, Easter 6B (John 15:9–17)
What would the insurance-mandated boundary trainings that I’ve attended make of Jesus’ intimacy with his disciples?
May 2, Easter 5B (John 15:1–8)
The vine branch doesn’t put “make grapes” on its to-do list. It just makes them.
Episode 4: Pastor and activist Jesse Jackson, author of Keeping Hope Alive
A conversation with pastor and activist Jesse Jackson about his civil rights work with Martin Luther King Jr., his current activism, Nelson Mandela, and more
Lies about the Old Testament
Brent Strawn aims to debunk mistruths that come from biblical illiteracy and anti-Semitism.
Ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan on food justice and Jesus
“Jesus was preaching to people who were in the middle of the worst farming and fishing crisis yet.”
April 25, Easter 4B (John 10:11-18)
When I was newly pregnant with my daughter, I thought of myself as the hired hand, her temporary guardian.