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April 2019

April 12, 2019

Does the Bible Mean what it Says? – Yes, if You Know the Idiom.

Thoughts about Two Readings from the Fifth Sunday of Lent I was pretty sure I...

July 2018

July 20, 2018

Liberation and the Bible: Chosen People, Part Three

The Bible is a story of liberation of an oppressed people chosen to be God’s...

July 18, 2018

Chosen People, Part Two: Paul’s Vision, a New Tribe?

St. Paul was the great apostle to the Gentiles. He didn’t require circumcision of his...

July 16, 2018

Jonah Learns a Lesson: Chosen People, Part One

Jonah, a prophet of God’s Chosen People, learns a painful lesson about God’s all-inclusive love....

July 12, 2018

The Problem of Suffering, Part 2: An Impatient Job

A creative editor changed an old story about a character named Job. This editor challenged,...

July 11, 2018

Job and the Problem of Suffering, Part One: The Bible Tries Explaining

“I never explain anything,” Mary Poppins says when asked why there are chimney sweeps in...

July 09, 2018

Solomon and Embracing the Symbol King

The honor that Israel’s memory paid to King Solomon belies the fact that his kingdom...

July 06, 2018

Revelation is a Dialogue with God’s Word: Biblical Violence, Part Three

Violence in the Bible disturbs some Christians and makes it easier to reject Biblical faith...

July 04, 2018

Joshua Didn’t Destroy Jericho: The Problem of Biblical Violence, Part Two

The Bible contains a lot of violence, much of it unjust by today’s standards. In...

July 02, 2018

The Problem of Biblical Violence, Part One

Violence in the Bible is a difficult issue for Christians, especially when God commands it....

June 2018

June 27, 2018

Four Amazing Women in the Genealogy of Jesus

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel lists four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheeba....

June 21, 2018

A Journey for People Away from Home or for People Already in Their ‘Promised Land’

Israel’s journey to the Promised Land is a metaphor for life. So Israel could have...

June 20, 2018

Exodus and History, Israel’s and Ours

The Bible’s second book, Exodus, tells about Israel’s beginning as a people. Is this a...

June 18, 2018

The Exodus Story and Israel’s Pre-history, Part 1

How did the nation of Israel begin? Can we trust the Bible to tell us...

June 13, 2018

Joseph of the Bible’s Dysfunctional Families

The Joseph saga in the last third of Genesis tells us something about how God...

June 11, 2018

Isaac’s Near-Death Experience: Did an Editor Save Him?

Israelites may once have practiced human sacrifice, but that changed. This post looks for hints...

June 06, 2018

Abraham: What Kind of Story is He Father of?

Is Abraham an imaginary figure or a historical person? If historical, what does a Catholic...

June 04, 2018

Babel’s Ecological Warning

The Tower of Babel was meant to reach the sky. This post explains what a...

May 2018

May 30, 2018

Noah’s Story: A World Saved and All the More Precious

The story of Noah and the Flood is a literary genre that we might call...

May 28, 2018

Genealogies in the Bible: Old Folks, Hopeful People

Genealogies in the Bible are what most people skip over. I do too, but I’m...

May 23, 2018

Sibling Rivalry and the sin of Abel (!)

The story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-16) tells us sin didn’t depart from the...

May 21, 2018

New Clothes for Adam and Eve

I look to the very end of the story of Adam and Eve, when our...

May 16, 2018

The Bible’s First Leaders Weren’t Human

The Creation Story, Rulers in the Sky. Episode 1 of the Rowing with Michael Series:...

May 14, 2018

People Tell Stories, and God’s OK with That: Stories in the Old Testament

This post is an introduction to a series of posts on Old Testament stories. The...

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