I was once asked to lead a Bible study at my church. I agreed before learning that the subject was ‘Genocide in the Bible.’ I’d never before taught on the subject, and in fact, I had very little teaching experience in general at that point. So I did the logical thing, I opened the book […]
How to Burn Down Your House
(on fixing the problems of violence and wrath in the Bible) When preparing to teach on violence in the Old Testament recently I was reminded of a book review I once read. The reviewer recounted his neighbour’s efforts to remove a grease stain from his garage floor. The neighbour dumped a few gallons of gasoline […]
Sibling Rivalry and Reconciliation in Jonathan Sacks’ ‘Not in God’s Name’
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has a truly ambitious vision of interfaith respect, peace, and mutual blessing in his recent book Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence. I don’t wish here to give an overview or critical review of his book, but instead, I want to share an important and tantalizingly provocative theme he explores […]
Advent and the Incarnational God
The incarnation forms the climactic turning point of sacred history. The high point in the grand biblical drama of redemption involved the self-emptying descent of God in Jesus. For many, the incarnation may seem like a 33-year anomaly in the life of God. The God who is otherwise transcendent or at least invisible became visible, […]
The Problem of Divine Mercy in the Bible
When I applied for my visa to work in the UK, I happened to speak with one lively consular officer working in Philadelphia. When he heard that I was moving to teach Old Testament at a theological college, he became audibly ecstatic (or agitated, I couldn’t tell which) and exclaimed: ‘The Old Testament! God of […]