Tag: Bible
-
Studying Isaiah 52 7-12
For the next five weeks, we’ll be looking at prophetic texts that focus our attention on what it means for God to be the ruler or king of Israel, and of the nations. Starting with Isaiah 52:7-12, an exultant poem of rejoicing over Israel’s impending redemption. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are…
-
Reflecting on Acts 9 9-17
So … this could be a text about communication, and authority, and agency, …
-
Studying Acts 9 9-17
This week, we’re studying Acts 9:9-17, the “second act,” if you will, of the story of Saul / Paul’s dramatic encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. This second act is the part where Ananias goes to the “street called Straight,” lays on hands, and Saul regains his sight. At first we might think this…
-
“Teaching on the Move”
Jesus might have been giving a less “Christological” reading of “all the scriptures” than some people think on that road to Emmaus
-
Reflecting on Isaiah 48 3-8, 17
Questions for discussion – like, God’s teaching methods in this prophetic account? …
-
Reflecting on James 1 19-27
We are studying James 1:19-27 for Sunday, August 9, the second in a series of five lessons on the book of James. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to discuss in class: In v19, the author counsels “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”…
-
Slaves of Christ/ians
Southern clergy defended the morality of slavery through an elaborate scriptural defense built on the infallibility of the Bible, which they held up as the universal and objective standard for moral issues. Religious messages from pulpit and from a growing religious press accounted in large part for the extreme, uncompromising, ideological atmosphere of the time.…
-
Reflecting on Malachi 2 1-9 and 3 5-6
We are studying Malachi 2:1-9 and 3:5-6 for Sunday, March 29, the last Sunday before Holy Week. We are still trying to figure out how to reflect on Scripture together while staying physically apart. One option that’s always available is sharing comments in the comments section, so please feel free to do that! [Some notes…
-
What We Call Essential
Have you ever had to see your past from a whole new angle? It happened this morning, in church, to me. “This is a sermon about one of the most popular and well-known verses in the Bible,” said our pastor, introducing the sermon … He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what…
-
Study Notes – 1 Chronicles 15
We are studying portions of 1 Chronicles 15 (mostly leaving out the long lists of names, but there are a couple of other interesting omissions) for Sunday, December 1. This is the Chronicler’s account of David’s bringing the Ark of the Covenant of the God of Israel to Jerusalem. Here are my notes on this…
-
Questions for Reflection and Discussion – 1 Peter 1 13-25
We are studying 1 Peter 1:13-25 for Sunday, November 17. [Here are my notes on this text.] Here are some questions we might want to reflect on, or discuss in class: We think this letter was addressed to Christians who were experiencing some kind of social costs because of their faith and hope in Jesus…
-
Study Notes – Luke 7 37-48
We are studying Luke 7:37-48 for Sunday, October 27 – we may know it as the story of “a sinful woman forgiven” (NRSV) or “Jesus anointed by a sinful woman” (NIV) or some similar heading in our Bible. We will be having class as usual, as much as we can on the day that is…
Matters of Interpretation 