Time and Belief: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 25 April 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 25 April 2010 (Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C) Acts 9:36-43 • Psalm 23 • Revelation 7:9-17 • John 10:22-30 I really should keep track…
The Witness and the Writer: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 18 April 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 18 April 2009 (Third Sunday of Easter, Year C) Acts 9:1-6, (7-20) •Psalm 30 •Revelation 5:11-14 •John 21:1-19 I’ve been asked to preach not this…
Showing the World that the World is the World: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 4 April 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 11 April 2010 (Second Week of Easter, Year C) Acts 5:27-32 •Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150 •Revelation 1:4-8 •John 20:19-31 I recently revisited one of…
Bible, Tradition, Authority Part 2: The Power of God
Part 1: The Nature of God Thomas and Omnipotence A person reading the first fifteen or so questions from Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica might miss it, but it’s in there:…
Thomas's Long Week
(This is actually something I wrote several years ago, but I hope a bit of recycling will be forgiven me.) On Easter Sunday itself, so far as I can tell,…
Remembering and Understanding: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 4 April 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 4 April 2010 (Easter Sunday, Year C) Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 65:17-25 • Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 • 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43 • John 20:1-18 or Luke…
Hobbits, Monsters, and Augustine
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. And so he did: Bilbo Baggins, that is. However, the opening sentence of Tolkien’s story could just as easily describe…
Getting it and Not Getting it: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 28 March 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 28 March 2010 (Liturgy of Palms, Year C) Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 • Luke 19:28-40 I really like that, in this relatively brief story in today’s Gospel…
The Raised Stone Speaks
March 17 is the Feast of Saint Patrick. (Seriously. What did you think I was going to write about? Saints are, like, my one schtick, especially those affiliated with Britain.)…
Alienation, Existentialism, and the Theological Hole
Alienation is such a major fixation for existentialists that it can be easy to forget that they didn’t invent it. (Students, like me, of Christian existentialism are more likely to…
Jackals and Owls and the Poor: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 21 March 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 21 March 2010 (Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C) Isaiah 43:16-21 • Psalm 126 • Philippians 3:4b-14 • John 12:1-8 What do jackals and owls and dragons and…
Bible, Tradition, Theology part 1: The Nature of God
Once again I have Phil Rutledge to thank for an occasion to think not only about theology’s content but the ways in which I do theology. Responding to our recent…
Creation Doesn't Stop at Harvest: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 14 March 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 14 March 2010 (Year C, Fourth Sunday of Lent) Joshua 5:9-12 • Psalm 32 • 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 • Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 I love when the Lectionary readings…
The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode 14: Origin Stories
The music this week is Bruce Cockburn’s “Creation Dream,” from Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws (1979). General Introduction – Reader feedback – What’s on the blog this week? The Genesis…
The Verse Right Before: A Reflection on the Lectionary Texts for 7 March 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 7 March 2010 (Third Sunday of Lent, Year C) Isaiah 55:1-9 • Psalm 63:1-8 • 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 • Luke 13:1-9 Two of this week’s readings feature some…