Category: The Bible as Literature

“Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in your…

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;” “How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments.” (Psalms 111:10 – 112:1) “The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom; before honor comes humility.”(Proverbs 15:33) “The…

In the book of Genesis, the sons of Cain seek divine status and an artificial life forged in everlasting stone. In Matthew, Jesus, like the sons of Adam in Genesis 5, is humanized and weakened on the Cross. The line of Cain ends in the abomination of human kingship; in the Crucifixion, Jesus is humiliated…

We modern folk like to think we invented confusion, but human beings have always been easily confused. We hear and see whatever we want, ignoring everything only to marvel at a phantom we mistake for our reflection. In Matthew 27, this behavior exposes the characters’ folly in the story. The bystanders are listening for something…

Self-appointed apologists are quick to explain that God may allow “bad things” to happen, but he in no way causes them. So the apologist assesses God’s will from a human point of view and then decides that it is wrong, concluding that God obviously could not have meant what he said and did in the…

Everybody loves to quote Scripture—I’m not sure why—because no matter the text, the minute you open your mouth to pronounce what it says, it condemns you. Sometimes in obvious ways, but more often in subtle ways that betray the depth of your ignorance—like the chief priests in Matthew’s gospel. My advice, skip the Bible memes…

There is no such thing as an oral tradition. By its very definition, “the rule” of the Gospel is written down. It’s called a rule because God issued and inscribed a ruling, shared publicly as an objective reference and standard for all to follow. The Gospel of Matthew itself demonstrates the importance of this mechanism…

We like to pretend that giving people a choice is essential. Mostly, we use the American ideology of choice to extract profit, to distract from what’s really going on, or worst of all, to avoid personal accountability. How often have we passively watched another person suffer because they did not ask for help? In Scripture,…

When we hear the teaching of Matthew, “judge not that you may not be judged,” it’s easy to overlook the obvious: when you teach the words of Elohim, you personally are not the judge, but you personally, definitely function as divine judge. In Matthew, Jesus judges no one before the time but teaches everyone the…

“A mob,” James Baldwin wrote, “is not autonomous: it executes the real will of the people who rule the state. The slaughter in Birmingham, Alabama, for example, was not merely the action of a mob.” (Baldwin, Dark Days) The crowds in Matthew choose their champion because Pilate demands victory. Pilate, in turn, wants what the…