Why does Mark associate prophetic concepts of abundance with the commandment to take up the cross? In what way do popular concepts of carrying the cross, associated with hardship, fall short of the commandment’s meaning? How does the crucifixion in Mark test our trust in God’s generosity? This week’s episode is in memory of Fr….
Category: The Bible as Literature
Fat of the Land
Much of Ezekiel is spent emphasizing God’s anti-locality, namely, that there is no structure or land to which the biblical God is chained. In Ezekiel, God moves freely upon the earth, outside the control of his subjects. With this in mind, the book’s closing verse is a kind of literary surprise. What does Ezekiel mean…
Come and See
Given the Bible’s persistent emphasis on the problem of idolatry, why suddenly, in John, are we confronted with the phrase, “Come and see?” This seems especially odd, since the opening verses of John deliberately limit the reader’s purview to the divine word, which begins with the inscription “in the beginning,” referring to Genesis. Obviously, Philip…
Broken Records
In a biblical narrative that is overwhelmingly anti-kingly, how can one make sense of Paul’s apparent endorsement of governing authorities in Romans 13? Why would Paul ask the church to submit to ruling authorities in a setting where those authorities pose a real and present danger? What implications does Paul’s admonition have for civil disobedience…
The Marketplace
How should the Bible’s addressees understand the parable of the wise and foolish virgins at the outset of Matthew 25? In what way does the metaphor of lamp oil relate to the story of the foolish stewards? How does the marketplace, first mentioned in chapter 20, frame our understanding of the final judgment and the…
Blood Sacrifice
What is the purpose of ritual sacrifice in the Bible? Why is so much emphasis placed on blood sacrifice as a means of expiation? Why would Ezekiel incorporate blood sacrifice in his depiction of the heavenly Jerusalem? In a continuation of last week’s theme, Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the importance of sticking with difficult…
Boring Texts
Why do chapters 41 and 42 of Ezekiel spend so much time talking about the monotonous details of temple architecture? Why would these details matter in a book like Ezekiel, which undermines the temple cult in Jerusalem? Are the design schematics outlined in Ezekiel applicable to real-world construction? Even if they were, why list these…
Interview with Fr. Timothy Lowe
This week, Richard and Fr. Marc interview Fr. Timothy Lowe about his paper, The Gospel of Matthew and the Law Interpreted for Jew and Gentile, one of several excellent papers presented in Phoenix, AZ at the 2015 Symposium of the Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical Studies. Fr. Timothy explains how the gospel of…
Wheat, Wine, and Oil
The BBC recently reported that “the share of the world’s wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48%” in 2015 and that “on current trends, Oxfam…expects the wealthiest 1% to own more than 50% of the world’s wealth by 2016.” What must we hear from the biblical prophets in the…
What’s More Important?
What is the purpose of St. Paul’s discussion of gender and marriage in 1 Corinthians? Why is he seemingly ambivalent about the status of Roman slaves? On what basis does he chastise his disciples for airing their grievances in the Roman court system? How does his critique of ‘speaking in tongues’ or his discussion of…