All Episodes
God is My Judge
What does St. Paul mean when he explains that no one, not even an "angel from heaven," can contradict the gospel that was preached in Galatia? To what does Paul appeal...
No Oxygen Allowed
Rationalize (verb): to attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true or appro...
Bless Thine Inheritance
What if someone wrote a book that imposed patriarchal authority at the expense of patriarchs, redeemed inheritance at the expense of wealth, upheld a patronymic withou...
Hear, O Daughter
At your right hand stood the Queen in vesture of gold; Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear! The rich among the people shall entreat your favor and the King...
Waking Ned Devine
How is the content of Ruth reflected in the teaching of St. Paul and in the gospel narratives? Why, in Ruth, does it matter who is whose relative and who is connected ...
Dialogue is the Problem
Why do discussions about race in the United States always seem to widen the gap between neighbors? How do our assumptions about race cripple our ability to recognize o...
Their Confusion is at Hand
Why would Jesus, who warns against the sword in Matthew 26 threaten to use one in Matthew 10? Why would Jesus set a man against his father and a daughter against her m...
Grant Victory Against Me
The Passion narrative in John 19 is unequivocal: the life of Jesus ended in humiliation, abuse, abject betrayal, subjugation and utter failure. You might try to comfor...
Knock Yourself Out
A recent article in Salon magazine views the ongoing decline in American religion "in part, as an inevitable result of the politicization of Christianity." Where does ...
The Empire Strikes Back
Often and wrongly promoted as a biblical precept, unconditional love works against the purpose of Jesus in the New Testament. Nowhere is this point more clearly expres...
The Tower of Babel
Of language diversity in the United States, Saul Bellow once quipped, "A melting pot, yes. A tower of Babel, no." The Nobel Laureate's comment, indicative of American...
The Problem of the Justified
A culture's moral platitudes expose the sins for which its adherents hope to atone. This tension is present in popular critiques of the biblical commandment, "an eye f...
Until the Lord Comes
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens: Lo, it is better to be patient than arrogant, for the end of something is better than ...
Famous for Scrubbing Toilets
Since everything you have is already passing away, why hold onto it? Since you can't control the weather, why worry about? Since everything you do is vanishing breath,...
Man Cannot Judge
Ecclesiastes 10 presents a world in which two paths, one foolish and one wise, both lead to the same outcome. Where temporal human eyes see the benefits of wisdom, the...
Play the Cards You're Dealt
According to the Preacher, no matter what you do, you are doomed to the one fate that awaits everyone. Are you a righteous man? Are you wicked? Can you, by your action...
Judgment As Hope
When a human judge seeks meaning in the abuses of the wicked or in the misfortunes of the righteous, if he is as honest with himself as the Preacher in Jerusalem, his ...
Stick To It, Don’t Stick It To Yourself
If, for the sake of wisdom, death is better than birth, sorrow is better than laughter and mourning is better than feasting, what hope has the wise man of escaping rui...