Over the past weeks we read from the Pentateuch, then the Book of Joshua and today we start the Book of Judges. These books are all part of the same story arc (as they say in Hollywood) and, as often is the case, the “sequels” get less and less engaging. Joshua ends with the people… Read More »

One of my heroes is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor whose efforts opposing the Nazi regime in his country eventually led his execution. While he was in prison awaiting his fate he penned many letters. One in particular from 1944 stands out. He wrote: “I remember a conversation I had with a young French… Read More »

The exodus story reaches its end after the local inhabitants in Palestine have been conquered and Joshua gathers the people together before each going to their tribal lands. He challenges them: “Decide today whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” The people remember all that God had… Read More »

A few years ago (“a few” meaning about 50!) there was a BBC TV series entitled  The Ascent of Man, hosted by Jacob Bronowski, describing how, throughout history, science helped our species to achieve higher standards of living. One thought in particular struck me: that war is simply an organized and efficient means of theft.… Read More »

The first five books of the Bible, the Jewish Torah, the Books of Moses, hold a pride of place in the Bible. Scholars call them the Pentateuch, “the five books.” The sixth book of the Bible, the Book of Joshua, is part of the same tradition and continues the same themes — so much so… Read More »

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” This saying of Jesus can be taken to stress the importance of gathering in prayer. Of course, personal prayer is necessary but public prayer, going to Church with others, provides the forum to get over my tendency… Read More »

The word we translate at martyr simply means “witness.” It would be the word used, for example, in a court of law. Martyrs were celebrated in the early church — and today as well — as witnesses of the centrality of God in one’s life. The martyrs testify that God is so important that everything… Read More »

My favorite definition of fundamentalism: taking as fundamental that which is not fundamental. One  characteristic of the fundamentalist mindset is to insist on the authority of the Biblical texts. However, people tend to pick and choose which texts they want to make authoritative. For example, the Bible could not be clearer about the way to… Read More »

Every now and then a line from the Bible brings me up short. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies. Stop judging. These are challenging statements. Today’s epistle to the Ephesians contains another startling demand. “Be imitators of God.” Be imitators of God? Are you kidding me? I can’t put together an IKEA bookshelf much… Read More »

We have to say “this is mine” with a great deal of humility. The Jewish people claimed the promised land as theirs. However, God reminded them:  the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large… Read More »