Author A Distant Echo
How does the Bible begin? While the first several chapters can be analyzed in a number of ways, they serve to establish the premise and nature of human existence. These chapters setup the story: the principle protagonists, antagonists, and the… Continue Reading →
What is the Bible all about? Does it contain some larger narrative spanning all sixty-six books? How would you answer that? Is your answer reflected in the passages you regularly read, or the lessons explicated on a given Sunday? In… Continue Reading →
As discussed in a prior post, I stumbled into the practice of teaching my kids (and myself) the books of the Bible and, subsequently, passages of Scripture. It has been surprisingly successful (both in the engagement of my children as… Continue Reading →
My two children were baptized a couple years ago (aged 4 and 7). One of the commitments made during this rite is the responsibility to teach (i.e., disciple) the child in the meaning not only of their baptism, but of… Continue Reading →
In this study, we are considering the theme of exile and return across the Christian Scriptures. We will start at the beginning of the promise of to Abram that he would be the father of a great nation, a nation… Continue Reading →
A central theme across the canon of Scripture — and even the message of Christianity more broadly — is the repeated concept of Exile and Return. The undesired deportation from apparent prosperity, away from the fertile Eden into the dark… Continue Reading →
A recent comment caught my attention: ‘Such-and-such a book is worth getting because it doesn’t assume a late date for Daniel.’ This is certainly not the first I’ve heard such a suggestion, nor will it be the last, but I… Continue Reading →
Like so many events in early Christianity, the development of the commemoration of Jesus’ birth is largely unknown. Its relative unimportance is even suggested in the Gospels where Mark((Probably. There are some suggestions that Mark as we currently have it… Continue Reading →
Tom Wright recently (2020) published a new popular text entitled, Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the World. Wright’s discusses seven innate longings of the human race which he sees as indicators (or ‘signposts’) pointing away from the world’s… Continue Reading →
Taking time to read the Scriptures can be challenging — our day already feels too busy, and when we finally do have a few minutes alone (perhaps rising before the break of day or well after the final pink and… Continue Reading →