https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/09/16/bears-raid-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-delivery-van-affil-vpx-cprog.ktuu Read more
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/09/16/bears-raid-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-delivery-van-affil-vpx-cprog.ktuu Read more
Perhaps the best voice of the whole rock n roll era, and certainly one of the best songwriters and performers for the last 50 or so years is Gino Vannelli, who’s jazz rock is in a class by itself, and he still has a killer voice and band. Gino who is exactly the same age as me, has has been performing since he was 20. His first real tour after his first record (Crazy Life) was opening for Stevie Wonder... Read more
Q. I have always thought that at least sometimes, and particularly in John 11, the phrase ‘the Jews’ means the Jewish officials who attended Lazarus’s period of mourning, and if Lazarus is the BD, he is well known to Caiaphas and has access to his house, as a known person, that Peter does not have. I don’t think the Fourth Gospel is anti-Semitic, nor anti-OT, for Christ is busy fulfilling the Scriptures, but of course it was horribly used for... Read more
Q. Why do you think the story of the meal with the Beloved Disciple and with the footwashing is the climax of the meal stories, and we don’t really have the Passover meal story from Thursday night, with no ‘this is my body, this is my blood’ interpretation of the Passover elements? Does this have to do with John’s early proclamation that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the world’s sin? Not only is Jesus the... Read more
Q. It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ’s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in the prologue in John 1, and the confession of Thomas ‘my Lord and my God’ after Jesus has written. All these other confessions like Martha’s, ‘I believe you are the Messiah….’ are true but inadequate. Jesus doesn’t merely cause resurrection and life, he is the resurrection and life, and Martha doesn’t... Read more
Q. This Gospel is the only one with a purpose statement in John 20— ‘these things are written so that you might begin to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God’. I don’t think it’s an accident that this is the Gospel usually first translated by missionaries into a new language. This is the Gospel for evangelism, not as a tract to be handed out, but as a tool for teachers and preachers bearing witness and leading people... Read more
Q. Why do you think Jesus only addresses his mother as ‘woman’, not as mother or by name in her two appearances in the Fourth Gospel—in John 2 and John 19? And why the emphasis in John 7.5 that the brothers were not followers of Jesus during the ministry, though they knew he could do signs and wonders? It appears both the Synoptics and John go out of their way to show Jesus distancing himself from his physical family... Read more
Q. It seems to me beyond dispute that while the Synoptics are from a Galilean and Galilean disciple perspective, the Fourth Gospel is largely from a more Judaean perspective, with mostly Judaean miracles (sharing only the feeding of the five thousand miracle with the other three Gospels as the only ministry miracle mentioned by all 4). Would you agree? This would help explain why the Fourth Gospel is so different, focusing on things Jesus said and did in and... Read more
Q. One of the matters you discuss several times in the book is the traditional idea that Martha represents the active Christian life, whereas Mary reflects the contemplative life. This sounds like a monastic reading of the story. Protestants would be more apt to say Martha appears to be an extrovert, and Mary more of an introvert. How is this story, along with Luke 10.38-42 important for the contemplative tradition, and why? A. That’s an interesting take on it, because... Read more
Q. It appears that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are all single. This seems odd since they are all adults. What is the best way to explain this? A. Oh, there are so many explanations about that. One of the joys of writing this book has been doing some real exploration into competing theories about different parts of the story. In this case, some say, relying on a connection to Simon the Leper (and the fact that Bethany could be possibly... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In