James 1:1-11 Et tu, James? You, too, along with St. Paul are commanding me to rejoice in my trials? To which St. James replies simply: “Exactly.” I welcome the break from St. Paul’s weighty letters, hoping to catch a breather from his demanding gospel, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the apostolic tradition that we are to keep. I was looking forward, to a break from Paul’s constant emphasis on how we are to respond to suffering... Read more
Excommunication – 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18 I get upset when I hear of those who call themselves Christians and yet insist on their right to disobey God – and I’ll bet you do too. As an Anglican, in the past few years I’ve heard a lot of self-professed Christians insist that homosexuality is not a sin – in clear violation of God’s holy commandments. It’s relatively easy to see this as a clear refusal to obey God’s commandments, but I’m constantly... Read more
You were made to live for glory: the glory of God. Read more
When is the Day of the Lord? Read more
In 2 Thessalonians 1 I find two of the most beautiful syllogisms or enthymemes in all of human logic, and perhaps the most terrifying one of all. Read more
What is the Holy Kiss? Read more
Children of the Light – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor darkness.” With these simple words, St. Paul encapsulates the boundary between all human time: BC and AD – before Christ and anno Domini (in the year of our Lord.) One of the fundamental images of the Bible is the distinction between darkness and light, especially as light represents God and His Kingdom and... Read more
Since Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and since I will be raised with Him one day, I know with certainty that I and every faithful Christian will one day be delivered from every form of suffering. Read more
The Abundant Life – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Why is St. Paul so concerned about the “abundant life”? What is this abundant life of which he speaks? Some would have you believe that this “abundant life” is the same thing as material prosperity. If so, I think St. Paul would have been surprised that he wasn’t living a very abundant life after all! In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, Paul urges and exhorts the Thessalonians to “abound more and more,” and in verse... Read more
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Monday of 18th Sunday after Trinity – James 1:12-21
James 1:12-21 There is an incredible riddle hidden in the English translations of James 1, wrapped in the mystery of God’s wisdom, inside the enigma of the Greek language. This riddle is why the Greek word peirasmos is translated “trial” in verse 2 but “temptation” in verses 12-14. It is the same word, and yet we routinely translate and read it in two different senses. What is going on here? I’m not a Greek scholar, but it appears as if... Read more