The term peace appears some 9o times in the New Testament, almost as often as “grace” appears, though only about half as often as “love.” Word counts don’t prove weightiness but they ought not to be discounted either. By the way, in the NRSV the word “justice” appears 14 times; 23 times in the CEB. Ron Sider, in If Jesus is Lord , examines peace in the New Testament as one of his approaches to discover what the NT teaches about... Read more

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.BCP Read more

I am excited to be with another New Testament MA cohort next week as we delve into studying the Context of the New Testament, with special focus on Romans 12-16. A new kind of funeral: for a glacier. OKJOKULL GLACIER, Iceland (AP) — It was a funeral for ice. With poetry, moments of silence and political speeches about the urgent need to fight climate change, Icelandic officials, activists and others bade goodbye to what once was a glacier. Icelandic geologist... Read more

By Mike Glenn Whenever we confront a situation or problem, we want to deal with it and then, move on. We want to step up to the issue and do whatever we need to do. Then, we want to move on and never think about it again. We want life to be like a set of stairs. We want to deal with whatever the problem is, step up and be done with it. Life, however, isn’t like that. Whenever we... Read more

By Becky Castle Miller, Teaching Romans Backwards Becky Castle Miller, our student who lives in the Netherlands, has created a masterful study guide to Reading Romans Backwards. Yes, this study guide can be used in lay groups, in college classes, and any adult Sunday School class. Here’s what Becky does in the plan of this wonderful book: She creates this guide for 15 week classes but also provides alternative schedules for the guide. She has “Before Class” and “During Class” and... Read more

Thanks to the wonderful work of Kelly Hughes, numerous news media and radio programs have interviewed me about my new book, Reading Romans Backwards. The most common question: Why read Romans backwards? First, since most who read Romans are swamped by the theological depth and debates about it, by the time they get to Romans 9 they may be exhausted and even more if they get to Romans 12. If we don’t read it first we may never get to... Read more

This is by one of our Northern (MA New Testament) students, Ben Davis, who leads a pastors group in Wichita KS. Synopsis of A Secular Age  Charles Taylor’s book, A Secular Age, is a sweeping narrative covering more than 500 years of philosophical, theological, political, and cultural history in an effort to answer this singular question: “Why was it virtually impossible not to believe in God in, say, 1500 in our Western society, while in 2000 [or 2019] many of us... Read more

Shane J. Wood is professor of New Testament and associate dean at Ozark Christian College. He is also a teaching minister at College Heights Christian Church. A treasure trove of free resources can be found on his website: www.shanejwood.com. The following interview centers around Shane’s latest book, Between Two Trees. This interview was conducted by David George Moore. Some of Dave’s teaching and interview video can be accessed at www.mooreengaging.com. Moore: You mention that Between Two Trees ended up being... Read more

The recent stories of Josh Harris and Marty Sampson, one the well-known author of I Kissed Dating Good-Bye and the other a Hillsong songwriter, have been scrutinized recently. Some had a bit of a databank of others to draw upon for their observations while others had some pastoral experience with folks leaving the faith. There is lots of speculation, so it seems to me, in what is being said. Some years back I wrote a chapter in a book on... Read more

Ron Sider, in If Jesus is Lord , examines beyond the Sermon on the Mount to other teachings of Jesus and their implications for violence, war, and pacifism. What does he examine? 1. The inaugural sermon in Luke 4:16-30: no vengeance for Jesus. 2. Jesus and the Samaritans in Luke 9:51-56; 17:18-19; John 4, and Luke 10:25-37. The “hated” enemy becomes the one given mercy. 3. Healing the centurion’s servant (Matt 8:5-13), where we find mercy from Jesus toward Romans in... Read more