Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, a climate skeptic, questioned the environmentalists concern about rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. During a congressional hearing in February 1924, he asked how much carbon dioxide is in the air, anyway. Guesses ranged from 5% to 8%. The real answer LaMalfa said, is less – “Not 1%. Not a half of a percent. It’s .04%.” In other words, what’s all the fuss? My answer is to look at an even smaller number... Read more
Last in a series on Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine Richard A. Horsley is one of the earliest New Testament scholars to make the economic and political conditions of first-century Palestine a key to understanding Jesus. His work and that of few others then represented a courageous break from traditional interpretations. In earlier posts I have explored, and found persuasive, Horsley’s Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine as well as similar works by two other scholars. (See... Read more
On Horsley’s Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine, Part 3 Richard A. Horsley brings the political situation of first-century Palestine out of the background and into focus as an important part of understanding Jesus. The resulting picture of Jesus stays true to the Gospels while making sense of Jesus’ career, especially its ending. Jesus’ politics can be ignored no longer or we’re not taking the incarnation seriously. Politics, economics, as well as some attitude toward the Ultimate are... Read more
The apostles’ experiences of the Resurrection were confusing. Were they true? I think there’s good evidence to believe that because the apostles themselves seem to have gotten truer as a result. Admittedly, that’s an odd kind of evidence. Typically one argues for the Christian belief in Jesus’ Resurrection by saying, “Look how much braver the apostles got after seeing Jesus risen from the dead.” It is true. They acted like a bunch of cowards up to Jesus’ death and willingly... Read more
Participating in the reading of Jesus’ passion in yesterday’s Good Friday service and coming to the crowd’s part, I read out loud, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” It’s been like that every Good Friday. That emotionally disturbing part of Good Friday highlights my guilt, my role in Jesus’ crucifixion. But there’s another reason why this part of the passion story is disturbing. It’s the image of the people, “the Jews,” shouting for Jesus’ death. In the story from John’s Gospel, they... Read more
Was Jesus thinking about “Real Presence” during that first Holy thursday supper, or was his mind on what Passover had always meant — or should have meant — for Israel’s people. My guess will depend on a phrase in both Jesus’ own Scriptures and a modern Jewish celebration of Passover. Both of these sources call the unleavened bread of Passover the “Bread of Affliction.” Scripture and justice for the afflicted Modern Bible scholars locate Jesus right in the midst of... Read more
Mark crams a lot into Wednesday of Holy Week – or is it Wednesday plus part of Thursday. It’s hard to tell. There’s a long speech that sounds like Jesus talking about the end of the world, but maybe it’s about world-shaking events of any age, including ours. The community that Mark wrote for also knew a shaking of worlds. In the year 70 Rome captured Jerusalem from Jewish rebels and destroyed the Temple. Maybe that’s what Wednesday’s speech was... Read more
It’s Tuesday in the first Holy Week. A little band is walking with Jesus up to Jerusalem again, quite a bit more somber than yesterday. The disciples are thinking how their leader almost got them all arrested yesterday. And what was the point? They come upon a dead fig tree, which yesterday was alive. Jesus had cursed it for no good reason, and today it’s all shriveled up, never to bear fruit again. Well, that’s only for Mark’s readers because... Read more
Monday of the First Holy Week in Mark’s Gospel After Sunday’s (the first Palm Sunday’s) street theater, Jesus retired to nearby Bethany, but not before checking out the Temple. Probably he got no further than the outer courtyard, where he envisioned the civil disobedience he was planning for the coming day, Monday of the first Holy Week. Now it is Monday and Jesus and friends are walking back to Bethany. They spy a fig tree a little way off the... Read more
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently released an ominous report on a lesser noted effect of global warming. Around the world, mountain glaciers are retreating, threatening the future livelihood of billions of people. Previously I wrote on another report that fourteen years ago made exactly the same point. “The Fate of Mountain Glaciers” was authored by a consortium of scientists known as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Hardly any Catholics – nor anyone else – are... Read more
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