The honor that Israel’s memory paid to King Solomon belies the fact that his kingdom fell apart right after he died. This post enters into the troubled symbol king and thinks about rescuing it as an image for God. Episode 13 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this series HERE. Michael, row the boat ashore. Alleluia…. A far off queen came to see a king. Alleluia. Was Solomon’s wisdom... Read more

Violence in the Bible disturbs some Christians and makes it easier to reject Biblical faith altogether. One way to deal with some of the Bible’s disturbing passages is to locate God’s revelation not in the pages of a book but in the reader’s encounter with the ancient words. Episode 13-3 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this series HERE. The Bible’s authors lived in a violent age.... Read more

The Bible contains a lot of violence, much of it unjust by today’s standards. In this post I use findings of archaeologists that indicate that some of the worst violence, for example, the battles Joshua fought, didn’t really happen.  I leave for the next post the question why these stories are in the Bible. Episode 13-2 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this series HERE. People have... Read more

Violence in the Bible is a difficult issue for Christians, especially when God commands it. This post raises the question of violence in biblical stories. The next two consider the history behind the stories  and their place in Scripture. Episode 13-1 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this series HERE. Michael, row the boat ashore. Alleluia…. Mighty Sampson had lots of hair, Alleluia. Until Delilah shaved him... Read more

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel lists four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheeba. (If you count Mary there are 5, but the genealogy is on the foster father Joseph’s side. Makes no sense to me either.) It’s noteworthy that there are any women at all in the list, but Matthew’s choices are even more remarkable when you get to know these four. Episode 12 of the Rowing with Michael Series:A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and... Read more

Israel’s journey to the Promised Land is a metaphor for life. So Israel could have hope for the future. Israel combined that hope with justice for the oppressed. God had commanded them to remember when they themselves had been slaves in Egypt. Episode 11 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this series HERE. Michael, row the boat ashore. Alleluia…. The River Jordan was deep and wide. Alleluia. Milk and... Read more

The Bible’s second book, Exodus, tells about Israel’s beginning as a people. Is this a made-up story or real history or something between? What can we say, or guess, from non-biblical sources about Israel’s beginning? How did people in a collapsing civilization around the end of the Bronze Age find a way to go on? This is Episode 10, Part 2 of the Rowingwith Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. (See Part 1 here.) Introduction... Read more

How did the nation of Israel begin? Can we trust the Bible to tell us how it really happened? Was there an Exodus from Egypt? Did Moses exist? Did a million slaves wander for 40 years in the desert? Does it matter for Christians and Jews? This post and the next will dig into these controversial historical questions. Episode 10-1 of the Rowing with Michael Series: A journey through the Jewish/Christian Scriptures in Verse and Commentary. Introduction and Contents for this... Read more