This is the kind of Bible commentary that I not only find useful for study, but also for casual devotional reading. Card’s approach continues to ignite a passion in me for studying the Word! It’s this kind of study that causes the Bible to transform a life, in very much the same way that I imagine Paul would have been changed by a Bible filled with fresh revelation. Read more

We typically don’t read the Bible expecting to be amazed. We’re surrounded by so many amazing things every day – electricity, indoor plumbing, organ transplants, space travel – that we’ve become immune to the concept. We treat the Scriptures like outdated literature, worth slogging through as part of our religion, but a text lacking in anything that would actually boggle our mind. But what if you read the Bible with your imagination? Read more

From the book’s cover alone I was intrigued to see how Card would engage the Bible and the imagination. My spiritual direction training included a major emphasis on the Ignatian tradition — which has a strong emphasis on using the imagination to engage scripture — so I have a long-standing interest in the approach Card has chosen. Read more

A holy imagination is a life that is open, immediate, and raw --- receptive and ready to respond to God on God’s terms. An imagination open to what God wants to do --- an imagination that isn’t tied to me and mine, or here and now. Read more

As created beings, one of our greatest treasures, perhaps the dearest fingerprint of God in us, is our ability to imagine. But inevitably, whenever I speak about the “biblical imagination" someone will object, "Isn't the imagination a bad thing? Doesn't the Bible say our imaginations are “evil?” Read more

Mother Teresa once said, “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.” At the center of Pitre’s Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist is the message of God’s transforming love throughout history. Read more

A study of ancient rabbinic writing marries ancient Presences to new, and exposes the constancy of God’s self-revelation; it is always in the Bread. Read more

As a progressive Protestant Christian, it is healthy for me to be challenged with a perspective on the Eucharist that is markedly different than my own. However, it occurs to me that one angle for approaching the difference between my view of the Eucharist and Pitre’s view is actually to show a contrast between two Roman Catholic scholars. Read more

Self-described “Hebrew Catholic” SIMCHA FISHER finds that a constancy of exchange between God and humanity, is always, always in the Bread. Reflections on the new book "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist." Read more

As a Protestant (Episcopalian and later non-denominational), I prayed often for the presence of God to be made manifest, the thought being that God's presence alone would be enough to bring comfort, healing, solace - even faith. Now, journeying back to my Catholic roots, via RCIA, I find that everything's changed; God’s presence is more than ethereal. RICK RICE on how "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist" is the answer to a returning Catholic’s prayer. Read more