Jonah: Introduction and Commentary—A Review

Last updated on: August 22, 2022 at 8:46 pm By Kelley Mathews

Commentaries in Eerdmans’ Illuminations series aim, in part, “to alert the reader to the history of conversation surrounding biblical texts.” In her volume Jonah, Amy Erickson, associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Iliff School of Theology, examines the text of the biblical book as well as the history of its interpretation. Rather than offering a single interpretation of the text, she devotes the first half of her work to exploring how various ages of church history understood the erstwhile prophet’s... Read more

The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible

Last updated on: March 7, 2022 at 10:05 pm By Kelley Mathews

The Bible overflows with stories of holy men, evil men, and those whose morality could be best labeled “it’s complicated.” What many readers don’t realize is that the Bible also tells the stories of complex women. Women in the Bible have historically been either overlooked, unfairly sexualized, or wrongly vilified—not out of ill intent, usually, but because of limited effort in exploring them as vital to the biblical saga. What we don’t spend time studying we don’t understand well. Author... Read more

Crisis Counseling is a Weight and an Honor

Last updated on: February 8, 2022 at 10:52 am By Kelley Mathews

In early February, we honor school counselors, those angels in disguise who love and serve our children through crises light and heavy. The following post was written by a Texas school crisis counselor who also happens to be my sister-in-law. Go thank your kids’ counselors! A fiery bus crash. A young life lost. The hollowed stares and still-bandaged limbs of survivors. Siblings speaking of her in the present tense. A parent too lost in grief to receive the comfort... Read more

Do You Need a Holy Shift?

Last updated on: January 22, 2022 at 12:59 pm By Kelley Mathews

What if upside-down is the right way forward? Christine Chandler Prater wants to help shift the conversation around Jesus. So much of evangelical Christianity, in America especially, has become entwined with cultural and political themes that Jesus himself gets lost in the mix. How can believers sift through the myriad voices that sometimes yell what we’re supposed to do or believe or say, to discover what Jesus really thinks? How can unbelievers who might want to know more about... Read more

Apologetics

Last updated on: January 7, 2022 at 12:25 pm By Kelley Mathews

One of my goals for The Estuary blog centers on featuring a variety of art forms focused on worship. My brother inherited the family talent for drawing, and I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. My lack in those areas convinced me that I wasn’t an artist. But I’ve come to see that art is much broader than drawing and singing. Photography, poetry, pottery, songwriting . . . the creative arts encompass much more than images on a canvas.... Read more

Why Protestants Should Give Jesus’s Mother, Mary, Another Chance

Last updated on: December 22, 2021 at 12:05 pm By Kelley Mathews

“Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?” Many Christmas carols mention, or even focus on, Mary the mother of Jesus. But Protestants would be hard-pressed to recall any significant teaching on her beyond the Christmas season. They just aren’t that into her. But, is that fair? In our haste to downplay Mary, what benefits have we missed? Protestants’ Problem with Mary The early church held Mary in great respect. In the first few... Read more

Bathsheba: Vindicated or Implicated by Scripture?

Last updated on: December 14, 2021 at 7:57 am By Kelley Mathews

The fourth of five posts in a series exploring the stories of the women, and their men, included in Jesus’s genealogy. Most folks know the story of David and Bathsheba. It’s sordid, even by biblical standards, and especially cringe-worthy for the chosen king of God’s chosen people. But there she is, mentioned in the sixth verse of the New Testament. Why on earth would the Gospel-writer—chronicling the life of Jesus of Nazareth to show he was the rightful king of... Read more

A Woman (and Man) of Noble Character: Ruth and Boaz in Jesus’s Genealogy

Last updated on: December 7, 2021 at 10:44 am By Kelley Mathews

Ruth and Boaz standing in a field, making eyes over stalks of wheat . . . Ruth and Boaz on the threshing floor, making plans to marry as she scuttles out the door. It’s a popular practice to see the tale of Ruth, the foreign widow who pledged loyalty to her grieving mother-in-law, as a rags-to-riches romance. After all, she meets the man of her (and every girl’s) dreams—he’s rich, generous, and kind—who finds a way to rescue her from... Read more

My Favorite Books of 2021

Last updated on: November 29, 2021 at 11:38 am By Kelley Mathews

Each year I make a book-reading goal on Goodreads near or over triple digits. What kind of person can read approximately 100 books in a year? A writer / editor / professional reviewer. I know. It’s unfair. This year’s genre choices mirror those of 2020 since my research for a writing project—which involved copious amounts of reading—spilled over through August. So, yes, you’ll see some theology books, but I also found time for more devotional reading and the usual fiction... Read more

What Might We Pray at Thanksgiving?

Last updated on: November 24, 2021 at 9:22 am By Kelley Mathews

As we gather around our tables with family and/or friends this week, thanksgiving and gratitude dominate (or should!) our hearts. But often we do not have the words sufficient to express our thoughts and feelings. Somewhat like the Anglicans have the Book of Common Prayer, which holds ancient prayers we can read at any time, I’ve gathered here a (much less-illustrious) collection of old and new prayers of thanksgiving. Perhaps one will stand out to you for reading aloud before... Read more