Let’s get clear from the start: there is simply no such thing as Christian Nationalism. If one is a Christian, any sort of nationalism– a word that includes in its definition an exclusive claim for patriotism toward one nation and a xenophobic rejection of other nations– and that asserts a connection to Christianity is by definition ruled out. Christianity, among many other things, is a universal religion, one that avows “God sent the son into the world not to condemn... Read more

Elisha, heir to the prophet Elijah, is an altogether different figure than his mentor, at least as he is presented to us in the Second Book of Kings. Though Elijah is of course remembered as a man of power, a prophet of YHWH able to provide miraculous jars of grain that never are exhausted, able to raise the dead, and able to defeat hundreds of Baal prophets with a simple prayer for YHWH’s intercession, he is also characterized by his... Read more

Many of those of us who are white citizens of US America have struggled with our involvement in and ongoing support for racism in our nation, especially a racism directed toward our Black sisters and brothers. We have engaged in protest rallies in support of Black Lives Matter. We have read any number of books and articles that have tried to place our systematic racism in larger contexts, historically, culturally, and socially. Those of us who are long-time members of... Read more

The poet we know as 2-Isaiah, who wrote his rich words late in the exile of Israel to Babylon, has played an outsized role in the formation of Christian belief. From his unforgettable opening language in chapter 40, where he urges his hearers to receive YHWH’s “comfort” in their exile, to his mysterious announcements concerning a “suffering servant,” “bruised for our iniquities” and a “carrier of our sorrows,” the author has provided no end of resources for Christians seeking to... Read more

Back when I was teaching Hebrew Bible as part of my assignment on the faculty of Perkins School of Theology, I regularly used Deut.18 as a sort of satirical target in my discussions of biblical prophecy. I tried to make it as clear as I could that the interest of the Bible’s great prophets was not at all predictions of the future. To be sure, they talked of the future, but were far more interested in what YHWH was demanding... Read more

I write this essay on Jan.19, 2021, the day before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice-president of the USA. It is a day that many of us have longed for, ending at last the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump that culminated in a Trump-led mob’s ransacking of the US capitol, and creating dangerous and explosive fears of more attacks from right-wing terrorists, both on inauguration day and after. On a day every four years... Read more

Jonah and I are old friends, or at least well-worn acquaintances. Among the very first scholarly articles I ever wrote (1981) was on Jonah, published in what was then a rather obscure European journal. So, 40 years later, here he comes again in the Common Lectionary, ready to offer his hilarious and important lessons for us afresh. As I have said before in these essays, one simply cannot preach from one chapter of this tiny book; you must know the... Read more

Today’s text is rich with ambiguity, like so many of the complex tales recorded in the books of Samuel, surely among the finest literature in the ancient world. The story itself is well known. Samuel, having been left with the aging priest Eli at the shrine of Shiloh by his mother in fulfillment of her vow that finally brought her a son, “was ministering (serving) YHWH in the presence of Eli” (1 Sam.3:1). Though the NRSV translates “under Eli,” which... Read more

Well you may ask what in the world may be the relationship between a 5th century CE theologian, none of whose writing has survived, and the very young Republican (41) senator from Missouri? This connection was suggested to me by an article in the 1/11/2021 edition of the New York Times by Katherine Stewart, the author of a recent book on the new religious right, “Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.” Senator Hawley, she says, is a... Read more

The raucously Trumpian attorney, Sidney Powell, has several times over the past few terrible months of our politics, shouted, “Release the Kraken,” referring to her willingness to file innumerable lawsuits to force any number of states to reverse the clear evidence of the Nov.3 election, making Joe Biden and Kamala Harris the winners, in order that the certain loser, Donald Trump, might gain a second term as president. In the light of the appalling events of Jan.6, her phrase has... Read more