Meditation: Whose bone and flesh are we?
Meditation: Whose bone and flesh are we?
by Andrew Pratt
Meditation: Whose bone and flesh are we? Whose bone and flesh are we? Who reigns above our lives? For forty years or four a human monarch has limited tenure, meagre power. And then what? Then who or what is God? What is our greatest concern? Only you, only I, can answer that? A…
Meditation/poem: Suffering was anathema
Meditation/poem: Suffering was anathema
by Andrew Pratt
Meditation/Poem: Suffering was anathema Suffering was anathema, no Messiah died. To grasp what is mystical requires a letting go. A letting go of all things. For the mysterious, the magical, the mystical, that we label God, is so utterly other that the disciples flew from it, bet…
Monologue: All in white shall stand around
Monologue: All in white shall stand around
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: All in white shall stand around All in white shall stand around? That's how the old carol has it, doesn't it? Sounds like a decorators' convention at best, at worst boring! Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be irreverent, but it just doesn't make sense? I mean are …
Monologue: It's all so familiar
Monologue: It's all so familiar
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue on 1 Corinthians 13 (I use the name Andrew. It is best if the reader inserts their own name here). It's all so familiar: 'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity', they translate that as 'love' now - makes more sense, charity has the w…
Monologue: Jesus and Herod
Monologue: Jesus and Herod
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Jesus and Herod I love me. No, don't get me wrong. I know you can see me! And I see myself in the mirror...each morning. Seeing me waking up is not a pretty sight! I'm not always proud of what I say or do. I have my regrets, oh yes. But...you knew there'd be a but, but…
Monologue: Martha and Mary
Monologue: Martha and Mary
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Martha and Mary. Ah, a woman's work. Well the place for a woman is in the kitchen isn't it? Who sweeps a room as for The Lord makes that and the action fine. Bring back the drawing room I say, where after eating our fill, thank you ladies, we might withdraw, take port,…
Monologue: Memories
Monologue: Memories
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Memories Sometimes my memory is really clear but as I get older it sometimes slips a bit. Nothing unusual there, they tell me. But when I think about it sometimes I doubt the memories themselves. Do I really remember being pushed by mum and dad in my push-chair by the …
Monologue: Jesus and the temple
Monologue: Jesus and the temple
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Jesus and the temple Massive! Who knows how heavy those stones would be. Piled one on top of another, towering over our heads. I tried to imagine what Goliath could have built this temple. It really was a feat of engineering. And then he stops, a boulder twice his heig…
Monologue: Ruth and Obed
Monologue: Ruth and Obed
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Ruth and Obed I remember the apprehension. Wondering rather more than I ever had done before. Naomi knew that I was alone, even in the midst of her family. She also nurtured that old belief, we shared it, that life, eternal life, goes on in our children. I know you tal…
Monologue: Not me!
Monologue: Not me!
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: Not me! What's that you say? You saw me just the other night? You can't be right! And Freda saw me too? She was with you? Oh no... you are mistaken. I turned to walk away, but something, nagging, made we want to stay. A wasp was buzzing in my head and later, resting in…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Origin of John the Baptist and Jesus
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Origin of John the Baptist and Jesus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Origin of John the Baptist and Jesus (Luke 1) Against this background of the role of women in Luke, one can examine in more detail passages unique to Luke that focus on women. Three women appear in this section (Elizabeth, Mary of Nazareth, and Anna) in roles far more powerfu…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Reign of Solomon
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Reign of Solomon
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Reign of Solomon Four primary markers characterize Solomon’s kingship over Israel as presented in the book of Kings: his superlative wisdom, his remarkable prosperity, his accomplishment of building the temple, and his penchant for marrying foreign women. Solomon’s wisdom is …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Return
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Return
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Return THE WOMEN’S BIBLE COMMENTARY (Jeremiah 31: 7-14) The new beginning is both certain and imminent. To welcome it, another poem begins with a command to “sing aloud with gladness” (31:7–14). For the first time in the book, north no longer refers to the direction from whic…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Third Lesson
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Third Lesson
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Third Lesson (Mark 10: 1-52) Building on the developing theme of a revisioning of power relations and the image of a child, an extended teaching section is presented in chapter 10. Included are three teaching episodes having to do with the household: marriage and divorce, childre…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Women's First Speech
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Women's First Speech
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Women’s First Speech The woman expresses her desire and explores her feelings for her lover, and his for her, through stories in which she and he both play roles, as themselves or in fantasy guises. Here she tells three. In her first story (2:8–17), she conjures her lover up …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Triumphal Entry