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John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Word became Flesh
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Word became Flesh
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
The Word became Flesh Like an overture, the Prologue introduces the gospel’s major themes. First, John arranged his composition against a cosmic backdrop of the realm of divine light above and our dark world below…
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - BREAKFAST with JESUS
John THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE COMMENTARY - BREAKFAST with JESUS
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
BREAKFAST with JESUS Fishing was Peter’s idea but he has abandoned ship, leaving the others lurched over the side dragging the net in (21:8). When they come ashore, they find ‘a charcoal fire’. The use of anthrakia for the fire immediately recalls the high priest’s courtyard, whe…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Status and Spiritual Gifts
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Status and Spiritual Gifts
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Status and Spiritual gifts As in the previous section, the issue here is status divisions, but divisions based on possession of spiritual gifts, not (at least, not directly) on wealth. Paul’s response is to promote those gifts (e.g., prophecy) and actions (e.g., love) that enhanc…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Saul Unmanned
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Saul Unmanned
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Saul Unmanned In Excursus 2, and immediately above, I address preliminary issues of masculinity and “unmanning.” An understanding of ancient masculinity is critical in a “women’s Bible commentary,” because genderedness, particular female genderedness in the ancient world, is ofte…
Isaiah for everyone - Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering
Isaiah for everyone - Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Good News for People Who Are Broken and Flickering In a movie we recently watched called Stuck between Stations, the protagonists, a man and a woman, tell each other stories that explicate something of who they are. The man is a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan who has watched one of …
Isaiah for everyone - The People Who Know What’s Best
Isaiah for everyone - The People Who Know What’s Best
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The People Who Know What’s Best I have been a student or a professor in four seminaries. One thing that students and faculty have in common is that they often think they know more about how to run the seminary than its head or the board of governors. For most of this time I was e…
Isaiah for everyone - God the Creator of Evil
Isaiah for everyone - God the Creator of Evil
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God the Creator of Evil My wife used to lead a women’s Bible Study where some women who came for a while would commonly give the existence of evil as their reason or excuse for not believing in God and not staying. Her comment is that the existence of evil surely makes it more im…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Disciples' Question
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - The Disciples' Question
by BRF - Dick France
The Disciples’ Question It may seem out of proportion to devote a whole study to one question. But the interpretation of the chapter which follows is controversial, and the question to which the following discourse (vv. 5–37) provides the answer is an important key to understandi…
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Partners in Mission
Mark The Peoples' Bible Commentary - Partners in Mission
by BRF - Dick France
Partners in Mission Mark has barely begun his account of Jesus’ mission when he tells us that Jesus called others to share it with him. All through the Gospel from this point he will tell not merely the story of Jesus, but the story of Jesus and his disciples, as a team. Jesus, w…
Jeremiah for everyone - An Ambassador in Chains
Jeremiah for everyone - An Ambassador in Chains
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Ambassador in Chains When Paul was apparently in prison in Rome, he wrote letters to a number of churches. In church today I was struck by a passage in which he describes himself as an ambassador in chains and asks the Christians in Ephesus to pray for him so that he’d be bold…
Isaiah for everyone - Blown Over and Anointed
Isaiah for everyone - Blown Over and Anointed
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blown Over and Anointed This week I’m meeting with a young man considering ordination in the Episcopal Church who wants to “seek my advice regarding my vocation.” There are aspects of the Episcopal Church about which he is uneasy—how will he cope with those? Should he ask his rec…
Jeremiah for everyone - How Do You Get People to Change?
Jeremiah for everyone - How Do You Get People to Change?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Do You Get People to Change? In the 1960s a man called Arthur Blessitt moved from Louisiana to Hollywood in order to preach to hippies, runaways, addicts, bikers, prostitutes, flower children, and would-be actors and rock stars; he became known as the minister of Sunset Strip…
Isaiah for everyone - I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
Isaiah for everyone - I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
by SPCK - John Goldingay
I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. One of my favorite bands is called I See Hawks in L.A., which is also the title of one of their early songs. In the song the hawks hover over the city as if they sense it’s about to be destroyed and there will be plenty of provender for them to enjoy. “What if…
Isaiah for everyone - On Following God’s Prompting
Isaiah for everyone - On Following God’s Prompting
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Following God’s Prompting We were at a singer-songwriter venue and the singer’s last song was about her mother’s death two or three years ago. The song title referred to the year of her mother’s birth, which was the same birth year of someone who was with us. She later told us…
Jeremiah for everyone - On Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Jeremiah for everyone - On Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is When we came to California, we were buying a house for the first time—we had always lived in church or seminary housing. It felt as if we were growing up. Two or three years ago, a friend of mine was wondering about buying a house, but pr…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - On Safeguarding Concord