Isaiah, which in Lectionary Year A comprises four Sundays of Advent’s Old Testament readings, is a book of Messianic Hope, preparing us for the arrival of the promised King, but we read it differently than Isaiah’s immediate audience. Isaiah was written in a tumultuous time in Israel’s already eventful history. The frame of reference spans nearly 400 years, beginning in the 740s BCE and culminating in a final edit at around 350 BCE, addressing specific events of the Assyrian

A Summary of our Sunday Adult formation Discussion on November 9th Introduction to Matthew I. Scholarly Context and Sources We discussed the  Four-Source Hypothesis  as a potential explanation for the literary relationship between the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), known as the  Synoptic Problem . This hypothesis represents the dominant academic consensus. Four-Source Hypothesis:  Matthew is a compilation built from three hypothetical sources: Markan Priority:  

Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries, but it sometimes outpaced the orthodoxy or organization that we associate with the church today. Therefore, the British Isles, further isolated by geography, developed a uniquely Celtic Christianity. However, as the Roman Empire collapsed in Insular Britain, the Anglo-Saxon chieftains from pagan Germany invaded, and Celtic Christianity was driven west. While the more populous and develo

St. Francis and the Leper In his youth, St. Francis was wealthy and ambitious, yet conflicted. He faced a series of life events that eventually led him away from a prosperous life as a textile merchant in his family’s business and into the life of a mendicant friar ( brother ), as he is known to us today. However, no event was more transformative than his encounter with a leper on the road near Assisi. As Francis recounts, he was wearing "secular garments” and riding his hors

Benedict of Nursia, Italy, was born to a noble family around 480 AD. I doubt he could have imagined how his life and teaching would shape the course of Western Christianity. Sent to study in Rome, he became disillusioned by the depravity of his fellow students. He abandoned his education to pursue an ascetic life, living as a hermit in a cave near Rome, at Subiaco. After three years, he became convinced that solitary, hermit-like asceticism and escapism were not the answers h

In the first part of his Letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul laid the theological groundwork for salvation: that all people—both Jew...

Paul has a problem. In the first eight chapters of his Letter to the Romans, he establishes that what matters in God’s salvific plan is...

Paul’s letter to the Romans is a key text in Christian theology, emphasizing humanity's condition and God's saving grace. To illustrate...

Christians have long treated Paul's treatise on grace as a simple equation: one can follow the law, perform the right works, and in their...

Since the Reformation in 1517, Martin Luther’s influence has shaped our understanding of Paul’s concepts of Righteousness, works, faith,...

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome stands as one of the most profound and influential works in Christian theology. Yet, to...

Let’s admit it: David is a problem. Three years ago, when we were in the same lectionary cycle of the King David saga, it was in the wake...

There are three podcasts below featuring discussions on Old and New Testament Canon, biblical structure, and literary genre of the books...

We have been talking about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the church. Last week we spoke about the who. Using the lesson...

This week we discuss the "who" of the church, and while the question may seem obvious on its surface, we have long been challenged by...

This week we continue our podcast with episode two. In this episode I explore the way in which we experience the church. I focus...

The church has long been a community of faithful people who have adapted to the changing world. A reading of the early church in Paul's...