All the Gospels recall that on the second morning after Jesus was laid in the tomb Mary Magdalene and other women were the first to arrive at the tomb to care for Jesus rsquo body but his body was not in the tomb It would be a strange account to concoct Why James Dunn says in Jesus Remembered
John W. Martens
John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.
Posted inThe Word
A Little Thing
If the Gospel accounts stopped just after Jesus rsquo entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday how would you imagine the next few days playing out The Gospel of John quotes Zec 9 9 ndash 10 as Jesus enters the city ldquo Look your king is coming sitting on a donkey rsquo s colt rdquo The people
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts of the Apostles Online Commentary (14)
This is the fourteenth entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles This post examines the third summary of the communal life of the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem For previous entries please now go to the Complete Acts of the Apostle Commentary where you can find lin
Posted inThe Word
Following the Servant
When we hear of the martyrdom of Christians like the 21 Coptic Christians killed in Libya recently we identify with them immediately as disciples of Jesus and as our brothers and sisters in Christ However little we might know about the history of the Coptic Christians in their suffering witness
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts of the Apostles Online Commentary (13)
This is the thirteenth entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles The first entrycovered some of the major critical technical and background issues that will concern us as we read through and comment on the Acts The second post found here considered the prologue to
Posted inThe Word
The Weakness of Sin
One of the darkest times in the life of the Jewish people was the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians and the subsequent exile of the people of God According to the Chronicler this was not an action God wanted ldquo but they kept mocking the messengers of God despising hi
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts of the Apostles Online Commentary (12)
This is the twelfth entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles The first entrycovered some of the major critical technical and background issues that will concern us as we read through and comment on the Acts The second post found here considered the prologue to th
Posted inThe Word
God’s Word for Us
There is no question about the centrality of the Ten Commandments to Judaism and subsequently to Christianity The Ten Words as the Old Testament itself calls them Ex 34 28 Dt 4 13 or Decalogue which God spoke to Moses resonate down through the centuries into our lives The Catechism of the C
Posted inThe Word
Hearing God Speak
The first thing Abraham had to do was listen to God but Abraham also had to be willing to hear God no matter the word spoken And the word Abraham first heard from God the command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac remains even now at some level inconceivable and incomprehensible Why would God
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts of the Apostles Online Commentary (11)
This is the eleventh entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles The first entry nbsp covered some of the major critical technical and background issues that will concern us as we read through and comment on the Acts The second post found here considered the prologu