In the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians I discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the Galatians the situation when Paul wrote to them when the letter might have been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote based on the com
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
The Little Ones
How quickly should we move from the literal to the allegorical figurative or spiritual meaning of words in the Bible There is no one answer for in reading the Bible sometimes the literal meaning of a word or a passage is indeed the spiritual meaning itself at other times the literal reading gro
Posted inThe Word
Building on Faith
The question for the disciples came from Jesus himself ldquo Who do people say that the Son of Man is rdquo The problem for Christians today in answering this question might be how to make sense of Jesus rsquo humanity in the context of his true divinity For Jesus rsquo apostles standing fac
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (17)
In the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians I discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the Galatians the situation when Paul wrote to them when the letter might have been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote based on the com
Posted inThe Word
Trinitarian Life
The apostle Paul would not have been able to define the Trinity yet he was able with ease to describe the activity and presence of the three persons of the Trinity While propositions about God are significant it is the experience of God that led to the nascent formulations of Trinitarian thought
Posted inThe Word
Share in the Body
Bodies need nourishing whether it is an individual body a corporate body or a spiritual body We need to be fed with the food that sustains that is most appropriate to each body Historically we see the corporate body of Israel fed by God in the wilderness with the material stuff of manna necess
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (16)
In the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians I discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the Galatians the situation when Paul wrote to them when the letter might have been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote based on the com
Posted inThe Word
United by the Spirit
The Acts of the Apostles presents a reverse Babel at Pentecost when the confusion of tongues described in Gn 11 1 ndash 9 is transformed into understanding among the earliest disciples of Jesus who find themselves speaking ldquo other languages rdquo The confusion of tongues at Babel gives to u
Posted inThe Word
The Apprentice Builders
One of the overlooked aspects of Jesus rsquo ascension has to do not with the continuing materiality of the risen Lord or the ldquo whereness rdquo of Jesus rsquo glorified body but with the earthly implications of the ascension for the church Between the apostles rsquo hopeful question ldqu
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (15)
In the first entry in the Bible Junkies Online Commentary on Galatians I discussed introductory matters concerning the founding of the churches to the Galatians the situation when Paul wrote to them when the letter might have been written and the type of letters which Paul wrote based on the com