To be a Christian witness in the ancient church was to make known the euangelion literally ldquo good news rdquo or ldquo gospel rdquo from which we derive our word evangelization The Acts of the Apostles reports a great number of overt ldquo signs and wonders rdquo including exorcisms and
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 Master Builder
Jesus was a tekt n or craftsman by trade Mk 6 3 someone who built things with wood brick and stone We do not know what types of physical structures he worked on with his father Joseph but we can speak of his spiritual legacy as the one who built the house of God The master builder constru
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (14)
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 Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (13)
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
The Witness of the Bread
There is a richness to the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus that makes it difficult to consume it in its entirety or to exhaust its sustenance Even seemingly minor details nourish the reader in surprising ways Emmaus itself the village to which Cleopas and the unnamed disciple are jou
Posted inThe Word
The Witness of Suffering
Slaves in the Greco-Roman world were sometimes treated with kindness but this was dependent upon the whims of masters not legally required Even domestic slaves as mentioned in 1 Peter were vulnerable to the demands of their masters and 1 Pt 2 18 asks that they ldquo accept the authority rdquo
Posted inThe Word
Radical Witness
Shortly after the ascension the number of believers in Jerusalem was about 120 according to Acts 1 15 Whether the number is exact or symbolic of a restored Israel the church started small The crowds who pressed around Jesus in Galilee and greeted him during his triumphant entry into Jerusalem we
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (12)
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
Risen in History
The modern historical Jesus enterprise stumbled from the beginning on data it found hard to accept the early Christians claimed that Jesus after being put to death by crucifixion rose from the dead Peter is recorded saying ldquo They put him to death by hanging him on a tree but God raised hi
Posted inThe Good Word
Gospel of Mark Bible Junkies Commentary Published
I am pleased to announce that the first Bible Junkies Online Commentary has been published This book arose from my blogging and the weekly entries on the Gospel of Mark and so I see it as a special work Its genesis began not necessarily with the writing however but with some readers who began to