Sometimes we can be held back from the spiritual renewal offered through Lent by a primal emotion that keeps faith from flourishing fear Fear is a crucial response in human life to protect us from physical emotional and even spiritual threats but misplaced spiritual fear can keep us from living
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 Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (6)
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
Away With Sin
In the temptation scene in Matthew the dark heart of the reality of sin is exposed when Satan offers Jesus ldquo all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor rdquo with only one simple condition ldquo if you will fall down and worship me rdquo Every act of sin we commit participates in t
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (5)
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 inFaith, The Word
My Anxious Heart
My parents spoke German at home when they did not want the children to know what was being discussed which was often the children themselves It is a method parents use with varying success depending upon how well they have passed on the mother tongue I was not very old when I heard my parents d
Posted inThe Good Word
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians Online Commentary (4)
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
My Enemy, My Love
In the movies a persecuted protagonist can exact revenge on the evil antagonist and the theater audience cheers Movie heroes and heroines have limitless scope to exact vengeance on the villains because ldquo they have it coming rdquo Moral considerations melt away in the shared reverie of perso
Posted inThe Word
Transforming Law
Christians in general and Catholics in particular sometimes have an uneasy relationship with the notion of law This uneasiness can be traced back to Jesus rsquo own confrontations with Jewish authorities regarding his interpretation of the law of Moses and later to the Apostle Paul rsquo s antith
Posted inThe Word
Share Your Bread
In the midst of a recent arctic freeze in Minnesota I sent out a tweet ldquo Best part of a polarvortex is ability to be in a warm house and to cozy up and enjoy time with the family Pray for those who are not warm rdquo Someone known on Twitter as RiskyLiberal read my tweet and found it l
Posted inThe Good Word
Fr. Donal McIlraith’s Everybody’s Apocalypse
I had heard many rumors about Columban Fr Donal McIlraith rsquo s book on the Revelation of John Everybody rsquo s Apocalypse A Reflection Guide published 1995 long before I had seen it or laid hands on it nbsp Other Catholic biblical scholars most of whom had studied at the Gregorian Univer