The local diocesan newspaper here in the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis The Catholic Spirit nbsp has a short piece on some comments the Pope sent to the Pontifical Biblical Commission whose members were meeting from May2-6 to discuss Inspiration and Truth in the Bible The Pope accordi
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
Bizarre Resurrection
The more you think about the resurrection the more bizarre it seems Bizarre in the sense of out of the ordinary peculiar odd – you can look up more synonyms on Microsoft Word I do not mean that it seems unreasonable oddly which some people might initially suspect for if one posits a living G
Posted inThe Good Word
He is Risen!
I appreciate that you have listened to me for so many days but I want you to walk beside me while I tell you something else Please please join me walk beside me I told you yesterday that Cleopas and I had decided or at least were thinking about walking home today Sunday and that is what we a
Posted inThe Good Word
On Saturday
Today is Saturday We just sat on the floor and stayed hidden out of sight and prayed I have never seen so many people crushed in this way I sat without moving but it felt as if I were stumbling falling in the dark We did talk about Jesus but there was such a sense of loss in the room It wa
Posted inThe Good Word
The Death of Jesus
I would rather not talk to you today I have no idea what happened no idea what just took place After the meal the Apostles walked with Jesus to the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives All of the Apostles but one Judas had already left The others said that there was a strange tension
Posted inThe Good Word
Before the Supper in Jerusalem
The Twelve Apostles were sent to prepare for a supper in Jerusalem how many times have they shared a table together with Jesus over the years whether they actually had food or not when they had sat down to eat or had known what kind of food he would put on the table Jesus had supplied answers to
Posted inThe Good Word
“In Your Face, Flanders!”
I am always worried when people go to the ldquo that rsquo s how Jesus did it rdquo arguments especially when Ned Flanders gets dissed in the process ldquo You don rsquo t think I should overturn your tables That rsquo s what Jesus did in the Temple rdquo ldquo Whoa I rsquo m sorry you don
Posted inThe Good Word
The Day After Palm Sunday
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them and he sat on them A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road The crowds that went ahead of him and
Posted inThe Good Word
Historicity and Truth in the Bible:
My comments on Wednesday with respect to historical reality and ldquo deception rdquo in the Bible drove me back to some good friends books on interpretation of the Bible What I found disturbing in the original post on which I was commenting and in many of the comments which followed was this
Posted inThe Good Word
Lies, Deception, and the Bible
ldquo For as the days of Noah were so will be the coming of the Son of Man For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away so too will be