It rsquo s not a bad way to sell a book put ldquo secret rdquo in the title somewhere And in light of Dan Brown rsquo s success in selling books which are historical and theological nonsense but which claim to unlock age-old secrets why not use it in the title of a book that makes mostly hist
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
Brant Pitre’s “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist”
It rsquo s not a bad way to sell a book put secret in the title somewhere And in light of Dan Brown rsquo s success in selling books which are historical and theological nonsense but which claim to unlock age-old secrets why not use it in the title of a book that makes mostly historical and t
Posted inThe Good Word
I love the Bible (Part One of….???)
I love the Bible for more reasons than I could possibly write in one blog post but I will stick with one reason here I love its oddly-angled continuities I could be describing my old house literally but I am describing the ways in which the coherence of the Bible takes its shape by winding and
Posted inThe Good Word
NABRE: UPDATE UPDATED
With the Oscars still in mind in the Always the last to know category I received a phone call from the local Fox Network affiliate to talk to me about the revised edition of the New American Bible except they knew more about it than I Their slogan ldquo Wake up with Fox 9 rdquo now takes on
Posted inThe Good Word
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
Don rsquo t worry be happy Is this at the heart of Jesus rsquo teaching in Matthew 6 24-34 in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount Did Bobby McFerrin sum it all up in his 1988 hit It seems to me that McFerrin rsquo s feel good song shares some of the joy and delight in daily life that Jesus
Posted inThe Good Word
Transformer: More than meets the eye for an eye
Many consider Leviticus boring containing as it does so many of the laws of Moses listed one after another Yet it is important to keep in mind how powerful Leviticus is as a text containing as it does so many of the laws of Moses listed one after another The power comes from a serious assessm
Posted inThe Good Word
Verbum Domini (3)
At the end of the last post on Verbum Domini I asked ldquo How to convince them people today that reality is actually found in Scripture How to convince people that nature is not simply cruel and purposeless and that winning is not found in the nbsp one who dies with the most toys Benedict to
Posted inThe Good Word
“I fought the law, and the law won”
Breaking rocks in the hot sun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won I needed money lsquo cause I had none I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won These are the opening lyrics to a great rock n rsquo roll song by Sonny Curtis I Fought
Posted inThe Good Word
Verbum Domini: Is there a “Bible Crisis”?
With respect to recent and not so recent posts in this blog on Verbum Domini a reader Susan nbsp sent in a link to an article concerning a nbsp talk by Cardinal Marc Ouellet in Spain in which he discussed Verbum Domini and a crisis with respect to the study of the Bible The article cites him
Posted inThe Good Word
Does the Bible Predict Packer Super Bowl Victory?
When it comes to determining the Super Bowl winner chances are that people forget to see what the Bible says about football Just let me go check this out for a minute hellip I rsquo m back It turns out nothing Football is not mentioned once in the Bible not American Canadian or ldquo Soccer