In the Gospel reading for the Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time from Luke 14 1 7-14 Jesus speaks two parables The first deals with honor embarrassment humility and exaltation In the NRSV the first parable is as follows ldquo when he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor he
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
My Favorite Biblical Book
When you write on the Bible one of the things that you should avoid if you can is flippancy People tend to get riled up when you are flippant about Scripture because flippancy gone bad comes off more as ldquo disrespectful rdquo than ldquo light and airy rdquo As a result the flippant wr
Posted inIn All Things
What is the Good Word?
As I return from a summer hiatus to write for The Good Word it occurs to me that one of the questions that nbsp we should consider this year is ldquo what is the Bible rdquo Most of us think we know what we are talking about but it can be amazing as to how different our presuppositions actually
Posted inThe Good Word
What is the Good Word?
As I return from a summer hiatus to write for The Good Word it occurs to me that one of the questions that nbsp we should consider this year is ldquo what is the Bible rdquo Most of us think we know what we are talking about but it can be amazing as to how different our presuppositions actually
Posted inIn All Things
Continuing Education
Do you ever wish nbsp that you were done learning That instead of being tested life was easy leisurely Years ago when still a teenager I wanted to start a religion called ldquo Incidental Meditation rdquo or ldquo I M rdquo for short At the heart of the religion was that the teachings wo
Posted inThe Good Word
Continuing Education
Do you ever wish nbsp that you were done learning That instead of being tested life was easy leisurely Years ago when still a teenager I wanted to start a religion called ldquo Incidental Meditation rdquo or ldquo I M rdquo for short At the heart of the religion was that the teachings wo
Posted inThe Good Word
Pneuma, sort of…
Last week I was diagnosed with pneumonia I had been tired for a few weeks but had not suspected why I had been so lethargic not to mention moribund and feverish I am going to bow out of writing for the Good Word for the summer though not from reading the blog or the Word itself as one means
Posted inThe Good Word
Niente Paura
If you have ever lived overseas for a period of time or travelled overseas you might have experienced the strange phenomenon of picking up whatever pop song was popular at the time and having it stand as your musical memory of a country though its impact might have been fleeting even in the count
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts 15:7-31: “After there had been much debate”
The First Readings for the Thursday and Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter continue with Acts 15 7-31 The issue of whether all Christians including Gentiles should follow the Mosaic Law was raised in Acts 15 1-6 Only ldquo after there had been much nbsp debate 15 7 rdquo did Peter state t
Posted inThe Good Word
Acts 15:1-6: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
I raised the issue of institutional change in the Church in a recent post The major problem with respect to change is the tensions it raises at the level of Church teaching – is this an issue where change can be envisioned or is this a part of the sacred deposit of faith a revealed truth a doctri