martens1000

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

Proclaim the Good Word

martens1000 by John W. Martens

The broad context for Ezra rsquo s reading of the Law of Moses to the people ldquo before the Water Gate rdquo is the return from the exile in Babylon and the reconstruction of the religious life of the people of Israel This reconstruction included rebuilding the Temple but also rebuilding the kn

Posted inThe Word

The Mother of God

martens1000 by John W. Martens

The title Mother of God Greek theotokos is limited by definition No one gave birth to God but the title is true as it defines Mary as the one who gave birth to the incarnate Son of God It is a remarkable role Mary was called on to play unbelievable in some ways with which Mary had to come t

Posted inThe Word

The Family of God

martens1000 by John W. Martens

My sister-in-law posted a video on Facebook recently in which the oldest member of our family my mother soon to be 90 years old is walking down the hall of her residence with a walker In front of her pushing a bright primary-colored walker is her great-grandson soon to be 1 year old babblin

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