Most readers of this column have been in a position of authority at some time I rsquo m sure and some of us this writer included enjoy a constancy of authority because of education ordination position or wealth Though we might not speak of it often even quietly to ourselves it is a delight

The common understanding of the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon in Paul rsquo s letter to Philemon is that Onesimus was a slave of Philemon Though it remains a debated issue Onesimus had either run away from Philemon or had been sent by him to render service to Paul while he was impriso

John W. Martens asks readers for essential Bible passages for Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The whole nature of kingship can be confusing At least it is confusing to me raised as I was in Canada a democracy that nevertheless retains a monarch as head of state It does not necessarily get clearer in the United States whose founding as an independent nation goes back to the casting off o

Sin is attractive I have watched a lot of television shows in my life and a lot more commercials and the one thing I know for certain is that sin is fun often accompanied by happy young women and men and there are no absolutely no consequences for bad behavior If you want to be justified in y

Paul rsquo s First Letter to Timothy though many scholars doubt Paul wrote it reflects the heart of the Christian hope that Paul expressed in his letters ldquo Fight the good fight of the faith take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in

Remember when you were a child how little understanding you had of how things happened if they would happen or when they would happen When you were waiting for something you wanted like Christmas for example excited anticipation fused with a vague sense of time to make waiting a consuming reali

The passage from the Book of Wisdom about God ldquo overlooking rdquo sins has a wry humor when juxtaposed with little Zacchaeus too small in stature to be seen That is not true of course for no matter where Zacchaeus was standing hidden among the crowd or walking away from Jesus God ldquo

The baby Jesus still grabs our attention and the sweet obsession of the gypsy Yerko in Robertson Davies rsquo s The Rebel Angels for the ldquo Bebby Jesus rdquo reveals that deep attraction After a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where Yerko sees a medieval cr che scene he

I am not alone in considering Jesus rsquo parable of the dishonest or unrighteous manager or steward oikonomos the most difficult complex and confusing of all Jesus rsquo parables The reason for this is simple in the first verse of the parable after determining that the manager is ldquo