Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In The Meaning of History , Nikolai Berdyaev argues that the ancient Greeks had no concept of history and no philosophy of history because their concept of God and the world did not allow for it. “They conceived the world aesthetically, as a finite and harmonious cosmos. The most representative…
You know how the curtain parts at the beginning of a play, and you see a new scene, with characters and sets and incidents that had remained hidden up til then? Church last week was like that. Except the curtain was made up of all the things I thought were…
Genesis 3 records the terrible day when humanity fell into sin and shalom was violated. This was a moment of cosmic treason, when Adam and Eve violated their relationship with God by rebelling against His command and fell into the severe ignobility we all experience. The entrance of sin wrecked…
One of the most important contributions of twentieth-century Catholic nouvelle théologie , and of Henri de Lubac and Jean Danielou in particular, was its rehabilitation of the typological interpretation of the Bible practiced by patristic and medieval theologians. Typological interpretation assumes that events and institutions of the Old Testament present…
The Catholic News Service has reported that Pope Francis has called for the abolition of not only the death penalty, but also of life in prison. In a meeting with representatives of the International Association of Penal Law, the pontiff called for all “Christians and people of good will” to…
Each year, the United Nations designates November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon explains, “Violence against women and girls takes many forms and is widespread throughout the globe. It includes rape, domestic violence, harassment at work, abuse in school, female…
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There must be, I think, some connection between the parable of the sower in Luke 8 and the harvest Jesus talks about at the beginning of Luke 10. Jesus has been sowing the seed of the word of God, and some has begun to grow up. The harvest is ripe,…
A student of mine, Luke Jankovic, tracing the motif of “donkeys” in Genesis, came up with a couple of interesting angles. First, he noted that Abram first acquires donkeys in Egypt in Genesis 12, a proto-plundering of Egypt. And in this context the donkeys are involved in a dowry paid…
There are numerous indications of parallels between the history of the Omride dynasty and the history of the kingdom of Judah (and of the Northern Kingdom). One is that a king in both the Omride and Davidic dynasty dies at Megiddo. Ahaziah is shot by Jehu during Jehu’s rebellion, flees…
Exhortation for October 5: Luke’s account of the Transfiguration is one of the densest passages in the entire New Testament. In context, it is a preview of the glory the Son of Man will display when He comes in His kingdom. It is a sign of Jesus’ messianic glory, a…
Eucharistic meditation for October 5: We have seen Jesus at meals on several occasions in Luke’s gospel, and each time the meal has been an occasion for instruction about the kingdom of God. When Jesus went to Levi’s house, He was demonstrating by His meal practice that He is the…
Some very good material in Kenneth Bailey’s discussion of the end of Luke 9 (in Through Peasant Eyes ). Bailey is especially illuminating on the first of Jesus’ encounters with the reluctant disciples. This man volunteers to follow Jesus, but Jesus alerts him that the cost will be great. Jesus…
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