Jacob Jordaens.  The Four Evangelists (oil on canvas), c. 1625-1630. Louvre Museum, Paris.    (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)   As most of you know, I’ve been teaching scripture for a long time, nearly thirty years on the English Department faculty at UCLA and since 1995 in the community at large when I started Logos Bible Study.  My goal has always been to teach verse-by-verse through the entire Bible, Genesis through Revelation, including the Deuterocanonical books (or “Apocrypha”).  I’ve done that over a one-year cycle (the “One Ye ..read more

    Andrea Mantegna.  Christ’s Descent into Limbo (tempera and gold on panel), c. 1470-1475. Private Collection. [Mantegna painted this scene originally for Lodovico Gonzaga in June of 1468.  It was so highly regarded that Mantegna painted several other versions, including this smaller one (15 ½ x 16 ¼) for Ferdinando Carlo the last Duke of Mantua sometime between 1470-1475.  The painting was in the Barbara Plasecka Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey and had been on loan to the Frick Collection in New York City, where it was exhibited September 8, 2000 – Jul ..read more

  Dr. C.’s midweek Bible class at Our Lady of Confidence Catholic Church, San Diego, CA.    (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below)   As most of you know, I spent nearly thirty years on the English Department faculty at UCLA where I taught, among other things, The English Bible as Literature.  During that time I took my UCLA class into the larger community, teaching verse-by-verse through the entire Bible, Genesis through Revelation, in five and seven-year programs.  My classes were quite large—300-500 adult students in each—and they were deliberately ..read more

    Michelangelo. David, detail (marble), 1504. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence. (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)     We have just finished our in-depth 25-week course on the Gospel according to Matthew, which is now in the LBS Course Catalogue and available for all of our Logos students to watch. Our next “Featured Course” will be The Story of King David, my favorite story in Scripture, both to read and to teach, so I’d like to take this opportunity to say a few words about it as a prelude to starting the course on July 9, 2022. Preview "The Story of ..read more

(Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)   (Download PDF version)   ..read more

Image courtesy of Prof. Juan Jose Marcos in his article, “Paleographic Fonts for Ancient Greek” (http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/palegreek.html). (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)     In my last blog on Scripture and Tradition, I mentioned that theology is faith . . . thinking.  And such faith results from an intensely personal encounter with God, an encounter enabled by God’s freely-given gift of grace.  Thus, faith is—in a very real and visceral sense—living out that personal, intimate relationship with God, not on our own, but within community, wi ..read more

Domenico Ghiriandaio.  Saint Jerome in His Study (fresco), 1480. Ognissanti Church [Church of All Saints], Florence. (Listen to and audio version of the blog below!)     For many Protestants sola scriptura, or “Scripture Alone,” is the guiding principle in understanding and living the Christian life; for Roman Catholics (and many others in the liturgical churches), both Scripture and Tradition carry equal weight.  In this blog I’d like to explore the dynamic between the two.  For Roman Catholics the proper relationship between the two is best stated in the Vatican II ..read more

Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Tabernacles)     William Holman Hunt.  The Scapegoat (oil on canvas), 1854. Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, England.   (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)   As the three spring festivals are intimately related, so are the three autumn festivals.  The spring festivals reflect joy in God’s salvation of his people, Israel; the autumn festivals sound a more somber note:  they are more reflective, a serious time of seeking forgiveness, of making amends with one’s neighbor and of starting ane ..read more

Passover/Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavout (Pentecost)     David Roberts.  The Israelites Leaving Egypt (oil on canvas), c. 1830. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England. (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)     With the weekly celebration of the Sabbath as a foundation, this week’s blog now turns to three annual Jewish festivals celebrated in the springtime.  Importantly, these festivals are deeply rooted in the agricultural cycle:  Passover (Leviticus 23: 5) begins at twilight on the 14th day of the lunar month of Nisan ..read more

    “Celebrating Havdalah (ending the Sabbath),” Barclona Hagadah, detail (Add MS 14761, fol. 26r), c. 1325-1350. British Library, London. (Listen to an audio version of the blog post below!)     As Advent begins the Christian liturgical year, so Rosh Hashanah begins the Jewish new year.  This year (2022) Advent begins on Sunday, November 27th; Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Sunday, September 25th.  As I mentioned in the previous blog, this “liturgical cycle” is the heartbeat of the Jewish community’s relationship with God, and it forms the “DNA” of the Christ ..read more