Photo by Rene DeAnda on Unsplash Originally published in “The Journal for Preachers” The upcoming November election is a time of great significance in our national history. It is, for that reason, important for the church and its preachers to weigh in with a gospel perspective on the national body politic.  In what follows, I offer a probe into the resources that preachers have for a time of such responsibility. It will be a mistake if preachers keep silent out of fear of being partisan, because the only partisan interest preachers must have is to bear witness to the requirements and g ..read more

Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash It turns out that the state of Louisiana is the first state to approve the public exhibit of the Ten Commandments under public auspices. No doubt that action will evoke resistance and opposition from many quarters, surely among them the ACLU. As I reflected on this new state action, however, I wondered if a very different response might be more useful and more effective. An alternative response might be that we take up the assignment of speaking about the Ten Commandments in order to show that the commandments may indeed function as a generative force for good ..read more

Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash I have been glad to read the reflective review of his judicial career by Justice Stephen Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024). I have neither the wits nor the patience to follow the close detail of his argument as he goes from case to case to reflect on his court opinions, often in dissent. The main point of his argument, however, is quite clear. It is an insistence that his pragmatic approach to the constitution permits the constitution to remain purposeful and workable, and is the best approach to judicial reason ..read more

Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash Sam Balentine has died, much too soon at 73! Sam was among my best friends, my confidant, a reliable source of support for me, and an honest conversation partner. I grieve his death greatly, though he had suffered bravely for long enough. One of the reliable delights of my life was Sam and I having dinner together every year on the evening before the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. It was a time of great joy for me, as we shared so much about our common work and common life, and gossiped about the guild. I give thanks to God for his lif ..read more

Photo by NASA on Unsplash A Newly Produced World The “old, assumed” world is given to us in the creation narratives of Genesis 1-2, powerfully seconded by Israel’s exuberant doxologies. That world, still assumed by Copernicus and Galileo, was a properly ordered world of abundance with a reliable rhythm of seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, day and night (Genesis 8:22). It was an order that Israel, along with many other ancient cultures, gladly affirmed, a world trusted by religious communities and long assumed in the scientific community. But of course, there came the “Copernican revo ..read more

Photo by Yuhan Du on Unsplash I was reading The Gospel According to James Baldwin: What America’s Great Prophet Can Teach Us about Life, Love, and Identity by Greg Garrett (2023). I learned that late in his life, Baldwin left an unfinished play entitled The Welcome Table. Baldwin was of course appealing to an old phrase in African American lore and practice of a table of food that welcomed all to eat without reference to any qualification. Baldwin wrote of a possibility to come of a place where “brotherhood, sisterhood, love, and unity could be actively and visibly embraced.” African American ..read more

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash Bob Creeley offered a public reading of his poetry. A member of his audience asked him,  “Is that a real poem, or did you just make it up?” Creeley answered: “Yes, I just made it up because I had a feeling about the potential of a new heaven and a new earth and I wanted to inhabit it.” This exchange is reported by Lisa Jarnot (Four Lectures 71-72). Her report led me to wonder about the poets of the Bible who may offer “real poems” or who may simply “make it up.” Here I consider three poets, though many others might also be considered. -Imagine asking Miriam ..read more

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash The contemporary poet, Michael O’Siadhail, has published a new collection of his extended poems that range over the threat of Covid, the environmental crisis, the force of technology, and the dangers in unbridled capitalism. His rendering in each case is forceful, direct, and most accessible. His book, Desire, probes our misguided desires that constitute a threat to destroy human possibility. As I read and pondered his compelling words, I noticed that the theme of “greed” recurs in his poetry; he sees that misguided desire, most often powered by coercive adve ..read more

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Psalm 44 is perhaps the toughest Psalm in the entire Psalter, because it articulates a vigorous assault on God whom the Psalmist declares to be unjust and unreliable in his experience. Thus verses 9 - 14 consist in a pounding reiteration of “You” accusations against God. This assault on God follows in the Psalm after the wondrous doxological affirmation of God in verses 1 - 8 that end in hearty thanks to God. The switch from praise and thanks to complaint and assault is dramatically marked by the “yet” of verse 9. The verses of complaint and assault are much ..read more

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez ?? on Unsplash A long while ago I had lunch with a new friend who was a distinguished Jewish scholar of religion. In our lunch conversation we talked some about our common concern about Israel and the land of promise. And then he said, “I wish all Palestinians were dead.” He had no sense of irony or embarrassment about his statement.  I was shocked and dumbfounded. That conversation has led me to reflect on the Biblical testimony to herem, the Biblical notion that what belongs to God must be offered as a burnt offering with nothing held back in reserve from Go ..read more