It is startling to realize that no document from the early church explains how the Bible came to be. At some time, someone determined the criteria for the selection of writings for the canon of Christianity. It seems like that would be a big enough deal that there would be…
Can We Add Footprints to the Bible?
My wife and I like to attend estate sales. Estate sales are the places they try to sell what you tried to hold onto in this life and expected to pass on to the next generation. But, you can’t take it with you (whether you’re downsizing or afterlife sizing) and…
The Bible in a Fortune Cookie
Most mornings, I fix myself a cup of hot tea with a packet of Truvia. It used to be that the Truvia packets had only the ingredients on their reverse side. Now, there are motivational sayings. Like these: I enjoy seeing which message I get each morning. It’s like a…
Is the Bible on Your Bucket List?
Many people have “bucket lists” – things they want to do before they can’t do anything. I know that one of my items is to visit all 50 states. I am missing three: North Dakota, Minnesota, and Hawaii. When the pandemic is over and I feel that it is safe…
Recent Video Interviews You May Have Missed
It happens every Thursday… Every Thursday, I release a new interview with a scholar, an author, or a practitioner. We talk about the Bible, interpretation of the Bible, or spiritual formation. I do this in the hope that those of us who are good Bible teachers will come closer to…
Why are there four gospels?
The four gospels that we have (the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell the story of Jesus and of his first followers. Each of them has a unique approach and a unique audience, as described in this video clip of an interview I did with Paul Borgman: 1…
Where are the original documents of the Bible?
If we had the original documents of the Bible, where would they be? Why don’t we have them? Could they eventually surface one day? Many years ago, I had the rare opportunity to be in an hour-long small-group Q&A with Dallas Willard. Dallas was regarded as a mentor to many…
Why I Interview
I remember that day in seminary like it was yesterday. I asked the professor a question that had been bugging me for years. We were talking about the source theory for the four gospels. This theory assumes that Mark was the first gospel written. It was the primary source for…
Silence in the Teacher’s Toolbox
On Thursday, I will upload the video of my interview with Garret Mostowski, a pastor in Detroit. When I interviewed him, he was a student at Princeton Divinity School, leading a weekly “holy reading” group at Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton. Holy reading (aka lectio divina) involves listening to the…
Teach the Bible Like Stephen King? Horrors!
I’ve come to the place in my reading and studying the Bible that a fresh angle is refreshing. I know the traditional interpretations, the safe and comfortable writers, the orthodox perspectives, the insights from people like me – white, middle-class, educated, men. These days, I long for a different angle….
