Greetings from Tucson!
Note the new posts and the new organization for the website. The posts on Genesis have been moved to the Riffs on Genesis page. The latest posts feature the Jacob story. For those click on Riffs on Genesis in the menu at the top of this page.
The posts I’ve collected here are reflections on biblical themes and materials that are not based on Genesis. These studies are eclectic, ranging across the Old Testament and the New. I hope that they will together point to ways of approaching the Bible that illuminate not only the biblical text but life itself, which is is what any good biblical reflection should do.
Posts:
- BREATHI have been meaning to write this piece for some time, but other topics keep coming in the way. And cultural events like the Barbenheimer movies, movies which frame a mood in America, a taking stock of the ebbing era of American power. In their own way, both Barbie and Oppenheimer deal with the loss of innocence, happily so … Read more
- THE PERVERSITY OF PERFECTIONThe Nicodemus Problem The church has a Nicodemus problem. Perhaps you remember the fraught dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Nicodemus, introduced in the story as a Pharisee and one of the “rulers of the Jews,” politely approaches Jesus as a miracle worker, presumably leading up to some theological question or challenge, but … Read more
- THINKING THE FAITH: “WITHOUT RESERVATION”“Without reservation” The church order of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in a supplement to Article 5 includes some instructions about what one should consider when signing the Covenant for Officebearers. The Covenant, for those of you who are not familiar with the CRC, is a document that office holders in the denomination are required … Read more
- BARBIE AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMANThe best biblical movie of the year is Barbie. An additional nod in the way of biblical movies should go to Oppenheimer. Together these summer blockbusters—they are jointly saving Hollywood—mine biblical themes to explore the human condition. They are secular sermons preaching to a secular audience truths the church too often neglects or buries under … Read more
- GETTING UNSTUCK: A WAY FORWARDFor the past month, we—you, my readers and I—have gotten distracted by another synod, this 2023 version of the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), which doubled down on its opposition to most if not all expressions of LGBTQ+ sexuality. It’s important to keep in mind that the synod is not the church. And … Read more
- A MEDITATION ON TRUST: TRUSTING EACH OTHER IN A TIME OF DISTRUSTWhat you have done here by ceasing debate is incredibly harmful to what sense of trust the minority has in this body. (Cara DeHaan, from the floor of the synod of the Christian Reformed Church, June 2023) . . . [Vitalik] Buterin [founder of Ethereum and cryptocurrency theorist] argues that one of the most valuable properties … Read more
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Fairhaven Harbor, Bellingham, Washington
2 responses to “BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS”
Really enjoy your thought-provoking musings, Clay.
Thanks.