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:
- THE COMING WRATHTHE BAPTIST’S QUESTION In his third chapter, Matthew tells the story of John the Baptist. Or, more accurately, John the Washer. Or, perhaps, John the Dunker. Baptizō in Greek, the word from which we get “baptize,” means “to dip in water,” “to dunk,” before it comes in the New Testament to take on the meanings we give… Read more: THE COMING WRATH
- Bonhoeffer on StupidityThis from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the Prologue to Letters and Papers from Prison, translated by Lisa E. Cahill, et al. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015, Kindle edition, page 9). By stupidity, Bonhoeffer means a sort of willed ignorance. Stupid people can be, often are, intellectually capable. It requires no other comment. On Stupidity Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy… Read more: Bonhoeffer on Stupidity
- ŠEQER: JEREMIAH AND THE LIE THAT UNDERMINES EVERYTHINGSometimes a single word helps put a name to something you have been struggling to understand. For me recently such a word has been šeqer (pronounced shéqer), biblical Hebrew for “falsehood,” “a lie”). I came upon šeqer in the best possible way—by accident. I was rummaging around in my library looking for books on Jeremiah. I preached this weekend,… Read more: ŠEQER: JEREMIAH AND THE LIE THAT UNDERMINES EVERYTHING
- READING THEOLOGICALLY, AND WHY IT MATTERSGod’s Homecoming Last week I published a rather long review of a popular book by N. T. Wright, God’s Homecoming (2025). I spent some time with the book because I think it raises important issues. In it, Wright attempts to redefine what it means to be human—what it means to live and to die apart from two… Read more: READING THEOLOGICALLY, AND WHY IT MATTERS
- LIFE BEYOND: A REVIEW OF GOD’S HOMECOMING by N. T. WrightN. T. Wright, God’s Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal (HarperOne, 2025; digital edition, 2026) He understands as he mouths the words what’s happening here. He desperately wants to believe that his son still exists, still exists in some actual sense, not just as a memory, and what happened to him is somehow part of some… Read more: LIFE BEYOND: A REVIEW OF GOD’S HOMECOMING by N. T. Wright
- REFLECTING ON CHURCH IN TRIESTE, ITALYTHE LIMITS OF THEOLOGY We’ve been traveling. You may have noticed the radio silence from me. Or not. I had almost forgotten it was Sunday. Easy to do when you are traveling, nine time zones from home. We were wandering the streets of Trieste, Italy, the lovely town on the shores of the Adriatic. We… Read more: REFLECTING ON CHURCH IN TRIESTE, ITALY
Get new posts in your inbox automatically
Fairhaven Harbor, Bellingham, Washington
2 responses to “BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS”
Really enjoy your thought-provoking musings, Clay.
Thanks.