Martha has a mixed reputation. In Catholic and Orthodox circles, she is a saint. Nonetheless, we tend to think of her as a profoundly practical woman, in contrast to her more spiritual sister. However, like other women of the Bible, there is more to Martha than we see at first. In fact, she is a …
Martha, Disciple of Jesus Read More »
We are all familiar with the myths surrounding Christmas, such as that Jesus was born on December 25. But some erroneous beliefs hang on, such as, that Joseph was the only helper at Jesus’ birth, Middle Eastern shepherds were always middle-aged men, and that Magi had to be men. Though these statements seem factual due …
The Women of the Nativity Read More »
The woman in the Song of Songs was “black and beautiful” (Song 1:5). She is often thought of only as the Shulamite today (6:13), and many scholars assume her to be fictional. However, from the time of Origen, readers have speculated that Solomon wrote about his actual first wife, an Egyptian, says scholar Alice Ogden …
They Were Not White, Part 3: Solomon’s Bride Read More »
In Part 2 of the series They Were Not White, I would like to help us re-envision Hagar, the Egyptian woman who served Sarah, was Abram’s concubine/second wife, and who gave birth to Ishmael (Gen. 16). Let’s start with ethnicity. Scholar Peter T. Nash writes that for most of the twentieth century Biblical researchers presumed …
They Were Not White, Part 2: Hagar Read More »
The people of the Bible are the ancestors of people of color. No one in the Bible looked like the white people who live in North America, Canada, Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand or anywhere else. (And here’s an argument that Jewish people are not white). I’d like to take a closer look at dark-skinned …
They Were Not White, Part 1: Zipporah and Moses Read More »
Each year I love to return to the first chapters of Luke and ponder the nativity scene. This year, I found myself reflecting about Elizabeth. I see her fulfilling two unnamed roles: that of prophet, and that of mentor. First to Speak of the Messiah Zechariah, Elizabeth’s priestly husband, may have sung his now famous …
Elizabeth: Prophet and Mentor Read More »
A couple of years ago I began reading The Priests for Biblical Equality translation of the Bible. Not only does it forge an egalitarian lens for the Old and New Testaments, it also weaves the apocryphal writings into my devotion time. I grew up low church evangelical (Assemblies of God), assuming the apocrypha could not …
Susanna Resisted the Elders: A Re-Reading of Daniel 13 Read More »
Power differences are the backdrop for accurate judgement of men and women that we hear about in church news. It’s also important to bring power differences to light when we read Scripture. New readings of stories like Samson and Delilah can help us have Biblical sources of wisdom to draw on (Judges 13-16) as we …
Rethinking Samson, Seeing Delilah Read More »
“Her very name evokes images of beauty and sensuality, yet when we look for this creature in the New Testament, we look for her in vain.” –Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalene: Myth and Metaphor Who is Mary Magdalene to you? Apostle or icon of penitence? The Feast Day of Mary Magdalene is on July 22. In …
Who Was Mary Magdalene? Read More »
Luke called me a “sinner in the city” when he told the story about Simon the Pharisee and me. So through the ages people have assumed I was a prostitute. Every woman in the gospels with even a bit of a past is now known as sinning sexually. But back in the day, it didn’t …
Sinner, Yes, Prostitute, No: the Luke 7 Woman Speaks Read More »
