Gospel of Matthew
Was King Herod the Great really so ‘great’? What history says about the bad guy of the Christmas story
By Aaron Gale — December 12, 2023
(The Conversation) — Historians know a fair bit about Herod the Great, the king of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth.
We want God to be like Batman
By Thomas Reese — July 26, 2023
(RNS) — Deep in our hearts, we want God to beat up our enemies and punish evildoers.
What does it mean to be holy?
By Thomas Reese — February 20, 2023
(RNS) — It is not easy to be a follower of Jesus. Anyone who thinks it is, is simply not listening to him.
The Gospels can be grim. They aren’t about ‘resilience.’
By Amy Laura Hall — January 6, 2023
(RNS) — Preachers, please don’t.
God’s power or human violence: The meaning of the virgin birth
By Esau McCaulley — December 21, 2022
(RNS) — This Christmas story challenges the idea that we need physical might to overcome enemies.
Why early Christians wouldn’t have found the Christmas story’s virgin birth so surprising
By Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III — December 20, 2022
(The Conversation) — The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
Who were the 3 wise men who visited Jesus?
By Eric Vanden Eykel — December 14, 2022
(The Conversation) — As Christmas approaches, Nativity scenes showing three wise men visiting the newborn Jesus are put up around the world. A scholar of Christian literature offers an explanation on their identity.
Making monkeypox the new leprosy repeats our past public health mistakes
By Mark Lambert — October 7, 2022
(RNS) — Leprosy has a long history of being used to disenfranchise already socially marginalized populations.
Southern governors sending migrants north face a crisis of faith
By Jonathan Merritt — September 16, 2022
(RNS) — It’s getting harder for a politician to adhere to Christian morals and get elected president.
How much leeway should the Supreme Court give coaches to pray?
By Mark Silk — April 27, 2022
(RNS) — Is it their duty to pray on the 50-yard line?
Can’t we enjoy the suffering of our enemies a little?
By Mark Silk — February 4, 2022
(RNS) — There's some biblical reason to think we can.
Mark, a Gospel for Ordinary Time
By Thomas Reese — January 11, 2022
(RNS) — Of the four Gospel writers, Mark is the one you would not want to invite to dinner. But he is the one who will challenge you to listen more carefully and to think more deeply about Jesus.
Five Christmas sermon blunders that get Judaism (and Jesus) wrong
By Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler — December 24, 2021
(RNS) — Christmas brings out some of the worst ignorance of Jesus’ Judaism.
Beauty is the extravagance that makes us human
By Karen Swallow Prior — September 28, 2021
(RNS) — Humans' ability to appreciate beauty reflects our nature as beings made in the image of God.
This Lent, give up mixing faith with political terrorism
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite — February 9, 2021
(RNS) — We must be exceptionally clear that terrorism is an affront to Christian faith. That will be my Lenten practice.
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