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Tyndale and the Power of the Word
10–15 minutesA Bookseller’s Stall in 1525 Imagine, if you can, a young English weaver in the year 1525. He’s got a few coins in his pocket. He can just about read. And he walks past a bookseller’s stall somewhere in the narrow lanes around old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. What does he find on offer? Plenty. He could buy Robin Hood. He could buy the adventures of Bevis of Hampton, a swashbuckling medieval romance that next to no one has heard of anymore, but which was one of the closest things the 15th century had to an action film. He could…
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Bible Versification Differences (2,024)
18–26 minutesA list of 2,024 Bible references where “English” versification differs from “original” (Hebrew/Greek) versification. This list is also available to download as versification-differences.csv. Differences occur in the books of GEN, EXO, LEV, NUM, DEU, 1SA, 2SA, 1KI, 2KI, 1CH, 2CH, NEH, JOB, PSA, ECC, SNG, ISA, JER, EZK, DAN, HOS, JOL, JON, MIC, NAM, ZEC, MAL, ACT, 2CO. Descending order of versification differences by book: PSA (1,047), 1CH (118), DEU (73), NEH (68), DAN (66), EXO (62), HOS (50), NUM (46), 2SA (44), 1KI (43), 1SA (39), EZK (38), JOB (34), GEN (32), 2CH (31), ISA (31), LEV (30), JER…
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The Baptism of Jesus
6–9 minutesIn a well-known Irish tale, St. Patrick is said to have baptized a King Aengus. As Patrick prayed, he lifted and then authoritatively put down his pointed staff, not realizing that the iron tip had driven straight into the king’s foot. Aengus stood silent, blood pooling at his feet. Only after did Patrick see the wound and cry out in horror, “Why didn’t you say something?” The king replied, “I just thought it was part of the ritual!” We smile, but we also wince. How often do we endure wounds simply because custom tells us to, “This is how things…
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Bundle of Sticks or a Branch
9–14 minutesA New Feast We are coming to the end of the year. While January 1st is generally thought of as the first day of the year, the church calendar starts next Sunday, with Advent. That makes today New Year’s Eve. Our church calendar is ever so slightly out of step with the secular year. It reminds us that time is ultimately God’s gift, oriented toward Christ’s story who is the goal of history. “New Year’s Day” is next Sunday with the start of Advent. We measure time just a little bit differently and our seasons don’t neatly correspond to spring,…