Seminary Notes 10: the halfway point

One of the things I appreciate most about seminary is the chance to pick up so many topics and examine them. We gather around and hold up a topic or a text and look at it from all sides. We listen to different people talk about it. We formulate ideas and watch other people poke […]

Discovering Biblical Equality 5: women in the Gospels

In Chapter 5 of Discovering Biblical Equality, Aída Spencer discusses Jesus’ treatment of women in the Gospels. She points out that virtually no one disagrees with the claim that Jesus treated women with unprecedented respect and affirmation. The difference lies in what people think that treatment has to say about women today. She outlines four […]

Summer’s resistance to rhythm

This week we traveled back to Kentucky to see some close friends who still live there. We’ve tried twice to see them already this year and illness has gotten in the way every time. We had been there 24 hours before one of them tested positive for covid. Another followed the next day. We came […]

Language about God

In Sunday’s email, I started working through how we talk about God using gendered language. I say “started” because that’s a long conversation and I have much reading and research still to do myself. For example, I want to know how languages that do not have gendered pronouns handle this issue. This book is also […]

Moses and the mountains

At church, they are teaching a series on mountaintop moments and last Sunday, discussed Moses and his encounter at the burning bush, along with his receiving of the covenant with the people of Israel. Those were big, defining moments of Moses’ life to be sure. However, one of the things I’m struck by when I […]

Discovering Biblical Equality 4: women in the Bible

Chapter 4 of Discovering Biblical Equality is a broad overview of women leaders in the Bible. Yesterday I told some friends that I was taking “Women in the Old Testament: Text and Context” for my summer class (and my last Biblical Studies Elective) and my husband joked that he didn’t know how that was possible […]

The direction I need

When praying for direction for my life, I have a tendency to expect God to illuminate the correct path by supernatural means. Sometimes, God does do that, of course. And sometimes, God gives us the freedom to choose a path and pursue it. I no longer believe that the Christian life is a mostly a […]