Scripture and Theology Feed

Birth announcements

goodwink — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:15:00 -0800

We shouldn’t get hung up on the details surrounding Jesus’ birth, says this Bible scholar. As with any scripture story, there’s more here than meets the eye.
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Shelf life

goodwink — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:32:41 -0700

“Modern spiritual classics” recommended by Kathleen Norris, Martin E. Marty, Joyce Rupp, Joan Chittister, and other prominent U.S. Catholic contributors
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A theology of call -- How to be Good News to others

U.S. Catholic — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:04:27 -0700

Sister Catherine Bertrand, S.S.N.D. entered religious life on a dare. "It was either that or the Peace Corps." After 25 years she continues to be surprised by all that her life has to offer, and she dares all Christians to respond to the gospel call to fidelity and commitment-whether they are single, married, religious men and women, or ordained priests.

According to Bertrand, every vocation involves asking yourself the questions, "How are you Good News to others? How do you bring life? And how do you share that life?"

Buyer's guide to the Good Book

U.S. Catholic — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:21:42 -0700

He thought it would be easy to buy a Bible, a birthday gift for a godchild. The bookseller directed him to section 41. There he found more than 35 linear feet of shelving stocked with myriad editions of the Bible. Like cereals lining the aisle of a huge grocery store, the variety was overwhelming.

This would-be purchaser of a gift Bible returned home empty-handed. Worse yet, he felt empty-headed. He knew the Bible was central to his Christianity. When faced with making an intelligent selection of a specific edition of the Bible, however, he froze.

Chronological list of the Doctors of the Church

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:08:17 -0700

SAINT AMBROSE (c. 340-397), BISHOP OF MILAN, Italy, a major opponent of Arianism, wrote and preached extensively [named a Doctor of the church, 1298].

Saint Augustine of Hippo (c. 354-430), North African bishop, author of Confessions, City of God, and numerous treatises, countered heretical movements, one of the most influential theologians of the Western church, called "Doctor of Grace" [1298].

Desperately seeking Sophia

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:58:45 -0700

At a retreat where I referred to Sophia several times in my first presentation, a man suddenly stood up and blurted out: "Just who is this Sophia? Stop assuming that everyone here knows who you are talking about!" His interruption startled me, and it reminded me that many do not know this jewel in scripture, that Sophia is hidden from many.

Getting to know Paul

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:39:04 -0700

You've written that the meaning of Saint Paul's letters today cannot be different from the original meaning intended by Paul for his contemporaries. Would you explain that?

How to get a better read on your faith

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:14:32 -0700

Sometime in the late 12th century a Monk named Guigo, the second prior of the monastery of the Grand Chartreuse in France, wrote to his friend Gervase about some thoughts he had concerning exercises "proper to a cloistered monk." Those thoughts, in fact, constitute a tightly argued, pamphlet-sized treatise on how to read scripture as a form of prayer.

How to get the most out of reading the Bible

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:11:55 -0700

How did your love for the Bible develop?
I became interested in scripture as a boy. I stutter sometimes, and when I heard that Moses stuttered-that he was "slow of speech and slow of tongue"-I looked it up in the Book of Exodus and found the story of God's call to Moses to speak on behalf of God. In this way I found God in the Bible, and that experience has always been with me.

How to handle grief

U.S. Catholic — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:00:10 -0700

Jack Miller, author of Healing Our Losses: A Journal for Working Through Your Grief (1993), doesn't tell peple how to grieve-only that they must grieve. "Grief is on a continuum," he says. "You have to move from one end of it to the other, and you can't miss any step along the way."

Miller is a psychologist in private practice who has formed numerous programs in Chicago to help those who are dying or grieving another's death. Through his latest program, the Phoenix Project, Miller conducts a 12-week therapy program, which involves creating an artistic tribute for the person who has died. Miller is now training others to conduct their own Phoenix Projects.