Category: How to read the Bible
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The Heart of the Matter
February is supposed to be all about hearts and stuff – which, as a very single person, I take very little interest in (unless it translates into chocolate gifts on my desk). But in the spirit of the season, I can talk about hearts and stuff, but only on my terms: the heart (and stuff)…
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Who You Callin’ Names?
What’s in a name? That all depends who’s saying it. My family and closest friends call me “Wen”; colleagues generally go with “Wendy”; students default to “Dr. Widder” (though technically, they shouldn’t…I’m still awaiting the Final Word) or “Professor Widder” (which, technically, should be “Visiting Assistant Professor Widder,” but who’s going to remember what they…
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A Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures (give or take…)
Most of us are fairly obsessed with how we look. Think about how much time you spend every day making sure you smell respectably well, your clothes match, your hair is under control, your teeth are food-free, your fly is up, and so on. Appearance is pretty important to us. However, this is not the…
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Of Xmas and Other X-things
’Tis the season for getting upset about people using “X” in place of “Christ” in “Christmas.” I don’t deny that a good number of people do want to take “Christ” out of “Christmas,” but using “Xmas” isn’t really the way to do it; nor should “Xmas” be a huge issue to campaign against. Here’s why.…
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Basketball and Babylon
Most of the “court tales” we hear these days relate to the NBA and the recent lockout. The book of Daniel certainly features big egos, a bit of sport, and plenty of suspense, but its early chapters tell a completely different kind of court tale than the NBA tells. Daniel 2 moves us into a…
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Ezekiel Bread, Daniel’s Diet, and Other “Biblical” Food Follies
When I first heard about Ezekiel Bread, I was in the middle of translating the book of Ezekiel for a year-long Ph.D. class. So when my roommate asked if I’d heard of Ezekiel Bread, I had…and I hadn’t. I certainly knew about the bread in the book of Ezekiel (chapter 4), but I had no…
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Wisdom: Finding the Right Way to Do the Right Thing
I have enough failed resolutions in my life to appreciate the difference between making up my mind to do something and then actually getting it done. Daniel makes up his mind in 1:8 not to eat what the king is serving – but actually keeping his resolution without dying in a hunger strike is a…
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A Curmudgeon Cries “Context! Context! Context!”
I’m teaching Daniel to a group of urban ministry leaders on Monday nights this semester. They love the book because it preaches so well, and I love teaching them because it’s a dream to teach students so enthusiastic about the material. At least, it’s a dream for the first six chapters. When we get to…
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How to Read a Biblical Story
The Bible is full of stories – more properly called narratives—and most people don’t give a second thought to how they should be read. They’re stories, for crying out loud. Who doesn’t know how to read a story? Why are you wasting Web space – and my time – on this post? But it’s not…
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Being Fair to the author and the Author
There are all sorts of preliminaries you have to take care of before you can read a book of the Bible in fairness to its author and its Author. John Walton (of the Bible department at Wheaton College, not the lumber mill on Walton’s Mountain) likes to say that the Bible wasn’t written to us,…
Three Rubies Press 