Major Themes of Paul’s Writings

One of Paul’s major themes is that of eschatology, a word that means the study of last things, and concerns the fate of humanity and all the universe. It thus considers what happens to individuals after death (judgment, resurrection, etc) as well as the cosmic dimension of the end of the world, including the Parousia,

A Terrible Army (Joel 2:6-11)

6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. 7 They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. 8 They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. 9 They rush upon the city; they run

8th Sunday, Year C, 2nd Reading (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)

54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But

Children of God, Part II (1 John 3:1-3)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we

Children of God (1 John 2:28-29)

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. These two verses, although a transition section, introduce a key theme of the letter, that

Hold Fast to the Truth (1 John 2:18-27)

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but

Christology in the Letters of John

Christology means the study of the person, role and nature of Jesus. For the author of John it represents the encounter of God with our sinful world. The divine and the human come together through Jesus. In John’s usage, Christ refers to the divine aspect, the Son of God, while Jesus is used for the

Introduction to Mark chapter 13

This chapter of Mark is often known as the “little apocalypse”. The word “apocalypse” comes from the Greek word for “revelation” (and hence the Book of Revelation). The Jews wrote many apocalypses in the last centuries BC and early part of AD and the most famous is probably the Book of Daniel. Apocalyptic writing was