Did you know there are over 1000 “commandments” in the New Testament? That is almost twice as many as the religious Jews identified from their Torah (first five books of the Old Testament – 613 of ...

This Sunday’s readings—from Deuteronomy and Mark—repeat the Shema Yisrael. That proclamation—“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our Lord, the Lord alone!”—is what every devout Jew declares every day. The ...

In Mark 12:28-31, the Scribes asked Jesus, “What is the Great Commandment?” He responded, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the ...

As a pastor in the Christian tradition, I find my mind turning once again toward the language of my faith. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how the Christian life has been anchored in what ...

In a time when Christianity is often used to justify division, power, and partisanship, I found myself asking: What does it truly mean to follow Jesus? For me, the answer came not through a new ...

Author’s Note: Interested readers can find all previous volumes of this series here. When I started writing this study, I planned to avoid mentioning the election. Besides, my last pre-election ...

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest ...

Charles Beard was arguably the most widely read and influential American historian of the previous generation. He published alone or in collaboration something like 60 books and 300 articles. He ...