Today’s daf introduces the subject of tzara’at, the biblical skin affliction often translated as leprosy. If one found a suspect blemish on one’s body, the priests were to evaluate it to decide if the person was in one of four categories: 1) pure and free to go about everyday life;
It is a fact that theologians and theology departments in Catholic institutions of higher education struggle to justify their existences before their colleagues and before the world. Many a genealogy has been written to trace the blame for our dire circumstances. What follows below is not another one. Instead, I
Honeysuckle symbolizes the bonds of love. In his last two verses of his description of the nature of agape, or Christ love, in his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul lists several positive qualities or characteristics. The first of these qualities or characteristics is that love never gives
Issue 80 of Administration Matters Tithe.ly introduces new rate ELCA congregations using Tithe.ly’s online platform for giving will now enjoy a lower credit card processing rate. Effective Dec. 10, 2021, the rate for processing credit card donations has been reduced to 2.3% for Visa, Mastercard and Discover transactions. As
By Thomas Lambrecht In October 2021, after 16 months of Covid-related delay, the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) adopted a plan to allow traditionalist congregations to disaffiliate over the church’s gridlock over LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriage. That plan has now given rise to a new, theologically
Every day, Living Lutheran offers a prayer from the ELCA resource Prayer ventures, which can be downloaded here. These daily petitions are offered as a guide for your own prayer life as together we pray for the needs of the world and give thanks for the ministries of our church. Saturday,
Today’s daf continues a discussion that began yesterday, about a field in which someone has been buried. Graves, as we now know, communicate death impurity to anyone who comes in contact with them, and to anything that is built nearby or grows on top. Therefore, graves were marked — often
Whatever we think of Origen today, his commitment to the Scripture is undeniable. He is known for his allegorical approach to biblical interpretation. Unlike other Christian theologians of his time, he studied the Hebrew language and consulted rabbinic interpretations of the Jewish Scriptures. Yet, beyond these commonly known facts, there