David is a central protagonist in the biblical story. And though his triumph over Goliath and his moral failings with Bathsheba are the stuff of great art, it is his establishment of the monarchy in Israel that both shapes and foreshadows future events. David is born in Bethlehem (c. 1040 BCE). He spends his childhood...
Tag: biblical interpretation
Jesus at 7PM – Live Audience Q&A in Irvine, CA
Honest answers to sincere questions are essential to the work of love. Indeed the lessons that have been most formative in my spiritual life have not come from books and lectures (important though they are!), but from the candid conversations that came at the cafe or in the parking lot after the formal lesson was...
Understanding the Bible 05: The Ten Commandments
“Thou shalt not…” is not a phrase we typically associate with love. For most of us, the language of commandments or “the Law of God” conjures images of dispassionate judge at best, and a wrathful tyrant at worst. But in the biblical story, Torah (the Hebrew word for Law) was understood at a gift...