Authors /
Stan Saunders
Stan Saunders is associate professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is author of Preaching the Gospel of Matthew (Westminster John Knox) and is working on a book on the story of creation in the New Testament.
Reading ourselves reading the Bible
The hyperbole, violence, and abrupt scene changes in Matthew’s parable of the wedding feast have driven most interpreters to treat the story allegorically—thereby turning it from a dangerous puzzle to a reassuring message in code.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
The story of the golden calf is a parody of Israelite idolatry.
Consumers and kenosis
In her most recent book, Blessed Are the Consumers, Sallie McFague focuses on kenosis as the key element in shaping a Christian alternative to the pervasive religion of consumerism. McFague says that consumerism consists of those cultural patterns and practices by which people “find meaning and fulfillment through the consumption of goods and services.” We may rightly identify consumerism as a religion.
Sunday, October 5, 2014: Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46
Jesus' parable of the so-called "wicked tenant farmers" is a textbook illustration—a parody, even—of the economic and political dynamics of empire.
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