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A. Katherine Grieb

A. Katherine Grieb teaches New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary and is author of The Story of Romans (Westminster John Knox).

Sunday’s Coming

Good news without simple truth

The Gospel of John uses the word "truth" more than any other book in the Bible and way more than the other Gospels combined. Not only that, but many of the most-quoted verses in John, the ones that have shaped Christian discourse over the centuries, have been concerned with the question of truth.
Sunday’s Coming

Do we live in apocalyptic times?

Even before my first cup of coffee, I often turn the radio on to check the weather report for the day: will I need an umbrella? Should I take an extra jacket? Looking around for my coffee cup, I barely hear the voice in the background: "The sun will be darkened; and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." Really? Maybe I should just go back to bed.
In the Lectionary

November 22, Reign of Christ: John 18:33-37

The callousness of Pontius Pilate was legendary: if you could choose your judge, you did not want him. Jesus cannot choose.
In the Lectionary

November 15, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 13:1-8

The unnamed disciple in Mark 13:1 would have been impressed not only by the temple’s splendor, but by what it represented: God’s presence with Israel. Jesus’ reply must have astounded him.
Sunday’s Coming

Peace wish

This week's Living by the Word column focuses on the story of the healing of Naaman the Aramean, one of the most dramatic healing stories in the Bible. But here I want to blog about a small detail of that story as it relates to the other lessons.
In the Lectionary

Sunday, July 7, 2013: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

You may be better organized than I am, but in my overscheduled life, every once in a while I miss an appointment....
Sunday’s Coming

Eyes on the Spirit

Growing up, I watched Saturday morning television cartoons in which a character was making a decision. On one shoulder an angel hovered, saying, "Do the right thing!" But on the other shoulder perched a devil urging the character to do the wrong thing. You already know what happened: as the angel looked increasingly anxious, the cartoon character chose to do the wrong thing. Paul's Galatians didn't watch TV cartoons, but they probably had a similar model of decision making.
In the Lectionary

Sunday, June 30, 2013: 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14; 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21; Luke 9:51-62

“I have decided to follow Jesus.” These words begin a well-known hymn, but for me they will always be about Gordon and Mary Cosby, cofounders of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C....
Sunday’s Coming

Warning signs and grounds for hope

In the state where I live sometimes it's hard to tell which is scarier, Halloween or election day—a useful reminder that Christians are constantly besieged both by supernatural powers and by the re...
Sunday’s Coming

Two widows, true to type

For most of canonical history, Mark's Gospel has been considered an ugly duckling and its author a clumsy yokel. It can hardly be a coincidence...

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Books

5 essential books on Paul

In addition to its roundup of book reviews, the Century's fall books issue features works that guest critics consider to be essential reading on three topics: John Calvin, Paul and preaching. A. Katherine Grieb's essential books on Paul are: Paul and His Letters (second edition), The Writings of St. Paul, Our Mother Saint Paul, Rereading Paul Together: Protestant and Catholic Perspectives on Justification, and A Shorter Commentary on Romans. Read her comments here.
Sunday’s Coming

Blogging toward Sunday

Why caricature the rich man as smug and self-righteous when Mark shows him humbly asking an existential question?
Sunday’s Coming

Is it lawful...?

How to approach Jesus' strict teaching about divorce and remarriage as it appears in Mark's Gospel, without the somewhat more lenient amendments of Matthew and Paul?
Sunday’s Coming

A danger to the community?

When Jesus' disciples imitate Joshua, the irony is delicious: they have just spectacularly failed to cast out the demon troubling a boy from childhood.
In the Lectionary

The apostles' new identity: Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35–10:8 (9-23)

I wonder if Paul has Euripides in mind.
In the Lectionary

The great conversation: Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

You may share an experience I often have: I enter a room where friends are engaged in a spirited conversation about someone and try to guess who it is that they are describing....

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