Luther Seminary's Bible Q & A

Eric Barreto provides insight on Matthew 20 -- the parable of the landowner and the day laborers -- and what it tells us about God’s justice.

Watch this brief video to find out how different readers come to different conclusions around the same parable.

Dr. James Boyce offered the following notes in his Lay School of Theology class in Spring 2012, "How the Bible Came to Us: Its Writing, Use, and Authority." 

See the June 2014 Bible Reading Tip for more from this presentation.

ReadING assumptions

1. We all interpret when we read.
   The church has from the beginning and still regularly differs in its hearing of Scripture
   
   
2. We debate meaning for today.
   
   
3. Experience and knowledge matter.
   Meaning comes out of reading the Scriptures, …

Paul hated women, didn’t he?

Short answer: I don’t know. We aren’t really equipped to read that far into the head of someone who died 2000 years ago.

We could reframe the question: Did Paul write things that have been used by Christians to do great damage to women and that have hampered the work of the church for centuries? Absolutely.

But we must also ask: Did Paul write things that suggest he believed men do not possess superiority over women, as well as things that support …

When did Jesus drive out the money changers from the temple? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus cleanses the temple near the end of his life. In John, Jesus does so in the earliest days of his ministry.

What were Jesus’ last words?

• According to Mark and Matthew, Jesus cries out in pain and isolation: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
• According to Luke, Jesus’ life ends with words of forgiveness for his persecutors (“Father, forgive them; for they do not …