Book Reviews – February 2024

The Bible and Baptism: The Foundations of Salvation. By Isaac Augustine Morales, O.P. Reviewed by Randall Woodard. (skip to review) The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – January 2024

Ecclesial Exegesis: A Synthesis of Ancient and Modern Approaches to Scripture. By Gregory Vall. Reviewed by D. Malachi Walker. (skip to review) God’s Call is Everywhere: A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women. By … [Read more...]

Advent and Eschaton

Advent is profoundly eschatological, a reality that grows more apparent as the season reaches its climax. In these days, Holy Mother Church considers Jesus Christ as the Approaching One, who brings into the middle of time not only the … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – October 2023

Aquinas on Scripture: A Primer. By John F. Boyle. Reviewed by D.M. Walker. (skip to review) Remembering Why We Preach: A Retreat to Renew Your Spirit and Skill. By Karla J. Bellinger and Michael E. Connors, CSC. Reviewed by Deacon … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – July 2023

In the School of the Word: Biblical Interpretation from the New to the Old Testament. By Carlos Granados and Luis Sánchez-Navarro. Reviewed by Sr. Mary Micaela Hoffmann, RSM. (skip to review) Jesus Becoming Jesus (Volume 3): A T … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – April 2023

The Order and Division of Divine Truth: St. Thomas Aquinas as Scholastic Master of the Sacred Page. By John F. Boyle. Reviewed by Sr. Mary Micaela Hoffmann, RSM. (skip to review) Twelve Great Books: Going Deeper into Classic Literature. … [Read more...]

Walking Through the “Orchard” of Scripture

 Encountering a Rabbinical Tradition of Biblical Reading with Christian Eyes

Premise: Searching for Meaning One of the basic notions that we must take into consideration when reading Scripture is the complexity of meaning(s) “words” can communicate. Why? The divine revelation manifested in the written word resides i … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – May 2022

The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture: How the Bible Became a Secular Book. By Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker. Reviewed by Nathan Farrar. (skip to review) Exegetical Gems from Biblical Hebrew. By H.H. II Hardy. Reviewed by D. Malachi … [Read more...]

Early Theologies of Purgatory

How can a loving and merciful God send a person into endless torture in hell? Actually, He does not. They send themselves there. The only unpleasantness to which He channels them is purgatory, where they have the hope of rising to … [Read more...]

Amy Coney Barrett, the Bible, and the Constitution

Criticism of Amy Coney Barrett in the wake of her nomination to the Supreme Court last autumn has focused on her legal philosophy and on her devout Catholic faith.[1. “The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” rem … [Read more...]

The New Sarah and Abraham

“I thank you, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little ones.” (Matthew 11:25) “In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word became flesh . . .” (John 1) “So shall my Word be th … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – June 2020

At Mass with Jesus on Calvary: Reflections on the Prayers of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist By Fr. Gene Martens, SJ. Reviewed by Fr. James Swetnam, SJ. (skip to review) Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of … [Read more...]

Second Peter

The Transfiguration Is the Interpretive Key of the Second Coming

Reading Mark’s Gospel with the Faith of Saint Peter and the Church Saint Peter’s Second Epistle soars the heights of the Spirit akin to the spiritual heights of John’s proclamation of the Gospel (Jn 1:1–14). He whose gift of faith caused Ch … [Read more...]

Aquinas as Biblical Exegete

His Interpretation of Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh”

No doubt Thomas Aquinas is most famous as a systematic theologian who made great use of philosophical sources such as Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Nevertheless, when Aquinas first taught at the University of Paris, he held the title of Magister … [Read more...]

A Brief History of Embracing the Song of Songs

I. Introduction The intended meaning of the Song of Songs has been a matter of contention since well before the second century after Christ, when it was first accepted into the Jewish canon of scripture. The poem’s focal point, a blatantly … [Read more...]