“Go! Marry a prostitute and beget children of prostitution! For the land is guilty of the most hideous kind of prostitution for forsaking YHWH.” — Hosea 1:2 The Inclusive Bible The prophet Hosea was ...

It is not every biblical book that opens with God commanding his prophet to go marry a prostitute. But this is exactly what the prophet Hosea is told to do at the outset of his biblical career. “The ...

In many ways, nations resemble people. Just like human beings, nations go through mood swings. Sometimes their populations are ecstatic, and at other times a psychological malaise hovers over the land ...

This week the professor continues his series on the prophets of ancient Israel. Last week we considered the foundational prophet Amos. This week, his near contemporary in the eighth century B.C., the ...

“Brothers and sisters, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Let us therefore join our hearts together in prayer. . . .” With these words, I invite my ...

Hosea is the prophet of pathos. Not his own; God’s. Hosea’s God is angry at Israel, but the divine emotion that runs most profoundly through his prophecy is anguish. The book relies upon an extended ...

Even when my wife was unfaithful, I continued to experience the faithful love of God. Most people know me as a New Testament scholar. To keep my reading of Scripture balanced, however, I do most of my ...

At its heart, Judaism is about love. If you find that claim surprising, you’re not alone. Many Christians and Jews—and, sadly, even some of my rabbinical students—view Christianity as a religion of ...