Scriptural Studies
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Sampling St. Paul: Looking Into The Letter To The Galatians
The article is the first of a two part discussion on the Letter to the Galatians. In this article we give a brief description of the nature of Paul's letters, to whom he wrote and when he wrote them. Pointers are also given as to how to delimit the text under study. The letter to the Galatians is here presented as an example of a biblical discourse.
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John 15:1-16:33: Discipleship Is Co-discipleship
Being with Christ means participating in the communion that exists between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The Christian community is an icon of the Trinity, and Christian discipleship is lived only within this context. The present article is an invitation to read John 15:1-16:33 in this light.
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Sampling The Gospel of John 1:19-3:36
A reading guide for the Gospel of John 1:19-3:36. The reader is invited to deepen his/her experience of baptism by encountering the Word that is proclaimed by chosen witnesses and to verify their consecration to that Word by the faith that they live.
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Sampling Mark Part 2 (Mk 2:1-3:6): Encountering Jesus
The article is part two of our section in Sampling the Gospel of Mark. This one is a reading guide to Mark 2:1 - 3:6, a section that deals with Jesus' controversies with the leaders of this time. I call it "Encountering Jesus" because it is here where, by comparison and contrast, we get to know what Jesus stood for vis-a-vis the accepted religious and social standards of his times.
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Sampling A Section of the Gospel of Mark
A reading guide to Mark 1:1-45.
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Sample Discourse: Paul's Letter to Philemon
A sample biblical discourse is presented here for study, Paul's Letter to Philemon. Among the letters of St. Paul, there is one that is short, very personal and one that lends itself quite well as an illustration for our discussions on biblical discourse. I refer to the Letter to Philemon, a document that dates back to the latter years of Paul's missionary sorties around the Mediterranean.
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A Sample Biblical Narrative: The Story of Ruth
We begin sampling a biblical narrative by reading the Book of Ruth. I have chosen it because it is short (just four chapters), it is about migrant women (and therefore very timely), and it is just the kind of story that can raise a lot of discussions (this will become obvious as we proceed). The article is divided into three parts. The first part presents a brief outline of the Book of Ruth. The second part explains some customs and ideas found in the story that may appear strange to the reader. The third part offers some tips for reading the narrative.
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Biblical Prose: Narrative and Discourse
A short article on Biblical narrative and discourse. The aim of the article is
simply to introduce the reader to the topic of narrative and discourse pointing out ideas that
have been seen in the previous articles.
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Reading A Psalm In Six Steps
The article presents a six-step programme for the reading of a psalm. The example psalm used is Ps. 51, otherwise known as the “Miserere.”
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Parallelism and Balance
"Parallelism and balance are two distinctive features of biblical poetry, " writes Laverdierre. These will be the topic of the present article. By using examples from the poetic sections of the Bible, I will illustrate what parallelism is and how it contributes to poetic balance.
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Biblical Poetry In Our Translated Bibles
The article simply points out where in our modern translations of the bible poetry can be found. Some articles on biblical poetry found in two Bible translations are then pointed out, and the problem of translated poetry is briefly discussed. Finally, parallelism and balance are pointed out as the most distinctive characteristic of biblical poetry (E. Laverdiere).
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The Word of God: Prose and Poetry
This article begins a new series on the topic of "The Bible As Literature." To introduce the topic, a short commentary on Dei Verbum 12 will be made. This will be followed later on by an explanation of the characteristics of biblical prose and poetry and finally, examples of each as found in the books of the scriptures will be treated.
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Parallel Texts, Texual Resonances and the Liturgy
A biblical text resonates to the measure that the mind of the reader is in syntony with its language. The Word of God that echoes in the many words of the Scriptures is caught by a mind that has been formed by the Liturgy. The article gives a concrete example of how this happens by a treatment of the readings of the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time.
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Using Your Bible's Parallel Text Annotations: Reminders
The article continues the discussion on the use of parallel annotations with some reminders on the nature of Parallel Text Annotations found in some modern translations of the Bible.
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Memory, Parallel Texts, St. Augustine and Guy the Carthusian
The article is the first a two part essay on the use of parallel texts in the reading of the Scriptures. Herein is contained a description of how parallel texts were used by St. Augustine of Hippo and Guy the Carthusian, this latter being the author of the Scala Claustralium, a paragraph of which is commented on.
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Using Explanatory Notes: Mark 9:14-29: A Possessed Boy
The article seeks to illustrate the four rules for using explanatory notes through a reading of Mark 9:14-29.
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Reading Scriptures Intelligently: Using Your Bible's Notes
Continues the preceding article on reading the text of Scriptures, but this time with emphasis on the helps that some modern translations have. In this article, the features of the Jerusalem Bible and the New American Bible are pointed out for the sake of illustration.
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Practical Hints 2: Reading Scriptures Intelligently
This article explains the phrase "Reading Scriptures Intelligently" and shows how such reading is made by using Mk. 1:29-31 as an illustration.
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Lectio Divina: Practical Hints 1
The article is the first in a series that deals with the practical aspects of the lectio divina.
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Lectio Divina in the Catechism of the Catholic Church Part IV
The article is about lectio divina as one finds it in the fourth part of the Catholic Catechism.
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Scriptures as Word of God: Christ, Tradition and Church
The article sets forth in a more systematic way the conviction already stressed, namely, that one cannot take Scriptures in isolation from the person of Jesus Christ, the memory of the apostles as it is handed down in tradition, and the life of the Church.
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The Word of God and Scriptures
An article that explores the relationship between "Word of God" and "Scriptures." It is the author's contention that while it is correct to say that the Bible is Word of God, it would be wrong to say that "The Word of God is the Bible."
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The Word of God as Scriptures: The Necessity of Reading
The article deals with "Word of God" under the aspect of "Scriptures." More precisely, it deals with the Necessity of Reading Scriptures as seen from three biblical references.
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The Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures: An Overview
The first of a series of articles on the Spiritual Reading of the Scriptures, otherwise known as "lectio divina". In this initial offering the author gives a general description of the "lectio" and gives the reasons which motivated him to offer the series.
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