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Some questions begin in Scripture, others begin with a novel, a news story, a movie, or an unexpected conversation. This blog follows curiosity wherever it leads—with intellectual rigor, ethical reflection, and a healthy respect for complexity.

Advent Psalm Reflection: Psalm 85, When Justice and Peace Kiss (Pt. 1 of 4)

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Dec 7, 2023 |

Advent Psalm reading for December 7, 8, 9, & 10: Psalm 85 Advent Reflection on Psalm 85 Overview For the rest of this week, Psalm 85 is the psalm reflection. In this first post, I will outline the psalm’s context and comment on its place in the liturgy. In subsequent posts, I will consider the…

Advent Psalm Reflection: Psalm 79, A Negotiation with God (Pt. 3 of 3)

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Dec 6, 2023 |

Advent Psalm reading for December 4, 5, & 6: Psalm 79 Reflecting on Psalm 79: A Journey Through Lament In Part 1 of this series, I looked at the context of the Psalm 79 lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. In Part 2, I read Psalm 79 alongside Micah 4 and 5 to find a path…

Advent Psalm Reflection: Psalm 79, A Negotiation with God (Pt. 2 of 3)

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Dec 5, 2023 |

Advent Psalm reading for December 4, 5, & 6: Psalm 79 Reflecting Back on Psalm 79: A Journey from Vengeance to Compassion In my last post (Part I), I reflected on the structure of Psalm 79 as a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. Examining the psalm led me on a reflective journey to think…

Advent Psalm Reflection: Psalm 79, A Negotiation with God (Pt. 1 of 3)

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Dec 4, 2023 |

Advent Psalm reading for December 4, 5, & 6: Psalm 79 An Asaph Psalm of Lament In this psalm from the Asaph collection, we hear the despair of the psalmist as he laments over the destruction in his city. The Asaph Psalter is a collection of twelve psalms within the Hebrew Bible Psalter which are…

Advent Psalm Reflection: Day One of Advent

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Dec 3, 2023 |

Advent Reading No. 1: Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19 (Heb. 80:2-8; 18-20) A Misty Advent Morning: Contemplation Amidst Chaos I awoke to a misty, foggy first day of Advent this morning and turned on my Christmas tree lights. This is my favorite season for early rising. I am alone in a quiet house, enjoying my morning espresso…

CREATION, COSMOGONY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Deciphering the Relationship between Humanity and the Earth in the Book of Genesis

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Nov 8, 2023 |

Jump to the Video Presentation The book of Genesis has often been at the forefront of debates surrounding the environment and our role within it. How should we interpret humanity’s relationship with the Earth from a scriptural perspective? In a video presentation, I delved into the two creation narratives in Genesis and their implications for…

Imago Barbie

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Jul 30, 2023 |

While I didn’t intend to write a blog post reflecting on a lighthearted film about the American doll so many people love to hate, I am stirred by the polarizing responses of friends and their significant others. Spoiler Alert: I’m not holding back. Read ahead at your own risk. This blog post will reveal a…

Genesis 1, Bereshit, and the Big Bang

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Jul 27, 2023 |

Genesis 1 is perhaps one of the Bible’s most well-known and quotable opening lines. Many can recite the King James Version, “In the beginning …”. Theologians like to point out the priestly nature of the first chapter of Genesis, how it describes God’s supreme power in the universe and reflects temple imagery elsewhere in Scripture.…

The Bible as an Instructive Text

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Mar 28, 2023 |

Read or listen to the Blogcast Many modern-day readers of the Bible tend to look for a system of rules. I suppose this is because we are raised to look for guideposts and follow the rules to stay in line. It starts in the home with chore charts and rules about bedtime and brushing our…

Why is Psalm 82 Considered a Difficult Text?

By Erica Mongé-Greer | Mar 20, 2023 |

I started working on Psalm 82 more than a decade ago to unpack the relationship between the Divine Council and Earthly justice-seeking councils, like the Council of Elders in the Bible. I quickly discovered that Psalm 82 was a difficult text to unpack, and many scholars disagreed about its origin, its place in the Psalter,…