by Richard Wilson | Apr 17, 2020 | Opinion
Exile is a powerful concept in the Hebrew Bible. In addition, it turns out to be transformative as Christianity emerges half-a-millennium later. Life in Judah and Jerusalem in the 590s and 580s BCE changed dramatically. The proactive invasion of Jerusalem by the...
by Richard Wilson | Mar 4, 2020 | Opinion
The history of covenant people, a history that includes Jews, Christians and Muslims, begins with a short paragraph: Genesis 12:1-3. The first utterance of the Lord to Abram is a barked imperative, “Go!” With similar simplicity, Genesis 12:4 reports, “So Abram went,...
by Richard Wilson | Jan 17, 2020 | Opinion
Accomplished orators – whether they are preachers or politicians – often weave old themes and phrases upon new looms. Sometimes, they fold up a tapestry completed for one setting and unfurl it, as if new, in a different setting. Martin Luther King Jr. did. His sermons...
by Richard Wilson | Dec 2, 2019 | Opinion
Isaiah 11:1-10 offers a full, vibrant glimpse of hopes for peace, giving readers a touchstone for another Advent season where our proclamations of “peace on earth” are spoken with quivering lips and a fear that our voices will crack. Global political strife is as high...
by Richard Wilson | Nov 15, 2019 | Opinion
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on July 8, 2003. At the time of publication, Wilson was professor of theology and chair of the Roberts Department of Christianity at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. The idea of a Christian America is deeply entrenched in...
