Reading Audaciously

International Women's Day Harvest: Bread, Wine and Roses

Amy L. Dalton

Happy International Women’s Day! John August Swanson’s “Madonna of the Harvest” provides a beautiful midrash on the spiritual aspect of...

Purim Amidst Polarization: Reading Esther for Transformation

Alexiana Fry

The Jewish festival of Purim starts on the evening of March 2, and continues until sundown on March 3. As...

A Sacred Invitation

Sherly Fabre

When sacred seasons overlap, it is not coincidence — it is invitation. 🔥 Burn brighter, with purpose 🐎 Move forward,...

Reading Epiphany with Patti Smith

Amy L. Dalton

Today is the day that the Church celebrates “Epiphany,” also known as Three Kings Day — though the actual holiday...

The Necessity of "Reading the Bible on Turtle Island" for an Alienated Indonesian with an Adventist Upbringing

Ludwig Beethoven J. Noya, CLBSJ Board Member

The following is a summary and excerpt from a review of Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: An Invitation to...

Reading Revelation 12 with Black Trans Ancestors

Eric A. Thomas, CLBSJ Board Member

In accordance with the spirit of Sankofa, where one of its meanings is ‘it is not taboo to fetch that...

Giving Ourselves Over

Amy L. Dalton

The Call on Giving Tuesday and every day Most of us will be flooded today with challenges to give funds...

A review of "Martyrs to the Unspeakable" by James W. Douglass

Reviewed by Wes Howard-Brook

I first met Jim Douglass at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, in the woods of western Washington adjacent to...

Read-a-thon 2025: Reading for Resistance!

This fall, CLBSJ invites one and all to join in a practice of audacious, intersectional, intertextual readings. CLBSJ will continue...

The Call of Equinox

Amy L. Dalton

As the Southward Equinox, Peace Day and Sun Day align, we can experience a uniquely powerful call to align our...

Audacious Readers Roundtable Reportback and Read-a-thon Update

On December 19, a small group of Audacious Readers gathered to share some closing reflections on our experiences reflecting on...

Reading the Bible with Pharrell Williams

Amy L. Dalton

Over the last few months, its been challenging to say the least to make sense of the divisive and distraction-filled...

Reading Scripture and Strengthening Resolve with Wendell Berry

Betsy Simpson

In the October 2024 issue of Christian Century I was struck by Wendell Berry’s article entitled “Against Killing Children,” and...

Reading Deuteronomy with Critics

Jane Dawson

I am reading Deuteronomy alongside the following interpretive texts: Opening Israel’s Scriptures by Ellen Davis The Bible in History by...

Reading Genesis 1 with the enslaved

Ludwig Noya

At this year’s meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature, Ludwig Noya presented a critique of the way Genesis 1...

A call to read scripture with Refaat Alareer today

Amy L. Dalton

Today, on Human Rights Day, Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer’s poems, prose and interviews are being published posthumously in a book...

Reading the Prophets with Leonard Cohen

Brian J. Walsh

The following selection, used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers (www.wipfandstock.com), is from Rags of Light: Leonard Cohen and...

The Gospel According to Casey Plett

Laurel Dykstra

Content Warning: addiction, sexual violence, murder, dismemberment For CLBSJ’s 2024 Read-a-thon: Reading Audaciously, supporters are reading the Bible in solidarity...

Reading Job with Sherman Alexie

Rev. Betsy Simpson

Intrigued by Sherman Alexie’s book title, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I added it to my reading...

Armistice Day, 1 Samuel 8, and the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval

Amy L. Dalton

On Armistice Day, Take Action for CEASEFIRE Today, November 11, is now known in the United States as “Veteran’s Day.”...

A reflection on Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s I Shall Not Hate

Rev. Betsy Simpson

As President Jimmy Carter puts it, “In this book, Dr. Abuelaish has expressed a remarkable commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation...

Some thoughts on Playground by Richard Powers

Wes Howard-Brook

Richard Powers is one of my favorite authors, and his most recent, Playground, is one of his best. My wife,...

Parables for Urgent Times

Amy L. Dalton

As yet another epic US election approaches, its appropriate to lift up the legacy of Octavia Butler’s work Parable of...

A reflection on Ai Wei Wei's "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn"

Dong Hyeon Jeong

This 3-part visual montage from 1995 interrogates how we form values and authority. A certain entity/object at one point in...

A Review of Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

Dr. Gale A. Yee, Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies emerita, Episcopal Divinity School

For the CLBSJ Read-A-Thon, I chose to read Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler...

A Review of Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes

Rev. Betsy Simpson

Jodi Picoult’s book, Nineteen Minutes, is a fictional story about a mass shooting at a high school in a relatively...

A reflection on Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer

Amy L. Dalton

On top of the list of the ten most banned books for the last three years has been Maia Kobabe’s...

CLBSJ Read-a-Thon 2024: Reading Audaciously!

This fall, CLBSJ is reading the Bible in solidarity with banned and controversial texts. Please join in and support our...

Rising Up: An Ascension Reflection

Amy L. Dalton

The account of Jesus’ Ascension in Acts 1:6-11 (1) could be seen as among the most “pie in the sky”...

Let’s Read for Justice! Read-a-Thon 2023

Please join with CLBSJ to celebrate and extend critical engagement with the Bible! As students of all ages are resuming...

Thanks to You: READ-A-THON SUCCESS!!

The CLBSJ Board is thrilled to report that we have reached our end-of-the-year fundraising goal of $25,000 through our “Will...

Fall Read-a-Thon: Will Read for Justice!

Calling all Friends of CLBSJ! We have amazingly been challenged by a donor to raise $25,000 before the end of...