Reflections on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian represents the journey into faith by the author of the essays over the span of sixty years in the pastoral ministry and as a professor on college, university, and theological school levels. There has been a continuing growth in understanding from the beginnings of a rather conservative religious background and training to a more mature appreciation and understanding of life. This growth came about through the interchange in the classroom as a student in preparation for ministry, then as a pastor in the everyday work experience and interchange with parishioners and especially in the interchange with students in the classroom. This more mature understanding and growth is reflected in the essays presented in this volume on various themes as listed in the Table of Contents. It is hoped that they will be of value to lay persons and to professionals in the life of the church and in the academic world, and that they will stimulate thought and discussion in parishes and in institutions of higher learning. Some of the viewpoints may seem to be controversial, but how are we to grow intellectually and spiritually unless we wrestle seriously with the deep and profound questions of our faith and life? These reflections are offered with the hope and prayer that they will stimulate discussion and growth in the life of the church in both parish and academic settings.
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Reuben J. Swanson. Reflections on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian
Reflections
Table of Contents
Foreword
In the Beginning
The Conception and Birth of Jesus
Genealogies in Matthew and Luke
The Baptism of Jesus
Signs and Wonder Stories in the Gospels
The Gospel of Matthew as an Anti-Pauline Polemic
Textual Criticism
The Composition of the Gospels
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on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian
Reuben J. Swanson
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Perhaps the most valuable lesson of all that we might learn from a review of their thoughts upon the origin and the meaning of existence is humility. In reality, we know so little of the universe that is our home and so little of man the most complex of all the creatures inhabiting the universe that we ought not disparage those ancients who probed so unerringly into the deepest mysteries and suggested for our consideration possibilities that far exceed in profundity our sophisticated explanations. What does it profit us if we arrive at answers to the deep mysteries of the “how” of our origins and utterly fail to perceive the meaning and the purpose of it all?
