Julia M. OBrien

It's one thing to acknowledge that the book of Psalms is written as poetry.  It's quite another to consider what difference the poetic style makes to interpretation of the Psalms. What if we encountered Psalm 139's claim that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" not in private devotion or from the mouth of a lector in church but in a context more like that of def jam?  This great piece is Marty McConnell's "Instructions for a Body."

I am a grammar snob.  While I don't grade seminary students on the mechanics of writing, I do mark infelicities of English style and insist that communicating clearly is a matter of courtesy as well as a defense against being misunderstood.   "I don't know what you're thinking unless you can explain it to me"  has become my mantra.