Pursuing Veritas

Reflections by Jacob J. Prahlow
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  • Book Review: Show Me Your Glory (Idestrom)

    This book review recently appeared in JETS 67.1. My thanks for the editorial team at JETS for providing a review copy. Show Me Your Glory: The Glory of God in the Old Testament. By Rebecca G.S. Idestrom. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2023, xviii + 326 pp., $44.00 paper. When Indiana Jones encounters two U.S. Army Intelligence…

  • On Poetry

    Most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry. They have a life to live. We’re not that concerned with T.S. Eliot’s poems or Ada Limon‘s poems or anyone’s poems. Until your father dies. Or someone you went to school with has a heart attack. Or you lose a child. Or you have…

  • Come and See

    Imagine Mary’s eyes, red from crying over the Sabbath. Watch as she wipes at them, emotionally exhausted and yet feeling something beyond pain. They had taken Him. They had murdered Him! And now, His broken body was just past this stone they had rolled into place to keep her away. Imagine those tear-filled eyes widening…

  • The Inadequacy of Silver Bullets

    sil· ver bul· let (noun): “a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.” Everywhere you look, people advocate for silver bullet solutions to life’s problems. Want to lose weight? We’ve got a drug that will make that happen. Struggling with your energy? Try this supplement. Kid having a hard time with school? Just…

  • Books Most Responsible

    Some time ago, a friend of mine shared a list of her “books most responsible” for who she is and how she thinks, and I found myself wondering which books might appear on my list. I’ve read many books (and have many, many more that I want to read), some of which have undoubtedly shaped…

  • The Difficulty is the Point

    “The difficulty is the point…. Sometimes we need the difficulty to get us to slow down and look at ourselves.” James K.A. Smith (How to Inhabit Time, xv) Right now, parenting has me at something of an impasse. One of my children (who will remain nameless) is struggling to routinely accomplish a normal, everyday task.…

  • A Splash of Social Media

    There are many ills associated with social media. And most days, I’m more than willing to reflect on how we’ve collectively decided to destroy civilization and our mental health in one fell swoop. But I was recently reminded of one positive part of social media: lasting relationships. One of my favorite baseball writers, Michael Baumann,…

  • The Practices of Lent

    “Our savior knew pain and grief and despair, and so do we. Easter is coming, yes. But for now, we sit in the ashes of our broken dreams and broken hearts, knowing that God sits here with us.” –Kate Bowler, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day Last week at our church’s Ash Wednesday service, we began…

  • A Prayer of Penitence

    The Vehu Rahum God is merciful. He pardons iniquity and does not destroy. He suppresses wrath and averts punishment. Lord, do not withhold pity from us. Your mercy and faithfulness have always shielded us. Save us, O Lord our God, and unite us, that we may give thanks to Your glory, and triumph in praising…

  • January 2024 Biblical Studies Carnival

    The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. It began with the forging of the Great Biblioblogs. Three were given to the Old Testament academics, immortal, wisest and…