Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss reluctant prophets and God’s will in Jeremiah 1:4-10. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jeremiah: Prophet, Collaborator (Fourth Sunday after Epiphany)
Voiceover Voice:
This whole idea of the reluctant prophet, I feel, is such a— it’s a sham.
Helena Martin:
This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. I’m your host, Helena Martin. Welcome back.
Every week, ask two Yale Divinity School professors to talk about one of the readings appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary for the coming Sunday. We hope this is becoming a good ritual for you to start your sermon preparation for the week, or a helpful resource to spark ideas for your own reading of the text.
This episode, we have Sarah Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale and Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Director of the Center for Continuing Education.
They’re discussion Jeremiah 1:4-10, which is appointed for Sunday, January 30, the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. The text is read for you by student Eric Holland.
Eric Holland:
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
Sarah Drummond:
So, Joel, I’m curious, have you spent a lot of time with Jeremiah? And what are some things that a person who hasn’t, like me, needing to be mindful of as they look at this text?
Joel Baden:
I will admit that I don’t spend an enormous amount of time with Jeremiah, in part because—happy to sort of admit this—I hate Jeremiah.
I don’t even mean as a text. I mean, I actually think much of the writing is lovely as literature. I mean, like Jeremiah. I hate Jeremiah.
Sarah Drummond:
Just, as a dude.
Joel Baden:
Just the dude. Truly one of the two biblical characters that I dislike most. Eh, maybe it’s not rational.
I have to admit. I find Jeremiah to be enormously self-aggrandizing. Now many prophets are like— It’s one of the essence of prophecies is: I’m coming to tell you all something that you don’t know. So like, “I know better” has to be the common prophetic stance. It is today, right? Even with the people who we sort of agree with. If you want to say something that’s going to move people, you got to say, like, “I really know a thing, everyone.”
But I will admit: I read Jeremiah in maybe in the worst possible light. Which is to say, as a figure, I read him as sort of historically as a collaborator with the Babylonians. I mean, this is a guy whose entire prophetic career was built on saying, “Stop fighting them, just let them in. This is God’s punishment. Let them all come in and conquer us and do whatever they want.” And who, for saying that, was hated by his fellow Israelites and who was loved by the Babylonians.
Sarah Drummond:
Throw on a beret and a French accent, and we’ve got Henri Pétain.
Joel Baden:
I know. It’s Neville Chamberlain, it’s Vichy France. But it does read that way to me.
And I think it accounts for his biography, such as we have it—the part of his biography, which you know, he constantly is talking about how all the other prophets are prophesying fighting back and like, “We’re going to triumph.” And he’s not. He’s prophesying, like, “Let’s let them do whatever they want to us. That’s God’s will.”
We’re used to it because it’s in the Bible, but like… that would be a weird prophecy today, right? If we were to convert to contemporary politics, or contemporary international relationships. If someone declared war on us, the person who stood up and said, “Just like, let ‘em in, let ‘em have at us.” We would all be like, “No, we fight to the death!”
Sarah Drummond:
Right, because it’s easy for you to say, “Let ‘em in.” You’re going to benefit. You’re going to be fine. And you’re getting they’re getting all of the spoils that they’re getting at our expense.
Joel Baden:
Yeah, absolutely. Anyway, that’s all background to the fact that this opening passage, I think, is just another reason that I don’t like Jeremiah. Right? Like it just adds to the thing.
There are certain kinds of humility that prophets sort of put out there. Moses is like, “Who am I that I should be the one to do this? I don’t speak well. I’m a no one.” Isaiah, you know, also is like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m being spoken to by the deity. This is shocking.” That’s a common thing. Amos is like, “I’m not a prophet. Like, I just got called. I have to say the thing.”
Jeremiah’s story is like, “God chose me. Before I was even conceived, I was going to be a prophet to the nations.” And it’s almost this one-upsmanship of like, “I am superior. I’m superior not only to all of you current prophets out there. I’m superior to—”
You know, Jeremiah knows the standard call stories. He knows the story of Moses and the call. He probably knows the story of Isaiah and his call. And he’s like, “Nah. Called in a bush in the wilderness! Are you kidding? I was called in the womb.”
Sarah Drummond:
So, he’s the guy at the prophet support group that everybody else in the prophet support group just finds incredibly annoying. Because they’re letting their guard down and saying, “I don’t know why I was chosen. I got nothing.” And our dear Jeremiah is saying, “I don’t understand why you feel that way.”
Joel Baden:
Yeah. Like, “I’ve always—”
Sarah Drummond:
“I’m so sorry for you that you’re so insecure.”
Joel Baden:
“I’ve always known that this was when I was going to do. And who I was going to…” Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
He’s also the person who’s like, “Oh, you’re listening to them? Yeah. I liked them before they released their first album.”
Sarah Drummond:
[laughs] It’s show-offy.
Joel Baden:
Right. But he also is the one who is voicing God speaking to him as a child. We don’t want to read Jeremiah as, like… true. Right? What we read about Jeremiah’s presentation of his call is Jeremiah’s presentation of his call. It’s not like we have this omniscient narrator saying, “When Jeremiah was but a boy, the word of the Lord came to him and said:”
Sarah Drummond:
It’s interesting, Joel. Is it significant that he— when Jeremiah quotes God using God’s voice in a first-person sense. Is that unusual?
Joel Baden:
It’s not super unusual. It’s just something that we often lose sight of. Right?
We read people saying, “God said to me.” We read people’s voicings of God—because they’re in the Bible, because they’re prophets—as authentic. Or at least, we remove the layer of the person speaking is the one who’s telling us this from it. There’s a certain amount of trust.
Whereas today, if you came to me and said, “Now, Joel, the word of the Lord came to me and said this,” I’d be like, “Well, Sarah, I have some questions about that.” Like, I’m going to interrogate—
Sarah Drummond:
What did you have for dinner?
Joel Baden:
Right. I’m going to interrogate why you would be saying that, or what advantage it is to you, or what that tells me about the way that you’re presenting yourself to me.
We don’t do that very often, especially with the prophets. We think of them as essentially content-free mouthpieces for the deity. But again, part of this is because I feel this way about Jeremiah so specifically. With Jeremiah, I can’t get around the fact that it’s Jeremiah who is telling me the thing. So when Jeremiah says, “God said to me: ‘Today, I appoint you over nations and kingdoms.’” I’m like, “Come on, man. Like, that’s you.” Right? Like, I see Jeremiah in that more than I see God. Do you know what I mean?
Sarah Drummond:
This sounds like iron era posturing. The person who has to recite their resume before they make a comment, usually it’s because their comment isn’t particularly valid or helpful.
And in this case, what you’re helping me to understand a little bit more broadly is my general concern about modern-day religious leaders claiming this… kind of claiming their role in a succession of reluctant prophets. This whole idea of the reluctant prophet I feel is such a— it’s a sham. Oldest trick in the book. And when people choose texts like these as ordination passages, it makes my skin crawl.
Now, there’s a whole lot behind skin crawling around ordination passages. So, there really aren’t that many passages that, say, one of our YDS graduates can choose for their ordination that I couldn’t find some reason why it wasn’t a great choice.
But in the theology of ordination in the tradition I come from, the United Church of Christ, we understand the call to ministry to be in part mystical and in part practical. Mystical in that something’s going on that God is asking you to do that’s beyond our ken and requires of us a journey. And there’s the practical dimension of: Are you good at this? Do people actually want you to do this? Is there a job that includes dental that you could get while doing this? And those two, the practical and the mystical, have to be in dialogue with each other, in tension with each other.
When ministers say, “I had no choice. I had no free will. God put this in my DNA when I was a zygote in my mother’s womb.” They’re asking for trouble. Because what they’re saying is that “None of this is about me, really. And if you don’t like what I say, talk to God about it. Because it’s God who’s working through me.”
I feel like the appointment of this kind of passage at an ordination is putting you up for election as the most likely to commit an act of pastoral misconduct. Most likely to not understand that we all have a calling, folks. And those who are called to prophesy have to be called to prophesy in all humility, in a practical and tangible world, where people are vulnerable and at risk and looking like crazy for easy answers.
Joel Baden:
And surely also to recognize that you can feel as called as you like. You can’t separate yourself from the message, right? The voicing of God’s will is coming through you, not as an empty vessel. You were a full vessel to begin with.
That’s actually why Jeremiah’s thing about “it was in the womb” is so, on the one hand effective, and on the other hand appalling, right? It makes it sound like, you know, “I was in the womb. There was no ‘me’ there. There was no ‘me’ to fill that vessel. Everything I got has been… Since I was a little kid, I’ve just been doing this.”
But when we’re talking about people who are called to ministry as adults, who are going through that process as an adult, they’re coming with a whole world of identity and existence and experience. When they are speaking, they’re not speaking in this unadulterated way for the deity. And Jeremiah isn’t either. He’s just trying to make the case… He’s trying to evacuate his prophecy of himself. But that’s not… you can’t do that.
Sarah Drummond:
You can’t do that ethically.
Helena Martin:
Thanks for listening! Please take a few minutes to subscribe to the podcast and to share it with a friend who might find it useful. For more about Chapter, Verse, and Season, or for more Bible study resources in general, visit YaleBibleStudy.org.
Chapter, Verse, and Season is produced by Joel Baden, Kelly Morrissey, and me, Helena Martin. Production help is by Crichelle Brice, and our theme music is by Calvin Linderman. Thanks to the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. And thank you to Dean Drummond and Professor Baden for joining us this week.
We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.
Book of the Bible:
Jeremiah
Guests
Text
New Revised Standard Version Bible
Copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits
Host and Executive Producer: Helena Martin
Production Manager: Kelly Morrissey
Creator and Managing Editor: Joel Baden
Assistant Producer: Aidan Stoddart
Music: Calvin Linderman
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Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hospitality, laughter, and the complexity of Sarah as a character in Genesis 18:1-15. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, doubt, shame, and mystic union in Romans 4:13-25. The text is appointed for the second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss rest, reveling, and revelation in Genesis 1:1–2:4a The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss diversity, reversal, and the power of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-21 and John 20:19-23. The text is appointed for the Day of Pentecost in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss righteousness, liberation, and vulnerability in Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss suffering, meaning, and unjust power structures in 1 Peter 3:13-22. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss prophecy, interfaith reading, and incarnation in John 14:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss paradox, poetry, and life beyond death in Psalm 23. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss divine encounter and human conversation in Luke 24:13-35. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss interfaith perspectives on the story of Easter in conversation with John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss power, peace and healing in Acts 10:34-43. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the problem of suffering, the impact of loss, and the resilience of human nature in Job 14:1-14 and 1 Peter 4:1-8. The text is appointed for Holy Saturday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christology, glory, and exclusion in John 18:1–19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss sacrificial practice, identity markers, and imagined history in Exodus 12:1-14. The text is appointed for Maundy Thursday in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss crucifixion, suffering, obedience, and solidarity in Philippians 2:5-11. The text is appointed for the Liturgy of the Passion (Palm Sunday), in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss miracles, healing, and grief in John 11:1-45. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the role of Joseph, the divine potential of dreams, and membership in the Holy Family in Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss life in the wilderness for the Israelites, being tested and testing God in Exodus 17:1-7. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessing, migration, and the inspiring legacy of Abraham across religious traditions in Genesis 12:1-4a. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss seduction, curiosity, craftiness, and misogyny in Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss leadership, inherited stories, and transfiguring moments in Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9. The texts are appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Almeda Wright and Kate Ott discuss pedagogy, mixed metaphors, ageism, and spiritual growth in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss hypocrisy, reward systems, righteousness, and religious performance in Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12). The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss blessedness, poverty, consolation, and the dangers of transactional theology in Matthew 5:1-12. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joanne Jennings and Bill Goettler discuss living with both faith and fear in Psalm 27:1, 4-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the story of John the Baptist, a wild and perhaps uncertain character, in John 1:29-42. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Messianism, prophetic gentleness, and hermeneutical approaches in Isaiah 42:1-9. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after the Epiphany, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Vasileios Marinis and Volker Leppin discuss human nature, sovereignty over creation, and preacherly responsibility with reference to Psalm 8. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss the spirit of children, the multiplicity of interpretation, and pastoral responsibility at Christmas, with reference to Luke 2:1-14 (15-20). The text is appointed for Christmas Eve in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Christian and Muslim interpretations of the Nativty of Jesus, with special reference to Matthew 1:18-25. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss patience, endurance of suffering, and the challenges of family conflict in James 5:7-10. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the imagined future of the glorious kingdom in Isaiah 11:1-10 and Romans 15:4-13. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent, in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
AndrewMcGowan and Ned Parker discuss the holiness of divine absence and the anticipation of things to come in Matthew 24:36-44. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss colonial narratives, indigenous theology, and the downsides of going to a “Promised Land” in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The text is appointed for Thanksgiving Day (USA), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss Hebrew vocabulary, shepherd imagery, and the legacy of King David in Jeremiah 23:1-6. The text is appointed for the Feast of Christ the King (Proper 29), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss eschatology, aspiration, and ancient Near Eastern curse formulations in Isaiah 65:17-25. The text is appointed for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss poverty, apocalyptic imagery, and economic justice in reference to Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Luke 6:20-31. The text is appointed for All Saints’ Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Greg Sterling discuss redemption, the proper use of wealth, and the strange company Jesus keeps in Luke 19:1-10. The text is appointed for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss shame, redemption, and rehabilitation in Joel 2:23-32. The text is appointed for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 25, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss punishment, free will, and the dangers of metaphor in Jeremiah 31:27-34. The text is appointed for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss joy, salvation history, and chicken guts in Psalm 66:1-12. The text is appointed for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 23, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss trauma, hope, and poetic Hebrew in Lamentations 1:1-6 and 3:19-26. The text is appointed for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss faith, ritual performance, and divine blessing in Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16. The text is appointed for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Justin Crisp and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss capitalism, shrewdness, and the logic of parables in Luke 16:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20), in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss the undoing of creation, fidelity, and false prophets in Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28. The text is appointed for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss precarity, God as creator and destroyer, and the potter metaphor in Jeremiah 18:1-11. The text is appointed for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss humility, reversing the status quo, speaking truth to power in Sirach 10:12-18. The text is appointed for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Christian Wiman and Jacqueline Vayntrub discuss justice, prayer and action, and getting God's attention in Isaiah 58:9b-14. The text is appointed for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss faith heroes through history, triumphant faith, and the role of sin in Hebrews 11:29-12:2. The text is appointed for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Greg Sterling and Harry Attridge discuss women in early Christian communities, eschatology, and faith as a matter of the heart in Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16. The text is appointed for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 14, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss possession, wealth, and covetousness in Luke 12:13-21. The text is appointed for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss bargaining, God and Abraham's new relationship, and the righteous of Sodom and Gamorrah in Genesis 18:20-32. The text is appointed for Track 2 on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss Mary and Martha, extroversion, and authenticity in Luke 10:38-42. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss poverty, God's expectations, and our responsibilities to one another in Psalm 82. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss kings, skin diseases, and prophetic power in 2 Kings 5:1-14. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss prophetic leadership, sudden loss, and mentorship in 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss gender identity, ethnic dynamics, and changes of the heart in Galatians 3:23-29. The text is appointed for Proper 7, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss joy, multiculturalism, and feminine language in Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. The text is appointed for Trinity Sunday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Volker Leppin and Vasileios Marinis discuss signs and wonders, Hebrew Bible connections, the promise of salvation, and more in Acts 2:1-21. The text is appointed for Pentecost, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss love-songs, community, and connection in reference to John 17:20-26. The text is appointed for the Feast of the Ascension, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloë Starr discuss social justice, human failure, and heavenly hope in Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss poetic structure, creation language, and the mechanics of praise in Psalm 148. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss whiteness, danger, and comfort in Revelation 7:9-17. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and Gregory Sterling discuss Resurrection encounters and calls to action in Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Mark Heim and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss doubt, trauma, and the value of “Doubting Thomas” in John 20:19-31. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Easter, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harry Attridge and John Hare discuss faith, uncertainty, and the power of emotion in John 20:1-18. The text is appointed for Easter Day, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss the construction of stories, Christian supersessionism, and the legacy of Christian storytelling in relation to Genesis 22:1-18. The text is appointed for the Easter Vigil, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judy Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss the innocence of Jesus, divine kingship, and more in John 18:1-19:42. The text is appointed for Good Friday, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
John Collins and Jennifer Herdt discuss enslavement imagery, Passover liberation, and models of service in Exodus 12:1-14 and John 13:1-17. The texts are appointed for Maundy Thursday, in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Andrew McGowan and Ned Parker discuss community, sacrament, and suffering in Luke 22:14-23:56. The text is appointed for the Palm Sunday, the Liturgy of the Passion, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Tisa Wenger and Joel Baden discuss divine violence, colonialism, and the notion of “wilderness” in Isaiah 43:16-21. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Yejide Peters Pietersen and Bill Goettler discuss reconciliation, spiritual role-models, and what it means to “become the righteousness of God” with reference to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. The text is appointed for the 4th Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Judith Gundry and Adam Eitel discuss repentance, leniency, and divine warnings in Luke 13:1-9. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Eric Reymond discuss inheritance, offspring, and the promises of God in Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday in Lent, in Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Harold Attridge and John Hare discuss the possibility of being in relationship with God in Romans 10:8b-13. The text is appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, March 6, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the healing and transforming power of God in Luke 9:28-43. The text is appointed for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss forgiveness and the sibling dynamics at work in Genesis 45:3-11,15. The text is appointed for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss Jesus’ blessings and warnings in Luke 6:17-26. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Sunday, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Jacqueline Vayntrub and Christian Wiman discuss the difference between verse and prose in Isaiah 6:1-13. The text is appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Erika Helgen and Chloe Starr discuss the church universal and love as the basis for the exercise of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss recognizing God in the midst of community and the diversity of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss the power of God in Psalm 29. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Awet Andemicael and Adam Eitel discuss the mystery, language and lyricism in John 1:1-18. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Gregory Sterling and Harold Attridge discuss the humanity of young Jesus and the role of Mary as mother in Luke 2:41-52. The text is appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sarah Drummond and Joel Baden discuss birth, kingship and signs of God’s redemption in Isaiah 9:2-7. The text is appointed for Christmas (Proper 1), December 24, Years A, B, and C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Felicity Harley-McGowan and Bruce Gordon discuss the Magnificat and our understanding of Mary through the ages in relation to Luke 1:46b-55. The text is appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Advent 4), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Sarah Drummond discuss hope, apathy, and why the context of prophecy matters in Zephaniah 3:14-20. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent 3), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Peter Hawkins and Eric Reymond discuss disaster and hope, glory, and reversal in Baruch 5:1-9. The text is appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent 2), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Joel Baden and Tisa Wenger discuss messianic prophecy, timelessness, and historic context in Jeremiah 33:14-16. The text is appointed for the First Sunday of Advent (Advent 1), Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Chapter, Verse, and Season gives listeners the opportunity to overhear the kinds of conversations that take place in the halls of Yale Divinity School. Each week, professors from different theological disciplines chat about biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. They bring their own interests to the table and hopefully spark new insights into the scripture appointed for each Sunday.