11 Come, children, and listen to me; * I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 Who among you loves life * and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

13 Keep your tongue from evil-speaking * and your lips from lying words.

14 Turn from evil and do good*

As Wycliffe College Chaplain, I spend a lot of time creating lists. I consider doing so a critical part of any pastoral practice.

I believe our alphabet reflects one of the most significant inventions of all time. Without it, it would take years for me to learn the hundreds of pictographic signs that would be necessary to write this blog and for you to be able to read it. 

On this day the Lord has acted. We will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)

I am in the middle of reading St. Benedict’s Rule with my 30 students in the first year MDiv course at Wycliffe called, “Life Together: Living the Christian Faith in Community.” We have come to the fun part of this portion of the class.

As a scholar of ancient Hebrew, I have spent decades puzzling about how best to translate the first two verses of the Bible into English. Finally, I have settled on the following:

On Friday, March 13, 2020—just before the University sent out its directive moving all classes online—several students said to me over the course of the day, “I’ve never been through something like this.” The current global pandemic is unprecedented in the experience of almost everyone living.

"What is the best Bible translation?"

As a biblical scholar, I am asked this question more than any other.

"What is the best Bible translation?"

As a biblical scholar, I am asked this question more than any other.

The process of developing a sermon by drawing meaning out of a biblical text (also known as exegesis) does not have to be complicated.

I remember a Wycliffe student of several years ago who organized her life so she could be both a student and parent and spouse. She was the mother of two elementary school-aged boys.

“[Wycliffe] College has balanced change with tradition, the building itself reminding faculty, trustees and students alike that they did not start Wycliffe, that each new generation stands on the shoulders of all who have been there before, that to become part of the College is to be received

Two years ago, my husband, Ephraim, and I were proud parents at our son’s graduation from university. The afternoon before the graduation ceremony there was a baccalaureate service in the chapel of his school. Seating was limited; each graduate could only invite a few people.

My family and I live in a Victorian house in downtown Toronto. One of the things that drew us to buy this old home was the entrance, which consists of two nicely sculpted wooden doors with stained glass panels that make up the upper half of each door.

Christians familiar with liturgical traditions will know that we are in the season of Epiphany, a period that focuses on Bible passages that disclose the fact that Jesus was divine.

Shaun Christopher Brown will go down in the history books as Wycliffe College’s first successful conjoint PhD graduate in Theological Studies.

Witthaya Phuttharaksa is a PhD student at Wycliffe College, Toronto and a Langham Scholar. Now entering his second year of New Testament studies, his eventual goal is to help strengthen the Church in his homeland of Thailand.
 

In the wake of the mass killing in Toronto yesterday, journalists are - like all of us - struggling to make sense of the senseless. Most Canadians reacted to the news of yesterday’s tragic events with shock, disbelief, horror.

It began with self-deprecation but quickly moved to raw anguish.