Matthew 5:13 is often disassociated from the Beatitudes, as nearly every Bible printed in the English language separates the contents of verses 1-12 from what follows. Yet, this consistent separation of the two passages impoverishes what Matthew’s gospel is communicating to us here. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by telling his disciples that in God’s upside down kingdom, the blessed ones are those that the world considers despised: the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, etc....

Here in Amos 8, we find that God is enraged at the growing disparity between rich and poor. We find a people who spend the entirety of...

The Gospel of John is a significant source of Christian pneumatology, our understanding of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises in John 14 and...