First Reading Rev. Rachel Wrenn, PhD; Rosy Kandathil, JD; Paul Essah, MDiv; Tim McNinch, PhD

Morning and Evening



Lectionary Date: June 16, 2024 [4th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]



Rachel soaks in the poetry of praise in the lectionary psalm for the week.



If you are ELCA affiliated, and interested in touring "The Best of Egypt" with Rachel Wrenn, take a look at the trip details here: https://www.eliastours.com/tours/best-of-egypt-tour-with-elias-nawawieh-for-clergy.



You might also enjoy the podcast series produced by Tim's students at Christian Theological Seminary! In solidarity with his students, Tim produced one of the episodes for the series (titled "Dining in the Dark").

Resist the Cursedness



Lectionary Date: June 9, 2024 [3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]



Tim McNinch leads our reflection on the classic Genesis story, highlighting its expansiveness and modern resonance.



Please check out the podcast series produced by Tim's students at Christian Theological Seminary! Today's episode (titled "Comfort Food") is produced by Francine Dash, who discusses Psalm 130 with our very own Rachel Wrenn!



If you are ELCA affiliated, and interested in touring "The Best of Egypt" with Rachel Wrenn, take a look at the trip details here: https://www.eliastours.com/tours/best-of-egypt-tour-with-elias-nawawieh-for-clergy.

Keeping the Word in the Air



Lectionary Date: June 2, 2024 [2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year B]



Rachel Wrenn is up with a reflection on the young Samuel's call narrative.



If you are interested in touring "The Best of Egypt" with Rachel Wrenn, take a look at the trip details here: https://www.eliastours.com/tours/best-of-egypt-tour-with-elias-nawawieh-for-clergy.

Tuning Into the Voice of God



Lectionary Date: May 26, 2024 [Trinity Sunday, Year B]



Rosy and Tim are back with an all-new episode on Isaiah's dramatic vision of God's holiness!

The "Best of" First Reading Easter Series





We hope you’ve enjoyed this Easter season “Best of" First Reading series. We’re rounding it out this week with one of our favorite conversations, this time with Dr. Ethan Schwartz, who teaches Hebrew Bible at Villanova University. Rachel and Tim enjoyed their deep dive with Dr. Schwartz so much that they invited him back for another episode—to date he is our only repeat guest! So here is a reprise of that first conversation, a discussion about the "Akedah," the "Binding of Isaac," in Genesis 22. We’ll be back next week with a new episode on the Old Testament Lectionary reading.



To chat about one of the most famous stories in all three of the Abrahamic faiths (the binding of Isaac), Rachel and Tim are joined by Dr. Ethan Schwartz. Ethan earned his PhD at Harvard University, where he studied how the Bible presents and formulates prophetic speech. He also studies how the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) came together and how the Hebrew Bible was interpreted in the first century, especially in early Christian communities and sectarian Jewish communities. Ethan is committed to bringing biblical studies into productive conversation with contemporary religious life—a great fit with our goals here at "First Reading"! To that end, he has shared his academic work in a number of synagogues, institutes, and churches. If you’re interested in more of his work, check out these great essays at theTorah.com: "Torah: Deuteronomy's Version of Wisdom for Israel" and "The Red Heifer in Synagogue: Purifying Israel from Sin," or his essay at MyJewishLearning.com: "Eshet Manoah: Mother of the Mighty Samson."

The "Best of" First Reading Easter Series





If you’ve been following First Reading during Easter season this year, then you know that we are using this time when the Lectionary draws from the Book of Acts as the first reading, to replay some of our favorite First Reading conversations with leading biblical scholars. This week, we want to share another personal favorite episode of ours, with one of our favorite people, the one and only Dr. Carol Newsom. Rachel, Rosy, and I all had the privilege of learning from Carol just before her retirement from teaching at Emory University. Poor Paul Essah missed that opportunity by choosing to do his doctoral degree at Yale—and we’ll never let him live it down! One of the giants of modern biblical scholarship, Carol recently retired from her post as the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament at Candler and a senior fellow at Emory's Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Carol came to Candler in 1980, only the second woman to hold a tenure-track position. In 2005, she became a C.H. Candler Professor, a university-based endowed chair. Her research focuses on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Wisdom tradition, the book of Daniel, and apocalyptic literature. She has written and edited 13 books and scores of articles, book chapters, translations, encyclopedia articles and reviews. She co-edited the acclaimed Women’s Bible Commentary, which explores the implications of and challenges long-held assumptions about the Bible’s portrayal of women and other marginalized groups. We also recommend her superb commentary on the book of Job, in the New Interpreter's Bible.