William J Wright

History repeats itself. That is particularly true in the book of Genesis, a book of beginnings which moves from a dark, cold, watery hopelessness through inspiring highs and incredible lows toward faith in the God who is ever-present and active in the affairs of the men and women of the selected stories that comprise Genesis. This book explores those ups and downs and demonstrates a pattern that allows us to discern God's love and care despite our disobedience and failure. We also explore why, despite commands to fill the earth and become nations, Adam (after the fratricide), Abraham, and Isaac only had two children, and examine possible lessons these examples offer.

Matthew chose not to write his Gospel in chronological order. Why? How does his presentation of the Gospel differ from the other three? I show that Matthew organized his book into fourteen chiasms, explain how chiasms work, and describe the advantages that Matthew afforded the careful reader. The contrasts and comparisons of the vertical and horizontal aspects of the chiasms provide the reader with new insights into the events of Jesus' earthly ministry, and examining the peaks of the chiasms provides a ready summary of the author's key events--some of which are surprising and take careful thought to see why he stresses them over more familiar events. The chiastic structure aides in memorization due to its ordered pairs and, because they can span multiple chapters in one unit, allow for a view of the whole story at once. The result is a better understanding of the emotions of the disciples and the man on the street at a time when everything they had known was changing daily. Reading Matthew's Gospel the way it was written allows the reader a more complete understanding of its message.

Matthew chose not to write his Gospel in chronological order. Why? How does his presentation of the Gospel differ from the other three? I show that Matthew organized his book into fourteen chiasms, explain how chiasms work, and describe the advantages that Matthew afforded the careful reader. The contrasts and comparisons of the vertical and horizontal aspects of the chiasms provide the reader with new insights into the events of Jesus' earthly ministry, and examining the peaks of the chiasms provides a ready summary of the author's key events--some of which are surprising and take careful thought to see why he stresses them over more familiar events. The chiastic structure aides in memorization due to its ordered pairs and, because they can span multiple chapters in one unit, allow for a view of the whole story at once. The result is a better understanding of the emotions of the disciples and the man on the street at a time when everything they had known was changing daily. Reading Matthew's Gospel the way it was written allows the reader a more complete understanding of its message.

The concept of God's two kingdoms was foundational to Luther and subsequent Lutheran theology. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, that concept has been understood primarily as a political concept. But is a political reading of the two kingdoms a perversion of Luther's teaching? Leading Reformation scholar William Wright contends that those who read Luther politically and see in Luther a compartmentalized approach to Christian life are misreading the Reformer. Wright reassesses the original breadth of Luther's theology of the two kingdoms and the cultural contexts from which it emerged. He argues that Luther's two-kingdom worldview was not a justification for living irresponsibly on planet earth.