Table of Contents
Preface vii
I "In The Beginning Was The Word": Word of God and Words of Men 1
1 The Word or the Silence? 1
2 A God Who Speaks 2
3 Created in the Image of God because Gifted with Speech 4
4 No Foul Language 8
5 Listen, O God! 10
II "Jesus Began to Preach": The Word of God in the Life of Christ 13
1 Preaching in the Life of Christ 13
2 The Preaching of Christ Continues in the Church 15
3 The Word, a Sacrament that is Audible 17
4 The Liturgy of the Word 20
III "We Preach Christ Jesus The Lord": The Word of God in the Mission of the Church 24
1 From Jesus Who Preaches to Jesus Who is Preached About 24
2 The "Third Search" 25
3 Rabbi Neusner and Benedict XVI 28
4 Jesus, the Son 30
5 The Great Turning Point 35
6 The New Prophecy of John the Baptist 37
IV "Announcing the Gospel in the Holy Spirit": The Holy Spirit, the Power of the Announcement 40
1 Dabar and Ruach: Word and Spirit 40
2 The Means: Prayer 43
3 To Speak with Humility 46
4 Speaking out of Love 49
V "Of Every Careless Word...": Speaking "as if with Words of God" 53
1 "Careless" Words and "Effective" Words 53
2 The False Prophets 55
3 "Jesus Did not Come to Tell us Fairy Tales" 57
4 Speaking as if with Words of God 59
VI "Welcome The Word": The Word of God, Path to Personal Sanctification 64
1 Lectio Divina 64
2 Welcoming the Word 66
3 Contemplating the Word 68
4 Doing the Word 75
VII "The Letter Brings Death, The Spirit Gives Life": The Spiritual Reading of the Bible 78
1 Scripture Divinely Inspired 78
2 Biblical Docetism and Ebionism 81
3 The Spirit Gives Life 86
4 What the Spirit Says to the Church 89
5 The Spirit that Blows from All Corners 92
Notes 95