“If Ioudaios is translated as ‘Jew,’ this means a Jew is being contrasted with the Gentiles. If it is translated as ‘Judean,’ the primary contrast is with the Galileans—although it could also be in contrast with other groups as well: Samaritans, say. The parallel is not exact, but we do something similar with the word ‘Yank’ or ‘Yankee.’ It can mean New Englander as opposed to other Americans, or it can mean Americans over against the rest of the world.

American Milk and Honey, pp. 69-70

“With trembling fear and a boldness that matches,
I dare hold Your name to all terms of Your covenant
And ask You to rise and to bare Your right arm.
But Father, I ask it would turn out to be
Your left arm instead, surprising us all.”

21 Prayers, p. 4

“Some Jewish groups would be as far away from Christianity as the Sufi Muslims would be, and are kind of out there, while others have inched back toward the Christian center, and are just Unitarians with yarmulkes.”

American Milk and Honey, p. 66

“I ask that the dragnet of Your holy kingdom
Would sweep through our towns, hauling everything in—
Good fish and bad fish, beer bottles and weeds.”

21 Prayers, p. 3

“After the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, all they had left were their erroneous traditions. This is why modern Judaism is best considered a heresy of the Old Testament faith, and not a representation of it. To be a Christian is to maintain that the fulfillment of the Old Testament is in the Christ of the New Testament, and not in rabbinic Judaism.”

American Milk and Honey, pp. 64-65

“He was killed, though the coming and faith one,
He died on a stake, a gibbeted Christ.
Distorted and bent on a twisted cross,
And by left-handed dealings, by subtle turns,
He turned all pious and correct expectations
Up on their heads; He tumbled them down.”

21 Prayers, pp. 1-2