Starting Aug. 4: Odyssey Networks' ON Scripture Column
Odyssey Networks launches ON Scripture column in Huffington Post Religion and on Day1.org
Online resource will feature interpretations of scripture in light of current issues
It is said that in the 1960s, renowned theologian Karl Barth exhorted his colleagues to teach and preach "with the Bible in one hand, the newspaper in the other." Decades later, both the Bible and the newspaper are often read in digital form via tablets, smart phones or laptops, and inter-religious or faith-based concerns are commonly intertwined in discourse about the news of the day.
This week, in response, Odyssey Networks launches ON Scripture, an online column that features the nation's most profound and prolific preachers interpreting biblical passages in light of current events. The column will be updated weekly on several national media platforms, including Day1.org, odysseynetworks.org, and huffingtonpost.com/religion. Each week the column will take the scriptural text designated by the Revised Common Lectionary and provide critical, accessible theological commentary in view of pertinent current issues such as economics, social policies, and world events.
The column is designed to "help ordinary people see what preachers [and others] do when they read the Bible--how they move from words on the page to understanding how the Bible might speak to or be reflected in the real events of peoples' lives and their world," said Pastor Mary Brown, Editor of ON Scripture.
Odyssey Networks is an interfaith media organization that produces compelling, in-depth video stories about current and breaking news from the vantage points of a broad range of religions, faiths and spiritualities. Fittingly, there will often be a corresponding video that supplements the column. "Religion isn't separate from the stories that fill our day, it is right at the heart of them. That is why Odyssey Networks is excited to be providing this important and timely resource to pastors, congregations, theologians, and absolutely all news readers who are intrigued by the powerful intersections between faith and current events, religious texts and social discourse," said Nick Stuart, President and CEO of Odyssey Networks.
"ON Scripture offers laypeople, clergy, and even non-religious people a connecting point to explore stories of faith in action that are playing out and changing the world."
The ON Scripture creative team includes Mary Brown of Odyssey Networks, Matthew Skinner of Luther Seminary, Barbara Lundblad of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and Paul Raushenbush, Religion Editor of The Huffington Post. The Editorial Board includes, in addition, Eric Barreto of Luther Seminary, Greg Carey of Lancaster Theological Seminary, Stephanie Crowder of Belmont University, Eric Shafer of Odyssey Networks, Peter Wallace of Day1.org and Jenee Woodard of TextWeek.com.
The Bible-focused column launches August 4, 2011. Odyssey Networks has future hopes to expand the column to cover Jewish and Muslim scriptures.
About Odyssey Networks
Established in 1987, Odyssey Networks is a service of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Inc. It has over 100 denominational, organizational and individual members, representing Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Baha'i, Sikh, Buddhism, and Hinduism. For more information, visit www.odysseynetworks.org.