Dr Paul Allen

If I asked you to name a woman in the Bible, who would come to mind? How many could you name? Countless sermons have been preached about Esther and Ruth. We’ve scrutinized the woman at the well’s encounter with Jesus and celebrated Rahab’s strategic participation in the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land.  Throughout Scripture, women have faithfully proclaimed the gospel, offered their time and expertise, ministered to the marginalized, and actively contributed to the life and growth of their communities and the church. What richness can we gain by studying the influence of women like Lydia and Priscilla, Miriam and Deborah, Anna and Phoebe? Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is an example of trusting through obedience -Luke 1:38 Mary, the mother of Jesus, plays an important role in God’s plan of redemption throughout the Gospels and is even depicted briefly in Acts during Pentecost (1:14). The Gospel writers consistently portray Mary as exemplifying faithful obedience and submission...

Paul the Deacon Historia Langobardorum (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Historians owe a lot to Paul the Deacon . Born into a noble Lombard family, Paul was given the best possible education for that largely unschooled day. He became a monk and used his learning to record the history and myths of his people, the Lombards . His book was one of the first German histories authored by a German, although even then it was written in Latin, the language of scholarship. Since most of its sources have vanished, our knowledge would be poorer without it. It was copied and recopied into the fifteenth century. Early in his life, Paul's skill as a writer caused a duchess to ask him to expand Eutropius' History of Rome. Paul added six books to it and this was widely copied during the Middle Ages. Later his pen may have helped win the release of his brother, who was held captive for his part in an uprising. Paul wrote an elegy to mollify Charlemagne's anger. When this did not seem to work...