“It is I; do not be afraid.”

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, approaching the boat in which they were rowing toward Capernaum, they were terrified. But Jesus said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid” (John 6:20).

When you received this post by email or read it in your reader, you may ask yourself: “Who is this guy who is blogging today?”

The words of Jesus to his disciples can provide the most adequate answer to your question: “It is I; do not be afraid.”

After more than a month without posting to my blog, I return to blogging, committed to continue from where I left off. I want to assure you that I have not run out of ideas for my posts. Far from it. The Old Testament has an unlimited source of topics that will require a lifetime of blogging before I can run out of ideas.

The reasons for my absence from blogging are many. One of them was the heavy load I carried this past academic year. This year I taught several overloads, supervised one doctoral thesis, and participated in the work of several committees. The work was overwhelming and did not allow me any extra time to blog.

Second, during the month of May I was highly involved in doing research for a paper that will be published in the near future as a chapter of a book dealing with the theology of prayer in the Hebrew Bible. My paper dealt with prayers in the book of Chronicles. I presented the paper at the 2012 Scholar’s Conference, which was held in Nashville at Lipscomb University. In the next few days I will post a brief summary of my paper.

The third reason for my absence from blogging was my preparation for my upcoming sabbatical. During the Spring quarter I prepared my sabbatical proposal which was submitted and approved by the Board of Trustees of the seminary. I will be on sabbatical from July to the end of December. During my leave from the seminary, I am planning to finish my sabbatical project which will culminate with the preparation of a book which I hope will be published in 2013.

I would like to welcome you back to my blog. I hope my writing will stimulate your love for the Old Testament and will encourage you to dialogue with my posts.

Have a nice summer.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary