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| Thursday March 17th 2005 |
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[2:25 am]
Lord willing, this is the last post on the Upsaid rabbisaul blog. Tonight I installed b2evolution over at rabbisaul.com, and it seems to work well. It's a ready-made solution, so it was quick; however, it is fully customizable, so when I have more time I will try to make it match the rest of rabbisaul.com a bit better than it currently does. (Plus, I need to add links etc.)
I'm not sure yet what's going to happen to my archives. I'm not sure if I'll be able to import them. I have my Upsaid account paid into November; perhaps after that my old posts will die a quiet death.
It may take me a while to update my own links - I've got them channelling into my blog from all over the place - but I invite you to update yours at your earliest convenience. |
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| Wednesday March 16th 2005 |
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[7:09 pm]
Pop quiz
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Jesus rides a donkey's colt. Without looking up anything, what is the colt intended to be set in contrast to, and what does the contrast symbolize? |
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| [4:10 pm]
A plague on your house
Peter Leithart notes the connection between 1 Kings 6.1 (the building of the temple commenced in the 480th year after Israel came up out of Egypt) and Solomon's plea (in his prayer for the temple's dedication) in 1 Kg 8.37-40 that God would turn away famine and plagues from Israel whenever they turned to Him in faith and repentance.
It seems to me that there is an additional thought here. This is the prayer for the dedication of the temple, and thus stands as the completion of the temple story which began in 1 Samuel 24. There, David sinned by commanding a census of Israel, and Yahweh sent a pestilence (plague). This plague ended when the angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The result was that it was there that David made sacrifice and prepared for the building of the temple. Put another way, the temple site was the location where the plague stopped.
Thus, it seems to me that Solomon is praying for that to be a pattern. When Israel is judged via plagues, she is to turn again to Yahweh who dwells in this place and look for the same withholding of judgment. Note, not least, the final words of 1 Sam 24: "Thus Yahweh was moved by entreaty for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel." That's what Solomon is asking for. |
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| Tuesday March 15th 2005 |
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[5:55 pm]
Mac user emeritus
I said goodbye to my iBook today. Bidding closed on eBay last night, the buyer made payment this morning, and I shipped it out this afternoon. It was nice while I had it - especially for my copious notes at the Auburn Avenue conference - but the tax man dictates what I can afford to keep. Perhaps someday I'll try again; quite aside from being a good conference tool, it's nice to have a Mac to test on when I'm building web sites. But I think I'm getting too old to use a 12" screen. Next time, at least 14", but I'd prefer 17". |
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| [2:17 pm]
On hagiography
... it is better to speak of the "Life of the Fathers" rather than the "Lives of the Fathers," the more so since there is a diversity of merits and virtues among them, but the one life of the body sustains them all in this world.
- Gregory of Tours, quoted by James Kushiner in Touchstone |
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| [2:46 am]
Lifeway Pregnancy Services
Sometimes, if you can't afford to give one way, you can give another. I'm donating my web design services to this ministry which is in the process of hitting stride in northern Montana. Here's a peek at the look I've developed so far. (Just one test page - no links go anywhere.) Opinions welcome.
BTW, if you're not using Internet Explorer, you may find extra goodies.... |
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| Sunday March 13th 2005 |
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[9:15 pm]
Blog... AOL IM privacy rules etc
If you've been trying to access the blog lately, you probably won't be surprised to hear that I'm not expecting to last my current renewal year with Upsaid (I renewed in November). I know that $20/year is not much, but there's really no need to pay it when I can host it myself (which I plan on doing at rabbisaul.com). I'm kind of waiting for my friend Matt Winckler to finish his Red Book blog technology, but he says it's not ready for public release yet. Looks like a fine system. (Meanwhile, of course, I still have my backup/subsidiary blog at Xanga.)
Meanwhile, is this article about AOL's new IM privacy rules seriously legit? It looks mind-boggling to me.... sounds like another good reason to avoid AOL. |
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| Friday March 11th 2005 |
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[4:47 pm]
Good news
I received very good news today. Got my U.S. income tax done at the accountant and discovered that I owe just over half of what I expected to owe. That's a big relief.
Now, here's hoping that the Canadian government won't take too much more.... |
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| Wednesday March 09th 2005 |
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[9:19 pm]
Fishers of men
After 2000 years of Christian mission, not surprisingly the way we hear this phrase is affected. But it is interesting and instructive to reflect upon what Simon and Andrew themselves "heard" when Jesus said He was going to make them "fishers of men" (Mk 1.17).
The language in the Old Testament is generally associated with judgment. See, for example, Jeremiah 16.16: "Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says the LORD, and they shall fish them, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." (See also Ezek 29.4ff; 38.4; Amos 4.2; Hab 1.14-17.)
This judgment theme is present in Jesus' fishing parable: Matthew 13.47-50:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Both good and bad are caught in the fishnet of the ultimate judgment, and that is true of the preliminary fishing expeditions that lead up to it (which would include the apostolic preaching). Even for those who respond to preaching in faith, it is an instrument of death to them; it just happens that with that death comes resurrection. But to preach with results that curse, while not the desired outcome - nonetheless, that is still fishing men. (Cf Paul's comments in 2 Cor 2 about being a savour of life to some and of death to others.) |
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| [5:40 pm]
The international list grows
As of today, the list of "international" churches represented at paedocommunion.com has grown by one (to three countries, one church apiece): the Netherlands. The church in question was perhaps the first Reformed paedo-practicing congregation in the country; I'm told they started administering the Supper to covenant children in the early 1960s. |
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| [5:07 pm]
Any AOL users out there?
If so, I need you to check if you can see pactumgroup.com, or if you get some sort of "server could not be found" error. If the latter, I'll have another favour to ask. I'm trying to track why someone could not see my site, and it seems to be an AOL-related problem. |
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| Tuesday March 08th 2005 |
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[2:04 pm]
Seeking your opinion on clarity
Is this too "dense" for a sermonic description?
The word catholic is an old term that means universal. Well, then, why don't we just say universal and be done with the old term? Well, one reason we use the old term is precisely because we are catholic - it's a term that belongs to the whole Church of all ages, and our embrace of the word is itself an act of catholicity!
(I will then go on to talk about catholicity in terms of an embrace of the Church's past.) |
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| Monday March 07th 2005 |
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[11:26 pm]
Going....
So now that I'm selling my iBook (which I bought last fall), only now do I notice that it has a combo drive (CD-RW/DVD). All this time, and I was assuming that it just had a CD player. It's an even nicer machine than I thought. Oh, well. Someday I'll own a Mac laptop again.
I suppose it's the familiar "don't know what you've got until it's (almost) gone...." |
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| [8:58 pm]
Mileage calculator?
Working on preparing my tax-related info for the accountants. Anybody out there know of a good on-line mileage calculator (town to town)? |
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| Saturday March 05th 2005 |
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[11:08 pm]
Paedocommunion project
It's been a while since I've done any labour in this area (other than recreating the paedocommunion.com web site). But now I'm back in think mode with the subject.
About a year ago, Gregg Strawbridge approached me to write a chapter for a collection of essays on the subject. It's a similar model to the book on infant baptism which he edited for P&R, The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism, with a variety of contributors. (My fellows include folk such as Robert Rayburn Jr, James Jordan, Jeffrey Meyers, R. C. Sproul Jr etc.)
I got the details this week. Deadline comes fast: April 15. So I started on it tonight. You can pray that the Lord would give me grace to write clearly, biblically, and persuasively. |
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| [7:50 pm]
Pop songs are good for something
Here's the latest from my good friend Jamie Soles, maker of music:
[To be sung to the tune of "Cecilia", by Simon & Garfunkel.]
Sisera
Sisera, I'm breaking your head
My tent peg is filling your temple
Oh Sisera, I'm up on my feet
You're sinking and falling down dead
Here he comes in the afternoon
Into my tent, I will make him room (here he comes)
He wants water, I give him milk
But when he goes off to bed
Then his head will be filled
Sisera, I'm breaking your head
My tent peg is filling your temple
Oh Sisera, I'm up on my feet
You're sinking and falling down dead
Out the window his mother looks
For Sisera; how very long he took! (Why so long?)
Do they not divide the spoil?
A womb or two for each man
And some clothing embroidered...
Sisera, I'm breaking your head
My tent peg is filling your temple
Oh Sisera, I'm up on my feet
You're sinking and falling down dead
Jubilation! It's freedom again!
He's pinned to the floor and I'm laughing!
Jubilation! It's freedom again!
He's pinned to the floor and I'm laughing!
Sisera, I'm breaking your head
My tent peg is filling your temple
Oh Sisera, I'm up on my feet
You're sinking and falling down dead
A sure-fire classic. :) |
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| Friday March 04th 2005 |
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[2:19 pm]
Or not...
Didn't get to classis. Just felt too ill this a.m. I handed some items to the elder, sent him on his way, and went off to bed for a few more hours. Which I am about to do again, trying to shake whatever this is I've got. It seems like the past two months I haven't managed to get in more than 2-3 days in a row without suffering some sort of flu symptoms. (Actually, not quite - I felt great pretty much the whole time I was in Kansas City. Maybe it's this healthy Montana air. I need smog.) |
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| Thursday March 03rd 2005 |
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[5:07 pm]
Still here...
The original plan was to head off for classis today, but one of the elders couldn't get away until tomorrow a.m., so I will travel with him. Which works out well - the week is rather short, and this gives me an extra evening to prepare for Sunday.
Now if only I can shake this flu or whatever it is that is making me feel icky.... |
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| Wednesday March 02nd 2005 |
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[6:19 pm]
How to determine when the notion of "the spirituality of the Church" is understood properly, or if it is a crutch:
... if "the Church is spiritual" implies: "and therefore of no political (or fill in the blank) significance," the notion is an attack upon the Lordship of Christ.
... if "the Church is spiritual" implies: "and therefore has the power of the Spirit and the authority of the Lord of heaven and earth," then we're on the right track.
Jesus is Lord, and therefore Caesar isn't. And just as "Repent and believe the gospel of the kingdom" was a political message for 1st century Jews, it remains a political message in 21st century America. Even as it was a challenge both to oppressed Jews who desired to engage in revolution, as well as a challenge to omnipotent Rome, which engaged in the oppression and sought worship, so the gospel remains a challenge to both oppressed and oppressor today. Our task is to determine, not if the gospel speaks to such circumstances, but precisely how we are to apply it to those circumstances. |
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| Tuesday March 01st 2005 |
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[6:13 pm]
Here's the proof that I am not a nerd (despite people's claims)
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| [3:28 pm]
Jesus as Elijah
Yes, I am back from a week of vacation in Kansas City, where I visited my former pastor (Bill DeJong) and his family (Kim, Calvin, Alex, Jacob, and Ian), hit some bookstores, kindled and rekindled some friendships, and preached twice on Sunday. It was a pleasant and refreshing time, but as usual, vacation means coming back to a stack of work. (In this case, classis this week.)
Anyway, that's not what this post is about....
That Jesus fulfills the role of Elisha, while John fulfills the role of Elijah, is quite common-place, but we must not overlook the fact that Elisha himself "takes up" Elijah's role and fills it out. Thus Jesus in fact comes in John's place, and in Elijah's.
Farrer notes the link between Mark 1.12-20 and 1 Kings 19. Elijah was 40 days in the wilderness and returned to Israel, and immediately cast his mantle upon Elisha while the latter was working for his father. This was, effectively, a call, as Elisha himself recognized.
What is interesting to me, as well, is that at the same time he was called to anoint Elisha, Elijah was also instructed to anoint Hazael as king of Syria. (This in fact was carried out by Elisha rather than Elijah [see 2 Kg 8.7ff], which again reminds us of Elisha's "Elijah role.") This leads to the question of whether we should get a premonition from Mark 1 - Hazael's role would be to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel, as Elisha indicates when he anoints him. Does this suggest that when Jesus echoes 1 Kg 19 in this passage, there is also a warning of impending judgment at the hands of the Romans?
Another element in 1 Kg 19 that I'm not sure what to do with is the corresponding requirement that Elijah anoint Jehu. (Here again, the task was not carried out by Elijah, but by someone that Elisha sent; see 2 Kg 9.1ff.) Perhaps there is some connection to the NT events, but I haven't yet seen it. |
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| Saturday February 26th 2005 |
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[12:44 pm]
Richard Hays lectures
On Thursday and Friday, I attended two sessions by Richard Hays at the Nazarene Theological Seminary here in Kansas City. Hays, author of Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, The Moral Vision of the New Testament, and The Faith of Jesus Christ, as well as a number of commentaries, spoke on the Evangelists' use of the Old Testament.
Session one
The first session was called "Can the Gospels Teach Us How to Read the Old Testament?" I actually missed half of this session, because we had been provided with an incorrect time. Most of the material I missed was introductory, thankfully - "Description of the Problem" and the statement of the thesis ("the Gospels teach us how to read the OT, and - at the same time - the OT teaches us how to read the Gospels").
(1) The remainder of the first lecture was then taken up with specific passages demonstrating both sides of the thesis.
Under "How does the OT teach us to read the Gospels," Hays referred to two Marcan texts: the prophetic action in the temple (Mk 11.15-19) and its surrounding events, and the walking on the sea. I missed much of the discussion of the former of these, but Hays referenced Isaiah 56.7, Jeremiah 7.3-11, 8.13. With regard to the latter, Hays drew attention to the verbal reminiscences between Mk 6.45-52 and Job 9.8-11, which says that the Lord alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea (LXX: "and walks upon the sea as upon dry ground"). Hays notes that Mark's comment that Jesus wished to pass the disciples by has proven enigmatic to interpreters - but Job 9.11 says, "Look, He passes by me, and I do not see Him; He moves on [LXX: "he passes me by"], but I do not perceive Him." Hays argues that this passage itself is built upon Exodus 33-34, where God "passes by" Moses, so that Moses can see "the back" of Yahweh's glory. In other words, the specific language that Mark uses implies the theophanic character of Jesus' water-walking action: only God walks upon the sea as upon dry ground, and when He passes by He gives a glimpse of His divine glory. Thus, the OT teaches us how to read the Gospels.
If the OT teaches us how to read the Gospels, what will that look like? Hays sets forth four items in particular:
1. The Old Testament teaches us to take seriously God's Word of judgment. Jesus is not merely "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." He does not defuse the OT judgment theme, but rather repeats and re-enacts it.
2. Our prayer and action should always be oriented toward Isaiah's vision of new creation.
3. God is both all-powerful and mysterious. There is a time for silence in God's holy presence; here Hays notes the missing element of silence in usual worship settings today.
4. Jesus is somehow identified with the God of Israel.
(2) If the OT teaches us how to read the Gospels, the converse is also true. Here Hays focuses upon Luke 24.13-35, particularly Luke's comment in 24.26 that Christ is revealed "in all the Scriptures." This is thematic; Hays suggests that one needs to read the apostolic preaching of Acts to see how it works out. Hays notes further, however, that despite the great Scripture lesson in which Christ engaged with Cleopas and his companion, the moment of recognition only came with the breaking of bread. Scripture's significance is not gained solely through explanatory words such as lectures or sermons provide, but with the shared community enacted in meals.
In connection with that Emmaus Road story, Hays notes that the passage describes both Jesus opening the Scriptures to the hearers, as well as their eyes being opened: both text and reader must be "opened."
Hays draws several conclusions regarding how the Gospels might teach us to read the OT:
1. Read the OT for figuration. The literal sense is not negated, but becomes the vehicle for figuration, typology.
2. The whole story of Israel builds to its narrative climax in Jesus (particularly in Luke; Hays takes Matthew to be largely doing something else).
3. The figurative disclosive reading taught by the Gospels occurs rightly in a community of table fellowship.
Hays goes on to speak of how integral the OT is to the Gospel's witness about Jesus. The Emmaus encounter demonstrates that even the resurrection itself remains mute apart from the OT story of Israel. (Note that the two travellers had been told of the empty tomb but they were not integrating that witness with the OT story, and so it was meaningless to them.) Here Hays aptly draws in Jesus' statement in Luke 16: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they listen if One rises from the dead. The resurrection becomes coherent only when understood as part of a larger narrative.
Session two
Friday's session was entitled "Through the Eyes of the Evangelists: The Art of Reading Scripture." Here Hays moves a bit further toward a generalization of the lessons learned earlier.
(1) In his introduction, Hays focused upon "recovering the art." He began by pointing to a non-scriptural example of intertextual reading: a portion of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land which draws from/echoes (Hays argued) St Augustine's Confessions. Hays notes that this intertextual reading is not mathematically demonstrable in some way; Eliot does not directly quote. And yet the verbal echo and contextual themes ought to make a sensitive reader convinced.
This all points to the artistic character of interpretation. Interpreting Scripture is an art. This is both bad news and good. The bad news is that it is difficult to do well. No one expects to pick up a violin on the spur of the moment and play brilliantly, but for some reason, we expect to do something similar with the Bible.
The good news about the artistic character of interpretation, however, is that the art of biblical interpretation carries within it the potential for creating something beautiful. Hays goes so far as to suggest that readings of Scripture ought to be judged by the standards of beauty. He also draws attention to the all-too-pervasive tendency of biblical commentaries to be ugly and boring.
Art is about imagination; we are to imitate God in our interpretation. God is the original Imaginer, if we think of imagination as the capacity to envision something that does not yet exist. Our minds and imaginations must be opened up by the Evangelists' testimonies in order to read Scripture aright. Hays notes that plenty of people talk about the inspiration and authority of the Bible, but place a straightjacket upon it. He argues that fundamentalism is the other side of the same modernist coin as the tendency it opposes. Both fundamentalism and post-Enlightenment liberalism presuppose that the text can only have one single literal sense.
Hays follows through on his communal insights from Thursday by noting that art is learned through apprenticeship. If we wish to interpret Scripture well, we must return to the old masters and sit at their feet; we must learn from those who have gone before us and embodied the beauty of Scripture.
(2) Hays then moves on to give a brief overview of "The four Evangelists as readers of Scripture."
Mark, Hays suggests, delights in veiled, indirect allusion. He shows relatively little interest in Scripture as a collection of predictions about the Messiah; rather he focuses upon the OT's symbolic relationship to Christ. This is something that Eastern Orthodoxy has recognized: the hymn for the Feast of St Mark calls the Evangelist "herald of the heavenly mystagogue." Hays notes further that Mark reads Scripture in a "relentlessly Christological fashion," and stresses the cost of discipleship, while also highlighting Isaiah's "new exodus" theme.
Matthew is more concerned to explain fully and clearly. "Fulfillment" is the coming true of the prophetic traditions, but it is also the narrative reenactment of the stories of Israel. Jesus reconfigures both Israel and Torah. Matthew is not only calling for radical obedience, but also focusing upon how the Scriptures teach God's mercy (noting the use of Hosea in Mt 9 and 12). Matthew tends to focus on "halakah," but it is now reconfigured around Jesus.
Luke focuses upon promise (as opposed to prediction) and fulfillment. The Old Testament is a treasury of promises; thus Jesus' story is about the faithfulness of Israel's God. The right response to Scripture is joy. Luke highlights the continuity of the biblical story, and how it continues in the ekklesia through the Spirit - with the corollary that those who refuse to listen to Jesus will be cut off from the people of God.
For John, the OT is a vast web of symbols which must be read as allegorical signifiers for Jesus. This is true particularly of the temple and the feasts of Israel's worship. The OT narrative becomes a figurative matrix. And this all works because Jesus is Himself the Logos; His being is the blueprint of all reality.
Hays notes that the four Gospels' inclusion together in the canon reflects the Church's judgment that they are complementary. Hays does not dispute that, but he does suggest that the Church at a given time must discern where her emphasis will lie. Hays's own tentative assessment is that he has some difficulty with appropriating the approaches of Matthew and John; Mark's approach is fitting in a postmodern context where direct speech about God is often a problematic exercise. Hays suggests, however, that Luke provides the stronger foundation for the long haul. (To some degree, I understand Hays's thought that it is hard to replicate all of the approaches represented by the Evangelists. However, I don't share his nervousness with Matthew and John, and I also believe that each approach provides the Church with necessary balance in terms of her handling of Scripture.)
(3) In his concluding section, Hays goes on to speak of "Reading Scripture through the eyes of the Evangelists." This entails seven matters:
1. God is the primary agent of the biblical story. (Hays says that in his first semester with new students, he likes to drill into them the notion: "It's about God, stupid!" Contra much "biblical scholarship," Scripture is not merely human reflections upon the divine.)
2. Scripture tells a unified story, from creation to the eschaton.
3. In the words of Hays's colleague David Steinmetz, the Bible must be read both "from front to back" and "from back to front." Neither "end" can be understood apart from the other.
4. Scripture has multipled complex senses, given by God - and some come into focus only retrospectively.
5. We are summoned to a "conversion of the imagination." We must learn not to be literalistic and unimaginative. (Hays recounts the story of a student of Brevard Childs who was labouring hard and long on everything, and only getting B's. Finally, he went to Childs and asked what it took to get an A. Reportedly Childs said: "Become a more interesting person.")
6. The story is open-ended, unfinished. Hays cites the endings of the Gospels and Acts, which are characterized by lack of "closure." Thus the readers are invited into an ongoing process.
7. Scripture is rightly read in communities of prayer, service, and witness - in other words: not from a position of supposed "objective neutrality." Such a position is doomed to sterility and misunderstanding.
Hays also notes what is requisite to all of this. We must get to know the texts "by heart," in its most extensive sense. Only immersion in the Scriptures made it possible for the Evangelists to write as they did; and likewise, only such immersion in the Scriptures will enable us to understand them. It was due to that immersion that the Evangelists were able to re-narrate the story of Jesus for the contexts which they addressed; we too have that same goal of re-narrating Jesus' story to our contexts, and therefore require a similar immersion.
These lectures are an early form of Hays's next book - apparently a Gospels version of his Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. There is every indication that this book will be more than worthwhile! |
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