Christopher Page observes ( The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years ) that the European-wide diffusion of plainsong created created for monks and clergy “a means to record contingent events so that they would be perceived, wherever the account was read, not just in terms . . . . Continue Reading »
A TLS reviewer says this about musical meaning: “The meaning of music is inexpressible because excessive, and it is excessive because music, like the world at large, eloquently affirms that it is, beyond any question of meaning.” And add, “By becoming descriptive, music seems to . . . . Continue Reading »
Exodus 20:8: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We live in a world of total labor. All time and space is valued by its use, its productivity, its function. There is no place that, in principle, withdrawn from productive use. There is no time “set aside from working hours and days, . . . . Continue Reading »
1 Corinthians 3:9-10a: We are god’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. Paul sees himself as a builder of God’s house, equipped . . . . Continue Reading »
Sabbath-keeping is more than just putting aside our work one day in seven. It is a way of life. Even that is too narrow. Sabbath is a way of being human, a way of being human together. God commands us to be a Sabbatical people. That sounds grand, but what does it mean? It’s easiest to begin . . . . Continue Reading »
In his 1995 Foreordained Failure: The Quest for a Constitutional Principle of Religious Freedom , Steven Smith challenges the notion that there is a single ideal of religious liberty and argues that any quest for such an ideal principle is doomed to failure. Religious freedom comes in various . . . . Continue Reading »
The first song of the heavenly choir is sung by the four living creatures (Revelation 4:8). They sing not of creation or redemption, but of God Himself. The song is an intricate knot of intersecting structures. There is, first, a simple chiasm: A. Triple “holy” B. Three titles: Lord, . . . . Continue Reading »
John is caught up to the heavenly temple (Revelation 4), and it’s not surprising that he sees a “sea” in front of God’s throne. The sea is a recognizable peace of temple furniture. Further, the sea corresponds to the “waters above” that were caught up above the . . . . Continue Reading »
In his classic Leisure the Basis of Culture , Josef Pieper notes that Kant considered knowledge ot be “discursive” rather than “receptive and contemplative.” Against romantics like Jacobi, he insisted that “the law is that reason acquires its possessions through . . . . Continue Reading »
Davis convincingly argues that the scene in Revelation 4-5 is a meeting of the divine council, prophet present, to deliberate and pass judgment. What’s the issue before the court? Davis cites this explanation from Adele Yabro Collins: “In the context of the Apocalypse as a whole, it is . . . . Continue Reading »
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