Here’s an intriguing etymology. The Hebrew word na’ah is used only three times in the Old Testament (Psalm 93:5; Song of Songs 1:10; Isaiah 52:7), meaning “to be beautiful.” It appears to come from navah , “to sit, to dwell.” It has the sense of “sitting . . . . Continue Reading »
Some reflections on how the Bible is practical at http://www.firstthings.com/ this morning. . . . . Continue Reading »
Summarizing the 16th-century Reformed formulations of Eucharistic theology, John Williamson Nevin ( The Mystical Presence: And the Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord’s Supper (Mercersburg Theology Study) , p. 51) says: “The sacrament is made to carry with it an objective force . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the most heartening developments in the Reformed world in the past two decades is the renewal of interest in the Mercersberg movement. And one of the most heartening developments within that development is Wipf & Stock’s plan to publish a multi-volume collection of Mercersberg . . . . Continue Reading »
Tournier ( Escape from Loneliness. , pp. 25-6) talks about the instability that results from religious conversions: “One woman, a soul eminently sensitive and deep, born a Catholic, was converted to Protestantism under influences which naturally I would not criticize. For her it was from an . . . . Continue Reading »
In his Escape from Loneliness. (pp. 22-3) , Paul Tournier laments the “tragic isolation of the elite” that he sees in the Swiss Protestant church. He writes, “I have rarely felt the modern man’s isolation more grippingly tha in a certain deaconness or a certain pastor. . . . . Continue Reading »
Phenomenology, especially in its Heideggerian variety, attempts to overcome the modern obsession with epistemology and return us to being, to ontology. What Heidegger in fact seems to do is overcome the divide between epistemology and ontology so that philosophy is both at the same time, but . . . . Continue Reading »
Hezekiah is named in the first verse of Isaiah, but then disappears for the first 35 chapters. He comes on stage in person in chapters 36-39, but then disappears again for the rest of the book. We often read Isaiah’s portrayal in the light of the portrayal in 2 Kings, but it is a helpful . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION When the Assyrians first threatened Hezekiah, he went to the temple to get tribute to pay the Assyrian king (2 Kings 18:13-16). When Sennacherib invades, Hezekiah again goes to the temple, this time to pray (Isaiah 37:1, 14-20). He is the only king in Judah’s history to use the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Rabshakeh’s second speech and the response to it (Isaiah 36:13-37:7) is structured chiastically: A. Hear! Thus says the great king Sennacherib, vv 13-14a B. Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, v 14b C. Don’t let Hezekiah make you trust Yahweh, v 15-16a D. Thus says the king of . . . . Continue Reading »
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