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 »
The story of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem turns on hearing - who hears what and what do they do in response. The issue gets raised initially by the delegation from Hezekiah that meets with the Rabshakeh at the conduit of the upper pool. When the Rabshakeh speaks to them in street Hebrew, . . . . Continue Reading »
My son Christian writes poetry and other things at http://pushlings.com/ . Take a look. . . . . Continue Reading »
In Isaiah 22, Yahweh threatens the house steward (the word is based on sakan , to dwell with or befriend) Shebna, warning him that he will be removed from his place, rolled like a ball, and thrown out into the countryside. He is replaced by Eliakim ben Hilkiah, who is given a tunic and key as a . . . . Continue Reading »
As I noted in a post a year and a half ago, Isaiah and the Rabshakeh stand in the same place, “by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field” (Isaiah 7:3; 36:2). The phrase resonates with promises of protection and blessing: “Pool” is berekah , . . . . Continue Reading »
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