We all know that the days of the week take their names from classical or Germanic gods. But why the order? The order of the week is not the order of the planets in the sky, which is, as we find in Dante: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The order of days starts in the middle, and . . . . Continue Reading »
A few comments on the physiology, psychology, and culture of aroma from Diane Ackerman’s A Natural History of the Senses . Like many writers, Ackerman links smell and memory: “Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary, and fleeting, yet conjure up a . . . . Continue Reading »
How do prophets harden and deafen the deaf? Perhaps it works like this: Prophets speak in extremes. Prophets shout. Prophets “draw large and startling figures” (Flannery O’Connor). Yet nothing happens. They keep shouting and drawing. Still nothing happens. They shout louder, their . . . . Continue Reading »
We do not see Jesus. How do we know He is present? Smell and hearing are the senses of presence-in-absence, the senses that enable us to know the presence of what we do not see. Protestants know all about hearing Jesus. The fragrance of Christ is an undeveloped area of Christology. Smell is a . . . . Continue Reading »
Following up some suggestions by Toby Sumpter on Isaiah 24:2, which lists six pairs of social/religious classes that will be caught up in the devastation that is coming. There’s a sociology assumed and manifested in the verse. The six pairs are organized into three groups, with a 1 + 2 + 3 . . . . Continue Reading »
Oil is an extremely important part of the biblical world in a number of ways. Oil is a food. Oil is used for cooking. Oil is placed on grain offerings that are baked or fried before being offered to Yahweh (Leviticus 2), and the bread on the table of showbread is baked with oil (Exodus 29:2). . . . . Continue Reading »
When Panikkar writes, “neither the name Father nor the name God is the proper name of the Absolute. They are simply the names by which we designate him . . . . independently of us, in himself and for himself, what is He? Ultimately such a question does not even make sense . . . . God’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah’s vision of the procession of nations to Jerusalem includes this beautiful image: “Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like the doves to their windows” (Isaiah 60:8). A cloud - Yahweh’s glory, which is the nations. A cloud coming to a house, consecrating it. A . . . . Continue Reading »
The last five words of Isaiah 24:16 are all from the same root, bagad , which means “to deal treacherously.” The Hebrew sounds something like this: bogdim bagadu ubeged bogdim bagadu , and might be translated like this: “traitors do treachery and treachery traitors do . . . . Continue Reading »
After the desolation of the city, Isaiah holds out the hope that there will be a remnant left, pictured as the gleanings of olives and grapes (Isaiah 24:13). The following verse suddenly uses third person plural verbs: “they raise voices, they shout, they cry.” The only evident . . . . Continue Reading »
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