Isaiah is the great prophet of tohu , formlessness. Of the 20 uses of the word in the Hebrew Bible, 11 are in Isaiah. Isaiah is the great prophet of the dissolution of form, and its re-establishment. Cities are cities of tohu (24:10). Nations are tohu before Yahweh, and so too are their princes and . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 24:7-8 consists of six clauses, each of which begins with a verb, most of them verbs of lamentation: “mourns the wine, languishes the vine, sighs all joyful-hearted ceases mirth of tabrets ends noise of rejoicers ceases joy of the harp.” The parallel clauses highlights the links . . . . Continue Reading »
The Hebrew verb lawah means “to join, to adhere.” It also means “to lend” and, confusingly, to “borrow.” James Barr will be upset with me, but I can’t help but wonder if ancient Hebrews viewed loans as a sort of glue that joins the borrower and lender. And . . . . Continue Reading »
There are problems all over the place in Panikkar’s Trinitarian theology, but there are some lovely, profound passages, like this: “A non-trinitarian God cannot ‘mingle’ much less unite himself with Man without destroying himself. He would have to remain aloof, isolated. No . . . . Continue Reading »
Why did Jesus refer to the Father as “my God”? Perhaps to head off reasoning such as this (Panikkar, The Trinity and the religious experience of man;: Icon-person-mystery ): “God is only God for the creature and with reference to it. God is not ‘God’ for himself. The . . . . Continue Reading »
A splendid Dostoevskyan passage from Bonhoeffer’s ethics speaks for itself. “The place where this recognition of guilt becomes real is the Church . . . .If my share in this is so small as to seem negligible, that still cannot set my mind at rest; for now it is not a matter of . . . . Continue Reading »
For a man in the disunited state of sin, each individual is a standard and criterion of good and truth. Thus, Bonhoeffer argues, the essence of fallen man is to be a judge. Obviously, this is a false judgment, since it does not arise out of union with God. Reversing common sense, Bonhoeffer says . . . . Continue Reading »
Bonhoeffer ( Ethics ) sees conscience as a manifestation of the “disunited” man after the fall. Instead of finding knowledge in union with God, conscience draws us to ourselves. We want to know the truth and the good by reference to ourselves as the origin. Conscience “derives the . . . . Continue Reading »
Sacrifices are a “memorial of sin” (Hebrews 10:3). Every morning and evening, Israel’s sins were memorialized before Yahweh, even as they were atoned for. Satan accuses “day and night” (Revelation 12:10). He is the accuser, and at every morning and evening sacrifice, . . . . Continue Reading »
Encouragingly, the Mercersberg revival continues apace. Phillip Ross has recently released a new edition of Nevin’s classic on Eucharistic theology, The True Mystery of The Mystical Presence . Ross has updated Nevin’s language and clarified his obscurities, trying to make Nevin speak in . . . . Continue Reading »
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