Grant poses some challenging questions for those who argue that technology is neutral in the sense that it does not impose on us how it should be used. He points to the automobile: Weren’t we free to use it in any old way, or refuse? Grant finds that kind of naivete delusional, and . . . . Continue Reading »
George Grant argued that “Modern technology is not simply an extension of human making through the power of a perfected science, but a new account of what it is to know and to make in which both activities are changed by their co-penetration. We hide the difficulty of thinking that novelty, . . . . Continue Reading »
John describes the Father as the “I am” but gives that Hebrew name a twist (Revelation 1:3). God is not the timelessly present One, but the one who is now and always, but who also was and who will be. In John’s rendering, “Yahweh” encompasses and identifies Himself . . . . Continue Reading »
In a revealing article tracing the Domitianic date of Revelation back to JB Lightfoot (who, ironically, agreed with the 19th-century consensus that the book was written before 70), Christian Wilson notes that confidence in a date in the 90s increased after the first generation of English . . . . Continue Reading »
Adela Yabro Collins ( Biblical Research , 1981) notes that the identification of Rome as “Babylon” was not the only or the most obvious identification available to John. It appears in Jewish writing in 4 Ezra, the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, and the fifth book of the Sibylline Oracles. . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 2000 article in CBQ , Francois Bovon applies French literary critical studies of autobiography to the self-presentation of John in Revealtion. He points out that John’s self-identification in Revelation 1:9-10 tells us nothing about John’s distant past, age, education, or future. . . . . Continue Reading »
In an older article in CBQ , Elisabeth Fiorenza argues from Revelation 1:5f and 5:9f that “the author of the Apoc conceives of redemption and salvation in political-social categories and that he underlines the significance of the eschatological reservation for the sake of preventing salvation . . . . Continue Reading »
James Jordan points out that John gives seven titles to God in Revelation 1:4. There is a Trinitarian structure: “He who . . . Jesus Christ . . . seven Spirits.” That Trinitarian structure, though, unfolds in seven names, three for the Father, one for the Spirit, three for Jesus: 1. He . . . . Continue Reading »
We miss some of the radical force of Peter’s declaration in Acts 10:28 if we don’t keep OT distinctions of holiness and purity in mind. They are not the same category. Holiness is the opposite of common, pure the opposite of impure or unclean. One can be pure without being holy; . . . . Continue Reading »
When Peter speaks to the men from Cornelius, he reminds them that for Jews it is unlawful to “join” or “come to” men from any other nation. Both verbs are significant. “Join” can have a political sense; to join a community is to become a polites , citizen, of . . . . Continue Reading »
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