Peter Green writes to offer this further reflection on venomous wine: “The word for ‘serpent’ or ‘dragon’ in Deut 32 is also in Is 27:1—the Song of the Vineyard, Redux. YHWH slays the dragon who produces dragon wine, and then his vineyard is able to ‘fill the whole world with fruit’ (27:6).” Read more
In Against Christianity , I made the bold, unsupported, impressionistic claim that theologians are persnickety types who avoid talking about things the Bible talks about: hair, blood, sweat, entrails, menstruation and genital emissions. Matt Jepsen was looking for something a bit more factual, and checked several theologians to see if my criticism hold up. His final results are here , results that I for one take as vindication. Read more
In an article recently published in the Phoenix Law Review , my oldest son, Woelke, explores how the Supreme Court has deployed what William Cavanaugh has called The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict . The Court first mentioned the “myth” in Everson v. Board of Education, and since then Everson has been cited several times in support of the notion that religion promotes violence. In the landmark Lemon v. Kurtzman, Woelke writes, “Chief... Read more
In the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), Moses says that the vine of Israel grew from a cutting from Sodom’s vine, from the vineyard of Gomorrah. Such vines produce only bitter fruit or worse – venom from dragons ( tanniyn ; vv. 32-33). The image is picked up in Isaiah, who complains about the worthless grapes produced by the vineyard of Jerusalem (5:1-7). Not coincidentally, Isaiah has earlier charged that Jerusalem has become Sodom (1:9-10; 3:9). The wine of Jerusalem’s... Read more
Yahweh promises to give the land to Abram, but not yet: “for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete (Heb. shalem )” (Genesis 15:16). When their iniquity settles in, when it lives peacefully in the land without opposition or disturbance, then the time is ripe for God to act. As long as iniquity is not at peace, there is still a chance for repentance. Even ten righteous men can turn a city around. This is in Genesis 15.... Read more
It’s one of the most famous passages in Schweitzer’s The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede , perhaps the most famous in all New Testament studies : “The son of man lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and He throws Himself upon it. Then it does turn;... Read more
Two afternoon readings converge nicely. Why does love remain? asks Jacob Taubes ( The Political Theology of Paul (Cultural Memory in the Present) ). Why do we need love when we’re perfect? Because for Paul God’s power is perfected in weakness. “We are not as the Gnostics see us,” he adds, “each perfect for himself – but rather in our need we are together in the body of Christ” (56). And that need, Karol Wojtyla ( Love and Responsibility )... Read more
Augustine ( Answer to Faustus, a Manichean: (Works of Saint Augustine) , 12.31) observes that Joshua’s name was not “thoughtlessly” given to him at birth. Rather, he was first called “Hoshea,” and his name was changed to Joshua/Jesus to make it clear that he was a foreshadowing of a later Joshua/Jesus. Augustine calls Faustus’s attention to the analogies between the two: “Let him see the grapes of the land of promise hanging from the tree. Let him see in Jericho,... Read more
Yahweh tell Ezekiel that he is a singer or a musician who entertains Judah with his sensual song. His song seduces them to listen, but they won’t do what Ezekiel tells them to do (Ezekiel 33:32-33). John and Jesus are also singing prophets, though their tunes are different. John sings a dirge, Jesus plays a flute for dancing (Matthew 11:17). All prophets are musicians. But hearing a prophet isn’t enough. Appreciating a prophet isn’t enough. When a prophet sings or... Read more
The first part of a Lenten meditation on John’s Passion narrative by Pastor Jeff Meyers at the Trinity House site. Read more
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