On Day 3, Yahweh gathers the sea and dry land appears. But the language of Genesis 1:9-10 concerning the “gathering” of seas is odd. IN verse 9, the verb most frequently means “wait” or “look for” (Genesis 49:18; Job 3:9; Psalm 25:3, 5, 21; 27:14; 37:9, 34; etc.). The noun form “gathering together” in verse 10 sometimes means a “gathering” of material, whether water or yarn. But it is also used to mean “hope” or “expect” (Ezra 10:2; Jeremiah 14:8;... Read more
We must support our ally Egypt, the cry goes up. ” I stand ready to assist President Obama in the pursuit of a policy that defends our invaluable ally; and advances Egyptians’ inalienable, peaceful aspirations,” says an email message from Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan. And I’m reminded of reports on Voice of the Martyrs , like this one from November 2010: “Egyptian Christians fear for their safety as false allegations, violent threats and mass demonstrations pile up against the... Read more
John tells us that his last book is an “unveiling” of Jesus Christ. But only a few verses later, there is Jesus in all His glory, unveiled. Short book. But then the book goes on for another 20 chapters, after Jesus has been unveiled. Maybe the unveiling is an unveiling of what the unveiled Jesus is going to do. That’s true, but that doesn’t, I think, get to the heart of things. Revelation climaxes not in the unveiling of the... Read more
Romans 2:5 warns the wicked that by their stubbornness and impenitence, they are treasuring up wrath for the day of wrath and apocalypse of God’s judgment. That “apocalypse” is important. An apocalypse is an advent, but more importantly an unveiling. It discloses what has been the case. Judgment day is not so much (or not only) God’s making-right of everything, but the disclosure of His making-right. The Judge of the earth does right, always and everywhere and in everything. He... Read more
We are what we will be. We are what the Father will make of us in His Son and by His Spirit. So too the creation is what it will be. Biblical ontology is an ontology of promise. That is: a) Being is conferred from outside; b) being is temporal/eschatological; c) being is personally gifted. Read more
Muir again: “Images . . . ate up pious resources that could better be spent in assisting the poor, whom Zwingli described as the true ‘image’ of God. The hope of reformers such as Zwingli was that the assets devoted to paying for religious images, endowing perpetual masses, and supplying the ritual props of the liturgy could be transformed into ‘food of the poor.’ The true pious work of the Christian shifted from fulfilling certain ritual duties to fulfilling charitable... Read more
The Spanish brought Christian rituals to the Indians, and teh Indians taught Christians a thing or two as well. Columbus discovered that the Indians fasted and abstained from sex before searching for gold, and Columbus imposed the same purification rites on his men. Indians adopted Christians rituals, sometimes with horrifying consequences. Edward Muir writes, “Mayas adapted the Christian cross so readily because Maya culture already had a symbol similar to teh Christian cross . . . . The most remarkable... Read more
Say what you will about the medievals, they had the courage of their convictions. The Son of God became man? Well, then, he had to become man from head to toe, and have a penis like other men. Edward Muir ( Ritual in Early Modern Europe (New Approaches to European History) ) writes: “in fifteenth-century Italy thoroughly Christian artists made visual allusions to Christ’s phallus, showing that the god-man had all the attributes of other men. In many paintings the... Read more
Say what you will about the medievals, they had the courage of their convictions. The Son of God became man? Well, then, he had to become man from head to toe, and have a penis like other men. Edward Muir ( Ritual in Early Modern Europe (New Approaches to European History) ) writes: “in fifteenth-century Italy thoroughly Christian artists made visual allusions to Christ’s phallus, showing that the god-man had all the attributes of other men. In many paintings the... Read more
Darwin writes in Descent of Man of a “pair of land-snails . . . one of which was weakly, [placed by a Mr. Lonsdale] into a small and ill-provided garden. After a short time the strong and healthy individual disappeared, and was traced by its track of slime over a wall into an adjoining well-stocked garden. Mr. Lonsdale concluded that it had deserted its sickly mate; but, after an absence of twenty-four hours, it returned, and apparently communicated the result... Read more
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