Theologians in speaking of God can speak of his transcendence and his immanence. The idea that God is transcendent refers to his otherness, his removal from creation; it refers to ideas like a creator-creature distinction or God as outside the universe. God’s immanence on the other hand refers to his nearness, his participation in some sense of all things in creation. The Bible famously portrays God using both these sorts of paradigms, even at the very beginning. Creation as described in Genesis 1 has the tone of transcendence–God speaks and creation comes into being. Creation as described in Genesis 2 has the tone of immanence–God plants a garden and sculpts man from the dust. Many theological errors can spring from a lack of balance between these two ideas.
Continue reading “Transcendence, Immanence, Theodicy, and Satire”Category: Isaiah
Divine Recognition of the Beauty of Secular Work
Continue reading “Divine Recognition of the Beauty of Secular Work”Who has counseled this against Tyre who crowns?
Isaiah 23:8–9
Whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honored ones of the land?
YHWH of Hosts has counseled this to profane the majesty of all beauty,1
To curse all the honored ones of the land.
Biblical Studies Ruins Everything
Biblical studies refers to the academic study of the literature of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament. For those of you who did not know because of my long inopportune hiatus from writing this blog, I am now at Claremont School of Theology pursuing a PhD in Hebrew Bible (so, a biblical studies degree). I have a daughter who is six months old. Many things have changed. Many things have remained the same.
One of those things that has definitely remained the same is regularly finding myself in situations in which preachers overstay their welcome by speaking of things they know not of. Unfortunately they do not usually know what they don’t know. In my younger years I tended to mostly experience this on issues of science. In college and seminary I began to notice it sometimes regarding history. In these areas it is easy to extend grace; after all, who has time to specialize in everything? The preacher must specialize in the Bible.
But of course, I specialize in the Bible too. And there’s the rub; hearing preachers err regarding the Bible or languages behind it is a frequent occurrence. Biblical studies ruins everything when listening to preachers speak of what they know not of. Here are some examples.
Continue reading “Biblical Studies Ruins Everything”Why Young Christians Should Read Isaiah
Since the very beginning of this blog, I’ve advocated that perhaps the common emphasis I see on having new believers read the New Testament is less than ideal. The argument I’ve heard is that the New Testament explains the basic theology that new Christians need. My response has always been two-fold. First, the New Testament is incredibly dependent on the Old Testament. Since the same God wrote both, the requisite theology for understanding the God of the New Testament is developed in the Old Testament. As a pastor recently tweeted:
Continue reading “Why Young Christians Should Read Isaiah”No One Snatches from My Hand: Jesus’ Reference to Isaiah 43:13
From the very beginning of this blog, I have stressed the importance of Christian’s knowing their Old Testament well. The Old Testament, after all, forms 78% of the Bible by word count. Indeed, many Bible scholars have estimated that somewhere around 10% of the New Testament is quotations or allusions to the Old Testament.1 Because of this, many of the confusing or mysterious points in the New Testament can actually be understood (or when clear, understood more fully) in the context of the Old Testament. One example that many Christians would probably never expect is Jesus’ statement that no one can snatch from his Father’s hand in John 10:29.
Continue reading “No One Snatches from My Hand: Jesus’ Reference to Isaiah 43:13”You Should Witness to Yourself
Normally when Christians think of the idea of witnessing, they think of the version of the Great Commission in Acts 1:8.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
The idea here is that Christians serve as witnesses to others of the person and work of Jesus Christ, his gospel, and the implied call to respond in personal faith and repentance. And this is of course biblical and good and the primary idea of evangelistic witnessing in the New Testament.
Continue reading “You Should Witness to Yourself”The Right Hand of Our Firm Foundation
I’m pretty sure the imagery of the hymn How Firm a Foundation primarily draws from Isaiah 40–48. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the second verse, which is a paraphrase of Isaiah 41:10. Since the hymn was written in 1787, perhaps the best way to see this parallel is to compare the second verse to the King James Version of Isaiah 41:10.
Continue reading “The Right Hand of Our Firm Foundation”Isaiah’s Wonderful Counselor
Handel’s Messiah made memorable a number of Old Testament prophecies of the coming of Christ, including the coming of a righteous king as a child born unto the people of God in Isaiah 9:6. In this wonderful prophecy the coming king is named in four pairs of titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. All these are wonderful affirmations of the divinity of Christ! But the first of these is easily misunderstood. This post is about what Isaiah means by describing the coming king as a wonderful counselor.
Continue reading “Isaiah’s Wonderful Counselor”
Citizens & Sons 