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Category Archives: bible
Psalm 38 (Updated)
This is one of seven Penitential Psalms, and we do not know the context. We can sense that whatever the occasion, it seems not to have struck David’s awareness all at once. Rather, the pressure of conviction grew slowly. The … Continue reading
Psalm 37
This is an acrostic psalm loaded with popular proverbs of David’s time. It’s the age old question of why it seems the wicked prosper and the righteous are blown by the winds of blind fortune. On the surface, it appears … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged Biblical Mysticism, King David, nature, oppression, peace, Political activism, Psalms, psychology
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Psalm 36
Hebrew scholars tell us that this psalm is distinctly in two parts. The first few verses are in very rugged Hebrew that grates on the ears, whereas the rest is quite smooth and sweet. This is how David emphasizes the … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged divine mercy, Hebrew, moral consciousness, Psalms, scripture
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Psalm 35
This is the first imprecatory psalm we encounter, a form which has no parallel in Western literature. It sounds to us like petty vengeance because we lack the proper moral background in our world. Paul warns us that all Creation … Continue reading
StT: Galatians 3:10-12
(A little more from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.) Galatians 3:10-12 Westerners tend to demand a semantic precision that is often absent in the New Testament. In this context, Paul uses the term “law” (Grk: nomos) in place of … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged covenants, epistemology, faith in God, Israel, Law Covenants, religion, the Covenant of Moses
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StT: Take Two, They’re Small
(Today’s sample is a couple of short items from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.) Hebrews 7:1-2 If you read this and the following passage literally, you cannot possibly comprehend where the author is going with this concept. While he … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged ancient hebrew culture, epistemology, literal meaning, Melchizedek, mysticism, Pharisaical Hellenism, scripture
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StT: 1 Corinthians 14:21
(We continue sampling from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.) 1 Corinthians 14:21 It would be easy to get a rise out of the Neo-Pentecostals and Charismatics on what they consider their turf here. The Corinthians were excessively hedonistic and … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged Charismatics, Corinthians, history, Paul, prophecy, prophet isaiah, scripture, speaking in tongues, spirituality
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Psalm 34
It can seem at times that David’s songs are awfully repetitious. Consider that virtually every one of them represents some adventure David went through or something that left a major impression on him. In this case, we are told that … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged Hebrew Mysticism, King David, old testament history, Psalms
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StT: 1 Corinthians 9:9
(Continuing with selections from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.) Is it not amusing how quickly evangelical clergymen seize on something that lines their pockets? This is one place where they don’t seem to mind spiritualizing the text. Paul quotes … Continue reading
StT: Acts 8:32-33
(Another sample from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.) In the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, Israel was characterized in many different ways. Sometimes as the land she occupied, or some of the fruit-bearing trees there, perhaps as a … Continue reading
Posted in bible
Tagged human suffering, Israel, mission, mortality, mysticism, prophet isaiah, scripture
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