Threads from Henry's Web

Author: henry

  • The Extras in your Bible Edition

    David Ker is concerned about section titles in your Bible.  And well he should be.

    I frequently talk about avoiding reading the “lower half” of your Bible when you study.  What I mean by the “lower half” is the study notes that so many editions put at the bottom of the page.  Now this is something that applies particularly to study Bibles, and it’s not subtle–you can easily tell whether you’re reading the Biblical text or the notes.  One of my pet peeves is people reading a note from their Bible when I ask for their thoughts on a text.

    But what David is talking about is much more subtle, and it’s easy to miss.  The fact is that the chapter, paragraph, and verse divisions in your Bible were not created by the original authors, but are part of the translation process.   If you take a text that was not divided into paragraphs and divide it, you will do so based on your understanding of the text.  If you add titles, those will be based on your perception of the way the text should be understood.

    Go check out David’s post for a good example of how the meaning might be adjusted in this way.  Then when you study your Bible, give consideration to the possibility that the main point isn’t what the title suggests, or that the text might flow through that paragraph division.

  • The Shocking Nature of Grace?

    Grace is shocking, if you think about it, because by definition someone gets something unearned.

    But in Calvinism, it seems, grace becomes even more shocking. Adrian Warnock posts a quote from Jonathan Edwards that expresses predestination quite well. You are saved by grace, someone else isn’t. Edwards notes that “although all things are exactly equal in both cases” one person has success which is denied to another.

    Edwards’ statement is fairly straightforward as a statement of predestination. But Adrian’s comment is what caught my attention. He says:

    …If this notion does not make you grateful to God that YOU should be so blessed by him, I don’t know what will.

    Now this is what gets me. What’s shocking to me is the level of narcissism that I see in that statement. I’m headed for heaven, and I’m terribly grateful to God, and it doesn’t bother me at all that many other people have been equally arbitrarily consigned to hell. Because, of course, that is what being “denied success” means in this case.

    I recall having this discussion with a Hebrew student who simply told me that it bothered him as well, but he believed it was the truth. Whether he liked it or not was immaterial. And indeed whether I like something or not is quite immaterial. I could easily understand that student’s view.

    What I don’t understand is the frequently heard expressions of great joy. It is almost as though one is living under a tyrant, and arbitrarily the secret police will arrest some, but not others. The ones who haven’t been arrested can express great thankfulness for the fact that they are allowed to live, due to no actions of their own. But somewhere out there others are suffering, also through no fault of their own.

    Under either set of circumstances, I hope I would not be indifferent. I hope that the joy of my escape would be tempered by my knowledge of those who did not. If I believed that God was arbitrarily sending me to heaven, but at the same time was going to arbitrarily send others to hell, I believe I would find it would drive me insane, and I would find it impossible to love such a God or to regard such a God as loving.

    I have found over the years that Calvinists don’t fit my stereotypes of them. Just as they do not sit down and neglect Christ-like living because they have already been predestined, nor do they neglect evangelism because God has already made his choice, so they are not, in fact narcissists, whatever may seem to be implied by their doctrine.

    Nonetheless I cannot fit this doctrine with any notion of a loving God. And yes, I do mean using a scriptural definition of love. It is, in fact, the description of a tyrant, and not even a benevolent despot.

    I guess it’s a good thing I also see little scriptural or logical reason to believe it!

  • Dan Wallace is Angry

    … about the New York Post “chimp” cartoon. While he and I wouldn’t see eye to eye on many things (though his Greek Grammar beyond the Basics is brilliant!) I particularly appreciate this coming from him.

    I don’t regard printing this cartoon as responsible, but I want to make sure to note that I think newspapers have the right to be irresponsible, just as the rest of us have the right (and one might say duty) to call them on it.

  • The Value and Danger of Forensics

    The value, of course, is that they provide us with more objective views than eyewitness testimony, for example. There’s a bit of a forensics craze running the country with shows like CSI making the idea of forensic evidence popular and fun.

    But such shows tend to distort the picture in various ways. To make an hour’s show, tests must come back more quickly than they would in real life. Again, in real life there would be many more frustrations on a daily basis, and equivocal evidence would be much more common.

    Radley Balko has a story about manufactured evidence (HT: his Agitator blog), and a particularly blatant one. His story comes as the National Academy of Science has released a report (link to press release, report is linked from release on problems with various types of forensic evidence as used in our court system.

    The danger of forensic evidence? It is studied and presented by people, and sometimes people are incompetent or dishonest. The NAS report suggests a number of necessary remedies.

    I would hope that this would not discredit the ideas involved in the mind of the public. Rather, I would hope we would be prepared to support those who do their jobs well, but hold accountable those who don’t.

  • Psalm 50:3 in The Message

    One of my criticisms of The Message is that it tends to blunt the force of many scriptures, making them more palatable than they are.  Now don’t get the idea that I’m a critic of The Message in general.  In fact, I think it makes a great contribution to the literature available for rapid reading and overview.  Many of its expressions are quite beautiful.

    As one might expect, some of those are beautiful–and inaccurate.

    Psalm 50:3 is one such case.  Here it is from The Message:

    Our God makes his entrance, he’s not shy in his coming. Starbursts of fireworks precede him.

    That’s nice, cool, and contemporary.  But is it accurate?  In this case, I think, far from it.  I could debate whether “not being shy” adequatey expresses what the Psalmist means when he says God will not be silent.  But that would be a longer post.

    Let’s just compare to the NRSV:

    Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.

    My question is whether “starbursts of fireworks” adequately conveys the “devouring fire” thing.  I don’t think it does.  The idea of fireworks today conveys celebration, joy, excitement, and beauty.  In this case, I think the fire says something both about God’s power and about what he is going to do with it.

    I think this one could be translated in contemporary language but more accurately.  Perhaps it would be less beautiful, but more accurate.

    Take the CEV for example:

    Our God approaches, but not silently; a flaming fire comes first, and a storm surrounds him.

    It lacks some of the zing, but it’s clear and natural contemporary English.  And it’s fairly accurate.

  • 2 Kings 2:1-12 (Transfiguration B)

    I used this translation as the basis for a devotional today, 2/18/09, for my wife’s devotional list.  Here is the translation with a few additional notes.

    Translation Notes
     

    1This is what happened when YHWH took Elijah in the whirlwind up to heaven.

     

     

    Elijah and Elisha left Gilgal.  2Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because YHWH has sent me to Bethel.

     

     

     

    But Elisha said, “As YHWH lives, and as you live yourself, I will not leave you.”

    So they went to Bethel.

    3Now the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Don’t you know that YHWH is taking your master from above you today?”

    He said, “Yes, I do know that.  Be quiet!”

    4Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, because YHWH has sent me to Jericho.”

    But he replied, “As YHWH lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

    So they went to Jericho.

    5The sons of the prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Don’t you know that YHWH is taking your master from above you today?”

    And he said, “Yes, I do know that.  Be quiet!”

    6Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, because YHWH has sent me to the Jordan.”

    But he said, “As YHWH lives and as you live yourself, I will not leave you!”

    So they went on together.

    7Fifty men from the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance from them, and the two of them stood by the Jordan.

    8Then Elijah took his cloak, folded it, and struck the water, so that the river was split in two, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.

     

    9And as they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what you want me to do for you before I’m taken away from you.”

    Elisha answered, “I’d like the double portion of the Spirit that is on you.”

    10He said, “That’s a difficult request!  If you see me when I’m taken from you, it will happen.  If not, it won’t.”

    11So as they were walking along and talking, a fiery chariots and fiery horses came a separated them, and took Elijah up in the whirlwind to heaven.

     

     

    12Elisha was watching and he shouted, “My father!  My father!  The chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”  And he never saw Elijah again.  He grabbed his clothing and tore it in two.

     

    The word “whirlwind” is the same word used for the storm that brings the presence of God in Ezekiel’s vision, Ezekiel 1.  In that vision, Ezekiel is reassured of God’s activity even in Babylon.  Here the storm shows God in action.  See my essay Ezekiel 1:  A Glimpse of the Glory of Yahweh.

     

    Note that they are descending toward the Jordan River.  I’ve chosen not to translate “descend” specifically, because I’m not sure that the fact of descent is a substantial part of the story.

    Please – the Hebrew text gives a sense of urging which is probably more forceful that a polite “please” but less so than a direct order.

    I read Elisha’s refusal as much more forceful than Elijah’s request or command.

     

    I find it interesting that many Christians, particularly in charismatic and pentecostal communities seek information as though it will tell them what to do.  Here the prophets offer information, but Elisha refuses it. He already knows what he is supposed to do!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     From above you – reflects the Hebrew idiom.  I think it is probably adequately reflected in the word “master.”  Not only is Elijah losing a friend and a colleague, if he even would have thought in such terms, but his leader, his reason for existence and ministry.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     50 men stand apart and see a miracle; only Elisha goes and becomes part of the miracle.

     

     This event reflects in some of its language both he crossing of the Jordan into the promised land and the parting of the Sea of Reeds.  This is God’s indication of how thoroughly his power works in Elijah.  This is a significant point when Elisha asks for the heir’s double portion.

     I’m not sure how significant it is that this starts while they were crossing.  Until today, I had always pictured the scene with the fiery chariot(s) on the other side of the Jordan.  It may be that the whole thing occurs during the crossing.

    The heir’s portion.  Some think Elisha is asking to be twice as powerful as Elijah.  Rather, he is asking to be the heir to Elijah’s power and call.

    It’s a difficult request, and I think the specific difficulty is that it requires something of Elisha–he must be present and be aware of God’s presence when God acts.

    You’d think this would be impossible to miss, but apparently here, as elsewhere, God’s presence is missed by some and seen by others.  Elisha doesn’t miss it, and becomes heir.

    I use “to heaven” even though one could translate “into the sky” because there is an extended sense that one is going away from the place where people live and to the place where the gods live.

    Even though he knows it’s coming, and knows it is what must happen, he still grieves for the departure of teacher, master, and friend.

     

  • Obama Administration Opposes Fairness Doctrine

    … or so a spokesman told Fox News (HT: Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire). This is good news considering the number of people who are inclined to revive it. (The Fox News report even includes the claim that Congressman Henry Waxman is interested in an internet fairness doctrine, for which idea he is being quite justifiably ridiculed. But then the story is by Fox News reporting on an American Spectator story, so …)

    I belive the fairness doctrine is an obvious infringement of free speech and liberals should be embarrassed to support such an idea while claiming to be in favor of civil liberties.

    (Personal note: Blame two book deadlines and a few days of flu for the low level of posting here for the last week or so.)

  • Christian Carnival CCLXIV Posted

    … at Thoughts and Confessions of a Girl Who Loves Jesus.

  • Christian Carnival CCLXIV Posted

    … at Thoughts from a Girl Who Loves Jesus.  I have also updated the archive.

  • Bible in Literature Quiz

    Literary allusions.  Quiz is here.  HT:  Alan Mann.  I made 10/10, but a comment in the HT post may have helped.  On the other hand, I haven’t read half of the literary works referenced–just the Biblical side!