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One of the greatest challenges to understanding the message of Jesus is knowing how to categorize him as a speaker.  When those first audiences gathered, who did they think they were going to hear?   A teacher?  A philosopher?  A political leader?  Or something else?

In this fifth installment in the Next Steps into the Gospels course we examine Jesus’ rhetorical genre and identify him as an “apocalyptic prophet” – one who comes to proclaim God’s word to his people, one with a message that God is bringing the present age to it’s conclusion and ushering in the new era of salvation.

OK…so it’s been a while (and by “while” I mean “year”)…  Sorry about that…

In my efforts at reform, I thought that in addition to trying to offer installments of the perhaps-one-day-a-book, I’d post some of my answers to theological questions people send.

The other day I received the following:

Why is it in the Old Testament, the commandment reads:  ”You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5, NRSV), but the New Testament quotes Jesus using “heart, soul, strength, and mind” (Luke 10:27, cf., Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30).  I understand that one was written in Hebrew and the other in Greek.  Does that account for the whole difference?  ”Might” would seem to indicate “whole-hearted effort,” while mind seems to indicate a more philosophical response.  Is there more to the story?

I think this is a great question, particularly because – as you know – I think love stands at the heart of Christian discipleship.  If we wish to grow to maturity, it will come by means of loving God as scripture describes.

If you want to hear some sermons I preached on the subject, click here and look for the sermons dates (Aug. 22-Sept. 12, 2010).  But here is how I replied to the e-mail:

The short answer is that what the OT is trying to say (and Jesus is agreeing with) is that we should love God with the fullness of ourselves.

Unlike the Greeks (and many today), the ancient Hebrews did not think of humans as a collection of parts (bodies, minds, souls…) but as persons – as integrated wholes.  It was the Greek philosophers who first began to carve people up into pieces. For them the metaphysics of what distinguished one thing from another was key to Continue reading