How do we reconcile the wrath and love of God??? The images of gentle shepherd seem so at odds with those of a punishing judge we are tempted to imagine they describe different deities. And yet both wrath and grace are such inextricable dimensions of the God of the Bible that neither be dismissed. One...
Category: Understanding the Bible
Understanding the Bible 10: The Prophets and Their Warnings
What is prophecy in the Bible? And what is a prophet? And why do I feel I want little to do with either? My personal allergy to the word “prophecy” stems from the fact that most contemporary discussion thereof involve a vast departure from the biblical understanding. From Harold Camping’s dating of the end of...
Understanding the Bible 09: Interpreting the Psalms
Great poetry generally makes for difficult reading. The words and phrases may be simple enough, even simplistic. But the very nature of poetry is to pick up where language fails – to articulate the ineffable. And thus readers of poetry face the dual challenge of interpretation and introspection. We must simultaneously examine words and ourselves to find...