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January 2012

The Way of Peace and Grace

by Derek Flood

This article appeared in the January 2012 issue of Sojourners magazine

Article Summary

Paul shows us how to wrestle with violent passages in the Hebrew Bible.

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by: Michael J. Gorman

12-13-2011 @ 8:16am

Thanks, Derek, for an eloquent, insightful, and persuasive essay. You have captured well the spirit of Paul and of the Prince of Peace.

by: LindaO

12-13-2011 @ 1:32pm

Thanks, Derek. As always, it is a good thing to contemplate Scripture together! Our growing to "have the mind of Jesus" is a critical part of our living in Faith. Thanks for your insightful piece! Linda

by: Nicolas T

12-13-2011 @ 4:03pm

Most of this was new to me and very helpful -- thank you !

It reminds me a little of the development we see in the Book of Revelation's use of the OT.

There are two examples that really inspire me because of the way Revelation makes an OT quote even more universal.

Is 43:19
Behold I am doing a new thing (LXX Greek: idou ego poio kaina)
becomes in Rev 21:5
Behold I am making all things new (NT Greek: idou kaina poio panta)
where the addition of "all things" (panta) really universalizes it.

The other example is Ezek 47:12
... their leaves will be for healing.
becomes in Rev 22:2
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The surprise, here, being that the nations (and the kings of the earth) who have been enemies of Christ all through the Book of Revelation, have now come in through the ever-open gates of the New Jerusalem (21:24) -- and the leaves are for the healing of the nations !

by: Nicolas T

12-15-2011 @ 6:32am

Above, I should have made explicit one contrast between Derek's examples and my own:

While Derek's examples (deliberately ?) leave bits out of OT quotations, my examples (deliberately ?) put bits in !

And then there's the question of how this affects our "theology" of the Bible.

by: viking67

12-16-2011 @ 10:25am

.

by: DcnDan

12-28-2011 @ 4:22pm

I like what you said about the word "Israel" meaning "wrestles with God." Isn't this what being an authentic Christian--or any person of faith for that matter--is all about? Every day's events offer countless opportunities to engage our faith in God and wrestle with the more difficult things in life. Being the people of God means wrestling with life, with God. It also has to mean wrestling with the scriptures, which in Christ have come to stand for peace and hope for all people.

by: Vicmild@gmail.com

12-30-2011 @ 8:39pm

Yes but then did the israelites think that God was commissioning violent acts against the heathen or did God actually ordered Israel to commit genocide against their neighbors? Was it s violent interpretation or a violent command?

by: stonecypher

01-13-2012 @ 1:36pm
in reply to: Vicmild@gmail.com

Vicmild, I think you've touched on the important question here.  If we accept Derek's take on Paul's hermeneutic (and I think I do), I think we must come to the conclusion that God did not really order a genocide.  Israel had some genociding to do (like we all do from time to time), and decided to justify it by making it holy.

So Paul's experience of Yahweh's fullness in Christ in some ways contradicted the Jewish experience of Yahweh.  They really did believe that slaughtering the Canaanites was God's holy work.  They also believed that the sun revolved around the earth, but just bc a biblical writer believed something doesn't make it true. 

In Israel's subsequent wrestling with Yahweh, culminating in its wrestling with God in Christ, Israel learned things it didn't know before.  And Paul knew that this new knowledge demanded a faithful reappraisal of those old texts.

by: gschneider

02-02-2012 @ 4:38pm

To Derek Flood, or any of the blog community: I teach at a small denominational college, and a friend in our religion department, hearing me quote Derek citing Brueggemann on the Hebrew Bible as a collection of 'witnesses,' now asks me for the Brueggemann citation. Does anyone know where Brueggemann makes that observation?

by: SteveUK

02-07-2012 @ 5:52am

A really useful essay, thank you. I merely echo the earlier comment that "wrestling with God" is surely at the heart of out faith. Sometimes it feels like this wrestling is not allowed, that we must be certain and specific in what we believe, but for me at least relationship with a living God is very much characterised by it.

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by: Michael J. Gorman

12-13-2011 @ 8:16am

Thanks, Derek, for an eloquent, insightful, and persuasive essay. You have captured well the spirit of Paul and of the Prince of Peace.

by: LindaO

12-13-2011 @ 1:32pm

Thanks, Derek. As always, it is a good thing to contemplate Scripture together! Our growing to "have the mind of Jesus" is a critical part of our living in Faith. Thanks for your insightful piece! Linda

by: Nicolas T

12-15-2011 @ 6:32am

Above, I should have made explicit one contrast between Derek's examples and my own:

While Derek's examples (deliberately ?) leave bits out of OT quotations, my examples (deliberately ?) put bits in !

And then there's the question of how this affects our "theology" of the Bible.

by: DcnDan

12-28-2011 @ 4:22pm

I like what you said about the word "Israel" meaning "wrestles with God." Isn't this what being an authentic Christian--or any person of faith for that matter--is all about? Every day's events offer countless opportunities to engage our faith in God and wrestle with the more difficult things in life. Being the people of God means wrestling with life, with God. It also has to mean wrestling with the scriptures, which in Christ have come to stand for peace and hope for all people.

by: Vicmild@gmail.com

12-30-2011 @ 8:39pm

Yes but then did the israelites think that God was commissioning violent acts against the heathen or did God actually ordered Israel to commit genocide against their neighbors? Was it s violent interpretation or a violent command?

by: stonecypher

01-13-2012 @ 1:36pm
in reply to: Vicmild@gmail.com

Vicmild, I think you've touched on the important question here.  If we accept Derek's take on Paul's hermeneutic (and I think I do), I think we must come to the conclusion that God did not really order a genocide.  Israel had some genociding to do (like we all do from time to time), and decided to justify it by making it holy.

So Paul's experience of Yahweh's fullness in Christ in some ways contradicted the Jewish experience of Yahweh.  They really did believe that slaughtering the Canaanites was God's holy work.  They also believed that the sun revolved around the earth, but just bc a biblical writer believed something doesn't make it true. 

In Israel's subsequent wrestling with Yahweh, culminating in its wrestling with God in Christ, Israel learned things it didn't know before.  And Paul knew that this new knowledge demanded a faithful reappraisal of those old texts.

by: gschneider

02-02-2012 @ 4:38pm

To Derek Flood, or any of the blog community: I teach at a small denominational college, and a friend in our religion department, hearing me quote Derek citing Brueggemann on the Hebrew Bible as a collection of 'witnesses,' now asks me for the Brueggemann citation. Does anyone know where Brueggemann makes that observation?

by: SteveUK

02-07-2012 @ 5:52am

A really useful essay, thank you. I merely echo the earlier comment that "wrestling with God" is surely at the heart of out faith. Sometimes it feels like this wrestling is not allowed, that we must be certain and specific in what we believe, but for me at least relationship with a living God is very much characterised by it.

by: Nicolas T

12-13-2011 @ 4:03pm

Most of this was new to me and very helpful -- thank you !

It reminds me a little of the development we see in the Book of Revelation's use of the OT.

There are two examples that really inspire me because of the way Revelation makes an OT quote even more universal.

Is 43:19
Behold I am doing a new thing (LXX Greek: idou ego poio kaina)
becomes in Rev 21:5
Behold I am making all things new (NT Greek: idou kaina poio panta)
where the addition of "all things" (panta) really universalizes it.

The other example is Ezek 47:12
... their leaves will be for healing.
becomes in Rev 22:2
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The surprise, here, being that the nations (and the kings of the earth) who have been enemies of Christ all through the Book of Revelation, have now come in through the ever-open gates of the New Jerusalem (21:24) -- and the leaves are for the healing of the nations !

by: viking67

12-16-2011 @ 10:25am

.