Especially during self-isolation in the covid crisis (summer 2020), we are aware of our reliance on others.

Phillip, welcome. I don’t think that we have met before, but I see that your spiritual journey resembles mine immensely. Relaxing into our faith is a very James phrase, and yes, you will find that.

Some years ago I studied Deuteronomy with a Hebrew speaking Jesuit, and it was a true revelation. ‘The Wilderness’ and ‘The Promised Land’ were not…[Read more]

I don’t know how God has been communicating with me today. I used to have a Jesuit priest as a spiritual director, and I used to practice the examen pretty regularly as a means of trying to discern God’s presence in my life, but I could never tell when I was just engaging in wishful thinking. Is a feeling of consolation always a sign of God’s…[Read more]

Yes, Barker is very prolific, but I think “Temple Theology” is a very good place to start. I am rereading it at the moment. It’s an early work of hers but you will understand immediately what she is about. She is, by the way, a formidable Hebrew scholar.

Do keep me informed.

Sheelah, thank you for clarifying those terms which were unfamiliar to me in your response. It would appear my guess at El-Shaddai was way off! I don’t actually know any Hebrew but sometimes, while studying the Bible, I try to connect Hebrew words to one of the smattering of Arabic roots I’ve learned. I did a little poking around in dictionaries…[Read more]

You seem to have an extremely good grasp of all that Andrew. These two definitions may be helpful:
Monolatry, literally, worship of one god alone. As a modified form of polytheism, the texts of scripture bear witness to monolatry, meaning “Plenty of gods exist, but you are to worship only one of them.” This is also indicated in the first Com…[Read more]

Which terms are familiar to you?
I have at least heard of all of each of these.

Which terms or dates are unfamiliar?
I would be hard pressed to distinguish between henotheism and monolatry. If I were to run across either term by itself, I would have thought it referred to the devotion to one god over and above all others. Now, seeing them side…[Read more]

I couldn’t agree more Andrew. And I also think that we find God in the other, in accepting and not judging the weakness and foibles we find. That is seeing Christ in the other, as we hope we will be seen with our own pain, and need of healing.

In what ways is your understanding of what God requires from religious people changing? What does it mean to be a good religious person?
I am having a hard time using the word ‘religion’ because I am living in linguistic circles in which the connotative value of that word fluctuates wildly. Sometimes it is associated with perfunctory rep…[Read more]

Absolutely, Andrew. This is another example of revelation as an ongoing, evolutionary process, which gradually exposes the lie that God is angry and wants to be appeased by blood sacrifice.

Yes, Sheelah, thank you, your synopsis does indeed help. I was attempting to read the Akedah like Girard reads one of those stories which relate a founding murder. These are stories of violent encounters. When told by mythologers, the violence is obfuscated. When told by Biblical authors, the violence is brought into focus. I correctly understood…[Read more]

Andrew, here is a brief summary of what James is explaining.

The struggle around interpretation is not imposed upon Scriptures, but something that happens within them. For a rather important example, this session looks at the different interpretations offered by Jeremiah and Ezekiel around the question of God’s involvement with child sacrifice. W…[Read more]

How has your understanding of the story of Abraham and Isaac changed?
Sheelah, James lost me on this one. You’ll need to help me sort it out. Do I understand this correctly? I’ve enumerated the steps I see James taking, so that you can pinpoint where I go wrong.

[1] James suspects that there are various ways to tell the story of Abraham sac…[Read more]

Were you aware that sacrifice of firstborn children was part of the religious practices of ancient Israel, as of the surrounding nations? How do you feel about that?
Yes, but I still find it very striking to be reminded just how matter of course the practice would have seemed.

–The stories about human sacrifice made Marcion so queasy that he…[Read more]

Indeed, Andrew. That is the process of inculturation that we looked at in previous modules. And, here in 2.3 we have the struggle around interpretation that is not imposed upon Scriptures, but something that happens within them. For a rather important example, we’ll look at the different interpretations offered by Jeremiah and Ezekiel around t…[Read more]

Share ways in which you have noticed the content, questions or insights from the previous Module showing up in your lives.
I’ve been thinking about a couple of billionaires who were being compared to one another recently in the news. Both claim to be “self-made” men with political aspirations, but I was initially led to see a clear demar…[Read more]