Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 57

Walking in the Spirit

Walk by the Spirit, 

and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

(Gal 5:16 )

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Holy Spirit is not an abstract concept for the Apostle Paul that merely guides interpretation of scripture. Paul sees at least two additional roles for the Holy Spirit: Spiritual companionship and provisioner of spiritual gifts.

Led by the Spirit

Thompson ( 2011, 61) writes: “Paul does not speak of ethics, but of how to walk, the primary term for ethical conduct.” Continuing Galatians 5 cited above we read:

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:18-23)

If our walk with the Lord is a metaphor for ethical living, the Holy Spirit is our walking companion and it is the Holy Spirit that distinguishes our walking ethics from law. Note that the fruits of the spirit appear strongly influenced by the self-described attributes of God: Mercy, grace, patience, love, and faithfulness (Exod 34:6).

Interestingly, it is this walking ethics, not the work of Christ or the strength of our faith, that Paul says distinguishes the church from law. Elsewhere, Paul writes:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12:9)

If our conduct falls short, in Christ we are forgiven, but it is not forgiveness in the absence of being “led by the Spirit.” (Gal 5:18) In this sense, stumbling is part of walking.

Everywhere in the ancient world Christian communities were in the minority where their ethical conduct set them apart from the culture around them. Paul writes:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-2)

The controlling concept throughout Paul’s teaching is that the church is a holy community, set apart—“A living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”—in continuity with historical Israel, not by blood, but by faith (Gal 2:21-28). In this context, worship is a holy life, not music played on Sunday morning.

Spiritual Gifts

If the church is an eschatological community established by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), Paul sees the church also sustained by the Holy Spirit through the provision of spiritual gifts. He writes:

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor 12:4-7)

Paul follows up with a lengthy list of spiritual gifts, but the list is necessarily incomplete because: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit.” These gifts are unique to each believer, but share the characteristics of being “for the common good.” 

Paul likens these gifts to parts of the human body, none of which are extraneous or more valuable than another. Paul writes:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12-13)

Note the reference to the Holy Spirit given in baptism. Paul’s ecclesiology and ethics are thoroughly spirit driven.

References

Thompson, James W. 2011. Moral Formation according to Paul. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Walking in the Spirit

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

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Willard Hears God, Part 2

Dallas Willard.  2012.  Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God.  Downers Drove:  IVP Book. (Goto Part 1)

Reviewed By Stephen W. Hiemstra

If God exists, the idea that God speaks to us is unremarkable.

In the back of our minds, however, as postmodern people is the critique of Marx and Freud. Marx called faith in God the “opiate of the masses” while Freud characterized it as an “illusion”. Today they might have suggested that believers were “on drugs” or engaging in “wishful thinking”. While neither critique rises above simple slander—no evidence is presented—such innuendo has weakened the faith of many Christians.

But the Bible itself says that we should expect that God speaks to us every day.  For example, King David writes:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1-3 ESV; 164-166)

Jesus said:

“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment– what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:49-50 ESV)

The first example is often referred to as “general revelation” (revealed to everyone) while the second is referred to as “special revelation” (revealed only to believers).

In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard offers an interesting starting point for his work: “God has created us for intimate friendship with himself” (12).  What kind of relationship would it be if only of the parties to this relationship did all the talking?  He then writes:

“My strategy has been to take as a model the highest and best type of communication that I know of from human affairs and then place this model in the even brighter light of the person and teaching of Jesus Christ.” (12).

The most intimate form of communication is dialog which presumes a relationship of trust.  Willard writes:

“Our failure to hear God has its deepest roots in a failure to understand, accept, and grow into a conversational relationship with God”. (35)

While we may lie to ourselves, a practice known as denial, those that know us well see (and hopefully accept) the good and bad in our personalities and offer us feedback.  Our friends and family love us and want what is best for us. Such is also our relationship with God.  But what friend would spend their day telling us how to improve ourselves?  Willard writes:

“In such conversations [with God] we also talk about other things besides what God wants done today. We talk about what is happening, what is interesting, or what is sad. Most conversations between God and humans is to help us understand things.” (39).

Dialogue between us and God is an important part of our relationship. What exactly does that look like?

Willard offers voluminous advice on recognizing God’s voice in the context of a mature, Christian relationship. One of my favorites is his discussion of the Parable of the Talents.  In this parable, Jesus starts out:

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (Matt. 25:14-18 ESV)

The question is, how does the master evaluate the work of his servants when he returns? In part, the answer depends on the relationship of each servant has with the master, not on his allocation or the outcome of his stewardship. Note, for example, that the master’s accounting does not include a return of the talents or the profits! Note also that the master rewards risk taking and considers hoarding as sloth. Which of us truly knows the mind of God and rejoices in it? God is generous as assuming by the faithful servants, not a harsh taskmaster as the lazy (or risk adverse) servant assumes. (40-41)

Willards instructs his reader on the spiritual discipline known as lectio divina (Latin for divine reading) which is used to experience scripture in new ways. Lectio divina consists of 4 parts:

Lectio (read)—read the passage. The purpose here is not to analyze the passage, but simply read and sit with it.


Mediatio (mediate)—read the passage again taking note of any words that stand out to you. Some people read and re-read the passage placing emphasis on a different word each time. What brought these words to your attention? What were you thinking about God?


Oratio (pray)—After reading the passage again, take it to the Lord in prayer. Ask God what the Spirit may have said to you here.


Contemplatio (contemplation)—Do as you are led. Sit with God and this passage. What does it invite you to do? (48-51)

Willard returns to lectio divina at least 6 times throughout the book suggesting that he considers it is an important tool for developing a dialogue with God.

Much more could be said about Dallas Willard’s Hearing God.  Hearing God is likely to become a devotional classic.  It reads well and refreshes the soul.

Footnotes

He cites among other things, Psalm 23 as evidence of this relationship.  What is the relationship between a shepherd and sheep if not to live together 24-7?

See:  48, 103, 131, 164, 207, 247.

 The morning of the week I was to begin seminary, my morning devotional reading was:

“At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me! So he let him alone. It was then that she said, A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision.” (Exod. 4:24-26 ESV)

Confused about the passage, I found that the commentaries linked it the story of Jacob wrestling with an angel who left him crippled the night before he met his brother (Genesis 32:22-31).  Later that day, I was squirming in my chair in the office and by the end of the day I was afflicted with back pain so grievous that I could only lie on my back on the floor and I missed 3 days of work as a consequence. The commentary noted that both Moses and Jacob had responded to God’s call to travel—Moses to Egypt and Jacob to return to his brother—but neither was ready for the task that God had given them. During my 3 days out of work, I could do nothing but read lying on my back so I spent the 3 days preparing for my biblical competency examination.  I passed the exam right on the cutoff point—the pass rate was just 13 percent. Just like Moses and Jacob, I had responded to God’s call, but I was not ready for it.  On that occasion God helped me focus and saved me a year of additional study.

Willard Hears God, Part 2
Also see:
Books, Films, and Ministry
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at:  https://bit.ly/Ready_Ag23 ,  Signup

 

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Spirit: Monday Monologues (podcast), October 9, 2023

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on the Holy Spirit. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Spirit: Monday Monologues (podcast), October 9, 2023
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com





Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup
 

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Breath Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Spirit of Truth,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you veil yourself to the ungodly and reveal yourself to seekers through your Holy Spirit.

Forgive our impatience, our untrusting attitudes, and hardened hearts. Do not give us over to our own desires, but grant us eyes that see and ears that hear.

Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who grants us spiritual gifts, unveils our hearts, and sustains us through difficult times.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, open the eyes of this new generation—grant us revival—that we might share your love through Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Breath Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

 

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The Holy Spirit and Scripture

But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth 

and in your heart, so that you can do it. 

(Deut 30:14)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the Apostle Paul’s reading of scripture because scripture is veiled to our eyes and can only be understood through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When the Corinthian church asked Paul for his letters of recommendation, he boldly replied:

“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Cor 3:2-3)

His letter of recommendation, obvious to the whole world, was the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Corinthian church.

In this same chapter in his letter, Paul turned to an enigmatic story of how Moses’ face shined when he communed with God, so much that he had to veil his face:

“But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Cor 3:14-17)

In this same way, when one reads scripture outside the context of faith, it remains veiled and can only be unveiled through the power of the Holy Spirit. In summarizing Paul’s hermeneutical method, Hays (1989, 191) writes: “No reading of Scripture can be legitimate, then, if it fails to shape the readers into a community that embodies the love of God as shown forth in Christ.”

This is why when Paul speaks of faith, he speaks in terms of this unveiling as when he writes, paraphrasing Deuteronomy 30:14:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Rom 10:8-11)

This unveiling metaphor is crucial to understanding both Paul’s hermeneutical method (interpretation of scripture) and the mystery of faith: Both require the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.

Implicit in Paul’s copious use of Old Testament scripture is the continuity of the Nation of Israel with the church, a theme explicitly drawn out in Paul’s grafting analogy in Romans 11. The curiosity of scriptural echoes arises in Paul’s writing as a tension between theme and counter-theme. Hays (1989, 46) writes:

“In Romans 1:18-3:20, even where Paul uses scriptural allusions to underscore the message of God’s judgment, the texts themselves whisper the counter-theme of God’s mercy.”

This statement jumps out at me because this particular passage is much reviled by postmoderns and hammered like a bible-over-the-head by some commentators. Hays (1989, 47) refers to this as the ”judgment/grace paradigm that undergirds the whole witness of Scripture.”

The role of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s hermeneutical method is so basic that it sometimes goes unnoticed. Consider the famous passage in Timothy:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God [Theo-pneumatos, θεόπνευστος] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Note the phrase,“breathed out by God.” In both Hebrew and Greek, the term for Holy Spirit can mean spirit, breath, or wind. The implication here is that scripture is both inspired by the Holy Spirit and best read through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

References

Hays, Richard B. 1989. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press.

The Holy Spirit and Scripture

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

 

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Willard Hears God, Part 1

Dallas Willard.  2012.  Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God.  Downers Drove:  IVP Book. (Goto Part 2)

Reviewed By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Reading a book on hearing God is perhaps motivated by curiosity or guilt or just the idea that we are not always keeping up our end of the conversation. Yet the target audience for such a book is clearly the mature Christian. An immature Christian would look for a book on prayer where implicitly the conversation is unidirectional. And a non-Christian would make that implicit assumption explicit—prayers are nothing more than happy thoughts that we vocalize—incantations meant to be heard by those around us. Me? I came to Willard hoping to improve my listening skills.

In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard asks: “How can you be sure God is speaking to you?” He answers: “we learn by experience” (9). Communicating with God is a dialog. Yet, this dialogue makes sense within the wider: “framework of living in the will of God” (13).

This dialogue is not necessarily easy. In the postmodern context, the dialogue with God is surrounded by fear. Comedian Lily Tomlin asks: “why is it that when we talk to God we are said to be praying, but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic?” (22) Good question. Perhaps,  we are afraid of what God might have to say to us.

Willard offers some important advice on humility. To the pastor who remarks–I do not believe that God plans his day around me—he responds: but we are important. God gave his son to die for us. Still, the fact that God speaks to us does not in itself make us important (46-48). Apparently, talking to a janitor should not be confused with offering him a promotion!

The structure of Willard’s book is not entirely obvious. He writes: “my strategy has been to take as a model the highest and best type of communication that I know of human affairs and then place this model in the even brighter light of the person and teaching of Jesus Christ” (12). Sprinkled throughout the book at the end of six chapters are six exercises. Most follow a lectio divina format—reading (lectio), reflecting (mediatatio), responding in prayer (oratio), and resting in contemplation (contemplation) (104-105).

Willard observes that: “few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for cornflakes or toast and eggs” (283). I feel that quote. He understands the need to be step out for God, not only in the morning, but during the day. He writes that: “it is absolutely essential to the nature of our personal development towards maturity that we venture and be placed at risk, for only risk produces character” (173). As a former financial economist and current volunteer pastor, I can appreciate the role of risk-taking in improving ones decision skills.

Willard Dallas [1] was longtime Professor of Philosophy at was longtime Professor of Philosophy at The University of Southern California, teaching at the school from 1965 until his death in 2013.  He is also the author of numerous books on Christian spirituality.  Hearing God is written in 9 chapters:

A Paradox about Hearing God.
Guidelines for Hearing from God.
Never Alone.
Out Communicating Cosmos.
The Still, Small Voice, and Its Rivals.
The Word of God and the Rule of God.
Redemption through the Word of God.
Recognizing the Voice of God.
A Life More than Guidance.

These chapters are preceded by an introduction and preface. They are followed by an epilogue, appendix, notes, and a scriptural index.

In some sense, writers on spiritual formation can only be evaluated like spiritual directors–do they walk with you and do you continue to walk with them?  In my case, I have finished a second book by Willard—El espíritu de las disciplinas: ¿Cómo transforma Dios la vida? He is good in both English and Spanish.

In part 1 of this review, I have given an overview of the book.  Part 2 will delve into greater depth into some of the issues that Willard raises.

Footnotes

[1] www.dwillard.org/biography. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_....

Willard Hears God, Part 1
Also see:
Books, Films, and Ministry
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

 

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Visions: Monday Monologues (podcast), October 2, 2023

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on the Visions of the Church. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Visions: Monday Monologues (podcast), October 2, 2023
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

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Continuity Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty Father, 

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you guide us through the deserts of life to bring us closer to yourself and protect us amidst much strife (Ps 91:2-7).

Forgive us when we try to go it alone, ignoring your council and pretending that we are able to manage on our own (Num 20:7-12). Do not leaves us at the mercy of our own desires.

Thank you for the many blessings given to Israel (Deut 28:2-14) and conveyed to the faithful of the church (Rom 11), especially the blessing of your presence.

In the power the Holy Spirit, draw us to yourself. Open our hearts, illumine our thoughts, and strengthen our hands in your service.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Continuity Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

 

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Visions of the Church

To all those in Rome who are loved by God  and called to be saints… 

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, 

because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 

(Rom 1:7-8)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Apostle Paul “writes pastoral letters to Christian communities, not evangelistic or apologetic treatises.” (Hays 1989, 86) Paul’s focus is on Christian formation. “Paul does not speak of ethics as such, but of how to walk, the primary term for ethical conduct.” (Thompson 2011, 1, 61). This suggests that telos (Greek for an end or a future goal), not identity or duty, drives Pauline ethics, but it also directs our attention to the Holy Spirit. When one is on a journey, one elicits the services of a guide—no guide is needed to sit and passively observe.

The Journey

At the core of Christian faith is the observation that the universe was created at a point in time (Gen 1:1) and will one day come to an end. In Revelation, this point is made explicit: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Rev 14:7) The Christian faith starts and ends in historical time, not seasonal or mythical time.

Hence, we are collectively in the church on a journey through time where formation matters and a guide is needed if things are to end well. The Apostle Paul is accordingly an instrument of the Holy Spirit in the general sense attributed to all canonical scripture and in the specific sense that he focuses on Christian formation. Paul’s pastoral letters are straightforward mentoring of the churches that he helped establish.

This simple insight responds to a key problem facing postmodern people: A lost sense of history. Being stuck in a moment implies no history, no duty, and no future—life has no meaning. People anesthetize themselves with activities, media, drugs, pets, and so on. It’s like floating in space like an accidental spec of meaningless dust. Because everything depends on expending energy, exhaustion is a constant companion. Nothing changes so our mistakes, our weakness, and our sin haunt us forever. Thanks be to God for our creation, our redemption, and our future in Christ.

Vision for the Church

Richard Hays (1989, 88-91) studied Paul’s use of scripture in Second Corinthians 8:15 reaching an interesting conclusion. In Paul’s discussion of raising money to support the Jerusalem church, he cites the wilderness experience: “whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” (Exod 16:18) 

While Paul uses this passage to argue for equality between the two churches, implicitly he compares the church’s journey of faith to Israel’s wilderness experience. By inference, he sees the church not so much replacing as continuing the Nation of Israel, which Paul makes explicit in his grafting analogy in Romans 11 (Hays 1989, 90, 96). This makes perfect sense if faith is primarily a relationship rather than a membership in any particular community. The formalities of faith, as suggested by the Apostle Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:38), primarily serve to confirm the relationship. Even in Paul’s own writing, however, there is tension between faith as relationship and the formalities of faith, which he also does not eschew (1 Cor 11:23-26).

The Church as Grafted Branch

The continuity of the church with Israel is made most explicitly in Paul’s analogy of the grafting of new believers onto an olive tree, his analogy for Israel:

“For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.” (Rom 11:24)

In grafting, one tree does not replace another because they become one tree. Hays (1989, 96-97) observes: “Paul never uses expressions such as the ’new Israel’ or ‘spiritual Israel.’ There always has been always will be only one Israel.”

This discussion of olive trees may sound casual or incidental to modern readers, but for Jews this is a serious issue because it implies that the blessings bestowed on Israel continue in the church. This includes the mentorship of the Holy Spirit. The wilderness experience of Israel and the temple with the Shekinah cloud continue in the church.

References

Hays, Richard B. 1989. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Thompson, James W. 2011. Moral Formation according to Paul. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Visions of the Church

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com

Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Back_Sep23, Signup

 

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Hays Studies Paul’s Cites

Richard B. Hays. 1989. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

The writings of the Apostle Paul make up about half of the entire New Testament and most of the other books in the New Testament are written by friends of Paul. Paul’s influence on the early church is undisputed. Sharp and insightful as he is, Paul is also inscrutable. His use of Old Testament scripture lies at the heart of this inscrutability.

This inscrutability made Richard B. Hays Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul a magnet for my attention late in my seminary career, when I started, but did not finish the book.

Introduction

The focus of Hays’ work is on hermeneutics, the study of interpretation. Hermeneutics is often controversial, perhaps now more than when Hays wrote, because how one reads the Bible often defines denominations, the translations that they favor, and the words they include and exclude.

In this book, he starts by asking: “How did Paul interpret Israel’s scripture?” (x) He answers:

“I approach the task of interpretation not by reconstructing the historical situation in the churches to which Paul wrote, not by framing hypothetical accounts of the opponents against whom Paul was arguing, but by reading the letters as literary texts shaped by complex intertextual relations with scripture.” (xi)

For Hays, intertextuality refers to: “The imbedding of fragments of an earlier text within a later one.” (14). His goal: “Is to undertake a reading of selected passages in Paul’s letters, attending carefully to the scriptural echoes that sound there.” (xii)

An hermeneutical key that Hays (1, 3) returns to several times is: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” (Rom 10:8 paraphrases Deut 30:14 ESV) Hays observes that there is a: “striking verbal divergence of many New Testament quotations from their putative Old Testament sources.” (6) He notes that most critical studies avoid asking why? (9)

Background and Organization

Richard B. Hays (1948 +) has Bachelor in Arts in English literature from Yale College, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, and a Doctor in Philosophy from Emory University. He is a professor emeritus of Duke Divinity School.

Hays writes in five chapters:

The Puzzle of Pauline Hermeneutics
Intertextual Echo in Romans
Children of Promise
A Letter from Christ
“The Word is Near You”: Hermeneutics in the Eschatological Community (vii)

These chapters are proceeded by a preface and followed by notes and indices.

Hearing Echoes

Hays describes the task of looking at echoes as: “(1) to call attention to them so that others might be enables to hear; and (2) to give an account of the distortion and new figuration that they generate.” (19) This task is most curious because we all paraphrase and cite one another casually without even being aware of it. To design purpose in this activity is to attribute to the Apostle Paul a level of understanding and self-awareness that many do not possess.

Hays (29-31) proposes seven criteria for selecting echoes in Paul’s writing:

Was the proposed source of the echo available to the author and/or original readers…
The volume of an echo is determined primarily by the degree of explicit repetition of words or syntactical patterns…
How often does Paul elsewhere cite or allude to the same scriptural passage?…
Thematic Coherence. How well does the alleged echo fit into the line of argument that Paul is developing?…
Historical Plausibility. Could Paul have intended the alleged meaning effect?…
History of Interpretation. Have other readers both critical and precritical, heard the same echoes?…
With or without clear confirmation from other criteria listed here, does the proposed reading make sense?…

This is the map to explaining the puzzle of Pauline hermeneutics. His first example is taken from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Why the Echoes?

The curiosity of echoes arises in Paul’s writing as a tension between theme and counter-theme. Hays writes:

“In Romans 1:18-3:20, even where Paul uses scriptural allusions to underscore the message of God’s judgment, the texts themselves whisper the countertheme of God’s mercy.” (46)

This statement jumps out at me because this particular passage is much reviled by postmoderns and hammered like a bible-over-the-head by some commentators. Hays refers to this as the ”judgment/grace paradigm that undergirds the whole witness of Scripture.” (47)

The same problem comes up in the law-Gospel dichotomy that stands in contrast to Paul’s statement: “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Rom 3:31) For Hays, the entire narrative of scripture, Old and New Testaments, is about “God’s gracious election of a people.” (53). Paul’s frequent use of scripture echoes the continuity of grace between Israel and the church, even when the citations themselves suggest otherwise.

Paul’s Hermeneutical Freedom

Hays sees Paul employing an ecclesiocentric hermeneutic in interpreting Old Testament scripture rather than a strict hermeneutic method (86). How does the experience of Israel as an eschatological community inform the church? In employing this hermeneutic, Hays him straying from any particular method.

One example of a liberal interpretation is Paul’s “Pesher-style commentary” (text with commentary; 65) cite of Deuteronomy 30:14 in Romans 10:8-9:

“But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (Deut 30:14)

“that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord andbelieve in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:8-9)

This passage then leads to the infamous verse: “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom 10:10) Who would have imaged that this verse began as a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 30:14?

Hays cites many instances of passages that Paul uses outside the original intent and context of the Old Testament authors, adding and subtracting as he goes. Rather than adhering in any particular methods, Paul reads scripture directs his efforts “towards forming the church into a text that glories God.” (192) This is what Hays describes as hermeneutical freedom (186).

Assessment

Richard B. Hays Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul is a fascinating read that should interest pastors and scholars interested in interpreting the Apostle Paul and able to read Greek, Hebrew, and German. Whether or not you accept Hays’ conclusions hermeneutical freedom and the theological implications that go with it, this is a book worthy of study.

Footnotes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard....

Hays Studies Paul’s Cites
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