Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 94

Tozer Teaches God’s Attributes

A. W. Tozer. 2014. Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God. North Fort Myers: Faithful Life Publishers.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Long writing projects, like my recent memoir, yield a new awareness of the subject being studied, but it comes at the sacrifice of other activities and physical exhaustion. An important way that I recharge my batteries after such projects is to focus on self-care in my reading, devotions, and daily work-out. At the recommendation of a close, spiritual friend, I turned this month to A.W. Tozer’s little book, Knowledge of the Holy.

Who is A.W. Tozer?

Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897–1963) was an American Christian pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor who received two honorary doctoral degrees but had no formal seminary training. As pastor, he was associated with the Christian Missionary Alliance, a holiness denomination, and served as editor of their official publication, now known as Alliance Life. As author, he wrote at least a dozen books focused primarily on Christian spirituality. Knowledge of the Holy was published in 1961, just two years prior to his death.

Introduction

Tozer begins his work with a question: “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” (10) He also expresses a concern about a loss of a sense of God’s majesty leading to an observation: “Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit.” (5) Tozer links this lost sense of the transcendence of God to idolatry and libel against his character (11-13).

If God’s nature is incomprehensible and ineffable, what attributes has he revealed about himself? (16-20) Tozer starts by describing the Trinity, but lingers on mystery of how the Trinity could exist even as God is indivisible in his being. He writes: “All of God does all that God does.” (27) Tozer reflects on the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicaean Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, noting how they spell out with great care how God in three persons can be understood (34) He then observes that work of creation is attributed to God the Father (Genesis 1:1), Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16), and the Holy Spirit (Job 26:13, and Psalms 104:3) (36), which completes the thought that the Trinity is invisible.

Clearly, Tozer prefers to swim in the deep end of the pool.

Organization

Tozer goes on to examine each of God attributes, devoting a chapter to each one for a total of twenty-three chapters. While some might think that God’s attributes are dry and boring, they are terribly important in separating good theology from weak theology.

Self-Existence of God

For example, God’s self-existence not conditioned on anything in the created universe implies that he transcends creation, is not bound by time or space (37-44). The need for Christ arises directly from the problem that as created beings we cannot approach God; he must reveal himself to us. So the question of how many paths are there up the mountain to God is answered: none—God must come to us. It also means that we are totally dependent on him; not the other way around.

God’s Immutability

Tozer’s comments on the immutability of God are interesting. He writes: “To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.” (63) If God were to change, he would have to go from better to worse, worse to better, or change within himself. God’s holiness means that he cannot go from worse to better. Of course, we would not want him to go from better to worse, which might mean that he would perhaps neglect his promises. And God is self-existence, not compose of parts that might need to be harmonized (63-64).

If you think that God’s immutability is boring, think of what it would mean for God to need to learn something or for God to make a mistake—what exactly would a “divine opps” look like? For example, what if the laws of physic changed because God made a mathematical error and the universe imploded?

God is More than Love

Tozer’s comments about love are most helpful. He observes:

“If love is equal to God, then God is only equal to love, and God and love are identical. Then we destroy the concept of personality in God and deny outright all His attributes save one, and that one we substitute for God…

 The words ‘God is love’ mean that love is an essential attribute of God. Love is something true of God but it is not God. It expresses the way God is in His unitary being, as do the words holiness, justice, faithfulness, and truth.” (124)

The personality of a person arises because of their attributes, but also their personal history, which includes many painful experiences. If God’s love defined him in his totality, then how could he justly deal with sin? How loving would God be if he ignored the actions of mass murders and rapists, simply so he could be totally loving to everyone? What kind of love would that be? We really do want God to be just as well as loving.

Assessment

W. Tozer’s book, Knowledge of the Holy, is a Christian classic that deserves to be read and discussed by every Christian.

Footnotes

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._W._T....

This is actually one lesson from the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis:  11:1-9.

Tozer Teaches God’s AttributesAlso see:Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022

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God’s Attributes: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 31, 2022

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on God’s Attributes. 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!

God’s Attributes: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 31, 2022
Also see:



Monday Monologue On March 26, 2018 



Other ways to engage online:



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





Newsletter: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022

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Attributes Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Almighty Father,

All praise and honor be to you, for you created us in your image and empowered us with seeds of your eternal, sovereign, transcendent, and holy attributes that allow us to grow closer to you with each passing day.

Forgive us when we fail to water these seeds and to place in the sun where they might grow.

We give thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ, who sparkled among us bringing life, light, and the possibility of joy.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us the strength to live in your light, the grace to offer those around us, and the peace that passes all understanding.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Attributes Prayer
Also see:
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: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022
 

 

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God’s Attributes

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Bible starts telling us that: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen 1:1) What do these simple words tell us about God’s image and how we reflect it?

Eternal

The phrase in the beginning tells us that God is eternal. If creation has a beginning, then it must also have an end. This implies that creation is not eternal, but the God who created it must be. 

As part of the created order, we do not participate in God’s eternal nature the same way that he does. As moral beings, we are restricted in time and space, but when we marry and have a family we participate in eternity for the season of creation through our descendants. God’s commands us to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28), which implies both to participate in eternity and God’s sovereignty.

Sovereignty

God’s sovereignty arises out of creative right. God did not buy creation online, win it in a raffle, or arm-wrestle Satan for it, he owns it because he created it.

We participate in God’s sovereignty in several respects. First, we are created in God’s image, which makes us sons and daughters of God, heirs to the throne. Second, we are told in Genesis 2:15 that we were placed in the Garden of Eden to care for it. In the biblical context, we are essentially granted regency to creation, but today we would describe this mandate as being stewards of creation. Jesus’ Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30) captures this stewardship interpretation of God’s sovereignty.

This link between God’s sovereignty and creation has important implications for our stewardship of the earth, but it has more normally been interpreted to imply stewardship of our families, resources, churches, and community. Stewardship implies both ownership and responsibility. Sovereignty is inconsistent with passivity, buck-passing, and self-imposed dependency—we are victors in Christ, not victims of anyone or anything. Being sovereign starts with caring for our own bodies and spiritual well-being.

Transcendent

Because God stands outside of time and space, he transcends both time and space, which implies that as mortal beings we cannot approach God without his assistance. As Christians, we believe that God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ so that we might be redeemed of our sin and approach God as sons and daughters created in his image.

The Tower of Babel narrative is the Bible’s preeminent transcendence story (Gen 11:1-9). In the story, men tried to build a tower to heaven intending to force God to come down and bless their city. The text reads: “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen 11:4)

The phrase make a name for ourselves suggests an attempt to gain sovereignty over God, while the reference to the word dispersed suggests disobedience to God’s creation mandate (Gen 1:28).  We can imagine God looking down from heaven and just laughing at these foolish men because he immediately does away with this building project by confusing them with different languages. Yet, the Tower of Babel in a physical sense provides a metaphor for philosophical towers that we have more recently attempted to build, such as the Enlightenment Project.

While we cannot participate in God’s transcendence over time and space, we transcend things of our own creation, like our work. When we place our faith in God and make him our first priority, we likewise transcend our work and other idols of our own creation. The Apostle Paul makes this point when he talks about building on a false foundation and making our bodies God’s temple (1 Cor 3:12-17).

Holy

So, from the first sentence in the Bible we know that God is eternal and he is sovereign, but we also know that he is holy. Why? Are heaven and earth equal? No. Heaven is God’s residence. From the story of Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush (Exod 3:5), we learn that any place where God is becomes holy in the sense of being set apart or sacred. Because God resides in heaven, it must be holy. Earth is not.

An important lesson in holiness is given in the Fourth Commandment:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exod 20:8-11)

Remember that holy means both sacred and set apart. While God is sacred by his nature, we are by nature sinful. When we participate in holy activities, like Sabbath rest, we emulate God himself. This is contrary to nature so it must be deliberate.

Sunday worship is an act of obedience, a participation in holiness. When Moses said to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, that they may hold aa feast to me in the wilderness.'” (Exod 5:1), his motivation was to offer sacrifices that were detestable to the Egyptians. Moses sacrificed  animals considered sacred by the Egyptians, something not easily done at home with the neighbors watching (Exod 8:26). Offering sacrifices in this manner denied the idols of that day. When we attend worship with our families, donating time and money, we are effectively denying the idols of our day—sex, power, and money. 

While we do not make ourselves holy attending Sunday worship, we make room for God in our lives. The term, sacrifice of worship, is accordingly not an empty phrase.

God’s Attributes
Also see:
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: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022
 

 

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Neyrey Explains Honor and Shame, Part 2

Jerome H. Neyrey.  1998.  Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew. Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press. (Go to part 1)

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Neyrey organizes his discussion of honor like an anthropologist into 7 categories:

Definition of honor,Sources of honor,Conflict and honor,Display and recognition of honor,Collective honor, andGender and honor (14-15).

Under sources of honor, for example, Neyrey notes that honor can be both ascribed as in being born into a well-known family or achieved as in earning special merit (15).

Shame, by contrast, is the opposite of honor—loss of respect, regard, worth, and value in the eyes of others.  A shameless person does not care what people think of them (30).  Because honor and shame are displayed publicly, our individualistic culture downplays both honor and shame.

Honor must, of course, be defended.  Neyrey notes 4 steps into challenges to honor and response—reposte:

Claim to honor,Challenge to that claim,Riposte to the challenge, andPublic verdict by onlookers (44).

Neyrey (51) sees many examples of challenge and riposte in Matthew.  For example in Matthew 9: 1-8 we see:

Claim to honor:  “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” [Divinity claim] (v 2)

Challenge:         “This man is blaspheming.” (v 3)

Riposte:             “Which is easier…Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” (vv 5-6)

Verdict:              “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid…” (v 8)

Much of Neyrey’s book focuses on the details of Matthew’s encomium of Jesus. For example, Matthew portrays Jesus as just in performing his duties to God, his parents, and the dead (109).  Jesus is faithful to God (his heavenly patron) even until death (Matt 26:39; 110).  He defended the rights of parents over traditions, like “korban” (Matt 15:5).  While Neyrey skips over the question of just for the dead, clearly Jesus’ teaching about eternal life would also honor the dead.

A key hypothesis that Neyrey advances is to read the Sermon on the Mount as reforming the honor code of his society.  Neyrey writes:

“Jesus did not overthrow the honor code as such, but rather redefined what constitutes honor in his eyes and how his disciples should play the game…For example, he forbade his disciples to play the typical village honor game by forswearing honor claims (i.e. boasting), challenges (i.e. physical and sexual aggressiveness), and ripostes (i.e. seeking satisfaction and revenge). Moreover, he attempted to redefine whose acknowledge (i.e. grant of honor) truly counts…Jesus , then, changed the way the honor game was played and redefined the source of honor, name, acknowledgment by God, not by neighbor.” (164).

Most importantly in this respect, Neyrey suggests that the Greek words “makarios” and “ouai” be translated respectively as esteemed or honorable (not blessed or happy) and as shame on or disrespectable (165-166). In this way, Jesus is redefining the honor code that applies to his disciples.

Neyrey also sees Jesus redefining shame in the last “makario”.  This verse in Matthew reads:  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute [drive out] you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matt 5:11 ESV)  Neyrey sees this verse addressing the problem of a son being disinherited for becoming Jesus’ disciple rather than being generally persecuted (169).  In other words, what society took as dishonorable, Jesus redefined as honorable.

Following Neyrey, the Sermon on the Mount can be read as Jesus offering more than your typical a pep talk to his disciples who needed reassurance.  He was commissioning them to a higher calling.  This calling was something worth dying for or, more importantly, something to live for.

Clearly, this reading is as important today as it was then.

Footnotes

Neyrey reads Matthew as implying that:  “Discipleship often meant cross-generational conflict within families.” (227)  Today we see this dynamic when a Muslim or Jewish child converts to Christianity or when a child from a “good family” suddenly “gets religion” and drops out of college to pursue social ministry.

Neyrey Explains Honor and Shame, Part 2Also see:Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022

 

 

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Values: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 24, 2022

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on Values. 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!

Values: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 24, 2022
Also see:



Monday Monologue On March 26, 2018 



Other ways to engage online:



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





Newsletter: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022

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Refiner’s Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Sovereign God,

All praise and honor be to you, because you created all that is, was, or will ever be by your sovereign word and declared it to be good. Nothing in heaven or on earth can contend with you or harass us because of your almighty power and your creation of us in your image.

We confess that we act as if we were orphans, not under your protection and grace. Forgive our arrogant and neglectful sin when we fall short of your will for our lives. Forgive us when we tarnish your image in ourselves and others. Forgive us when will focus on circumstances and forget your untarnished image.

We give thanks for the many blessings that you have given us: life, health, family, work to do, and the community of faith to sustain us. Thank you especially for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that allows us to approach your mercy seat with confidence.

We lift up our families, communities, and country, plagued with besetting sins and moral corruption. In the power of your Holy Spirit, cleanse our hearts and draw us back to you. May the cure not kill the patient. Teach us the discipline of obedient children that we might grow stronger every day in your image.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Refiner’s Prayer
Also see:
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: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022
 

 

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Intrinsic and Market Values

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

 In the beginning, 

God created the heavens and the earth. 

(Gen 1:1)

This immense value of the human being arises from God’s immense power. The observation that God created the heavens and the earth means that they belong to him by creative right. God’s social position is second to none. Because God values human beings, their life has intrinsic value—value that does not change with circumstances—and that value is enormous. The concept of human rights arises from the intrinsic value of being created in the image of God. A tiny fraction of infinity is still infinite.

The Death Penalty

The derivative value of human life arises in the biblical discussion of the death penalty.  We read: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Gen 9:6) This implies that an attack on human beings is an attack on God himself, with explicit reference to the word, icon, used in Genesis 1:26-27. Taking human life is a sacrilege whose penalty is to forfeit your own life. Essentially, human life is sacred.

The hedge placed around human life is similar to the hedge that Moses placed around Mount Sinai. We read: “And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, Take care not to go up into the mountain [Mount Sinai] or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.” (Exod 19:12) This hedge is a consequence of God’s holiness because holy means both sacred and set apart.  Like diamonds in a vault, we protect things of value.

Why the high value of human life in Hebrew culture? We can only speculate that for a nation composed of ex-slaves who would have been abused in every possible way, placing a high value on human life (and by inference condemning any sort of abuse) would be a high priority. Abused people are often sensitive to being touched. The Biblical taboo on sexual deviance and abuse is rooted in historical experience of slavery.

Reducing penalties in capital cases has the practical advantage of reducing the violence targeting police as they apprehend murderers and reducing cost of conviction when prosecutors cut plea deals. It is also often argued that murder is often a crime of passion (or youthful indiscretion) where severe penalties provide no deterrent. Because almost all murder trials are highly publicized, the deterrent effect of a death penalty can be enormous. 

The Slippery Slope

Setting aside the practical benefits of eliminating the death penalty, reducing the penalty for murder has the direct consequence of reducing the sacredness of human life. If murderers can negotiate their way to a reduced penalty, then why not serial killers and mass murderers? This slippery slope is responsible for the increased social strife that we are now experiencing.

Reducing the penalty for murder also violates the social contract that gave the civil authority the exclusive right to yield power. Police officers carry both a badge (a symbol of authority) and a gun (a symbol of power). Prior to the Enlightenment, blood vengeance and honor fights, such as dueling, were the norm. When judges are viewed as unfair or too lenient on murderers, people riot. The riots following police shootings raise the specter of this violated social contract. This is not racial issue, per se. 

The sacredness of human life requires justice. If the justice system employs market values rather than intrinsic values in determining penalties, then murderers will be punished according to the financial and social status of their victims. If you compare the Ten Commandments with other legal systems in the ancient near east, they differ in having only one set of laws for everyone. The other systems all embody one set of penalties for aristocrats and another set for everyone else (e.g. Arnold and Beyer 2002, 104-117). Judges need no victim impact statements if life is sacred. Racial differences in penalties mirror this increased reliance on market rather than intrinsic values.

Human rights—a concept based on intrinsic value—exist because we are created in the image of a Holy God. If the sovereignty of God or his existence is questioned, then the sacredness of human life is diminished as we slide down along the slippery slope. Milestones along the slippery slope include less concern for discrimination, injustice, abuse, mistreatment of prisoners, weapons of mass destruction, euthanasia, abortion, designer babies, and a host of other detestable practices.

Shouting louder about any of these issues is a vain exercise if we disrespect God and forget that we are created in his image.

Intrinsic Versus Market Value

Our capitalist society focuses, not on intrinsic values, but on market values. Market values change with volatile circumstances. Your market value as a person implicitly depends on your productivity. If you are young, old, or unable to work, then you are a dependent and a burden on working people. The focus on market values inherently disrespects God’s image. When God is not honored, neither are we.

The strong influence of market values on our self-image explains, in part, why depression rates tend to be highest among population groups who are unable to work. The rate of depression, suicide, anxiety disorders, addictions, and divorce appear to be correlated with changing job prospects. Is it any wonder why elderly people become so depressed that they need to be medicated? As their physical and financial strength wanes, their mental state declines under a market value assessment..

Economists value human life by asking questions like: How much life insurance do you purchase? This is a market-value measure of self-worth. Market values go up and down. At age 25, I might only buy a little life insurance while at age 40 I might buy considerably more. Circumstances change our assessment of both perceived needs and self-worth.

God’s Sovereignty

God’s sovereignty is our sovereignty. While God’s domain is the universe, our domain is our family, the church, and work in the community. In God’s economy, we are sovereign in our domain analogous to God’s sovereignty in his domain. Our self-image should reflect this sovereignty even though, in Christ, we yield it with humility, much like our Heavenly Father.

References

Arnold, Bill T. And Bryan E. Beyer. 2002. Readings from the Ancient Near East. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Intrinsic and Market Values
Also see:
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: https://bit.ly/HNY__2022

 

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Neyrey Explains Honor and Shame, Part 1

Jerome H. Neyrey.  1998.  Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew. Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press. (Go to part 2)

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

A frequent comment in the church today is the need to stop using all those “churchy” words. While the definition of “churchy” may be up for grabs, the focus of these comments is usually on words that have in the postmodern context lost their meaning. Verses, such as—“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power…” (Rev 4:11 ESV)—almost certainly be classified as knee-deep in churchy words, because our buddy culture admits no one worthy of praise, glory or honor or of titles such as Lord and God.

Introduction

In his book, Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew, Jerome H. Neyrey states his objective plainly:  “This book focuses on the praise of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in narrative form by the evangelist Matthew.” (1)  Neyrey sees gospel as a type of ancient writing form called an encomium which is a structured biography designed to offer praise (2). The rules for writing such encomium were the subject of rhetorical handbooks, starting with Aristotle.  Neyrey (4) writes:

“Nothing in the exercise of praise was left to chance, for students were instructed concerning the form of speech of praise, as well as the specific content of each element in that form.  They learned to organize their praise according to the conventional manner of presenting a person’s life from birth to death and in light of specific rules for developing praise at each state of life.”

Honor (τιμη) is the “worth or value of persons both in their own eyes and in the eyes of the village or neighborhood”…“concern for ‘honor’ as reputation and ‘good name’ was endemic to the ancient world…” (5)

An important, but questionable, assumption in some biblical interpretation is that honor and shame play a same role in our own culture as in biblical culture. Cultural anthropologist sometimes describe American culture today as a guilt-innocence culture where guilt is only triggered when a law has been transgressed and shame, if experienced at all, is trigger when a law is broken and publically exposed. The shame and guilt so important in biblical culture has lost its meaning. Complaints about the meaninglessness of “churchy” words underscore an important cultural shift that renders aspects of the biblical witness out of reach.

Organization

Neyrey writes in 10 chapters divided into 3 parts:

Part One:  Matthew: In Other Words

Honor and Shame in Cultural PerspectiveReading Matthew in Cultural Perspective

Part Two:  Matthew and the Rhetoric of Praise

The Rhetoric of Praise and BlameAn Encomium for Jesus: Origins, Birth, Nurture, and TrainingAn Encomium for Jesus: Accomplishments and DeedsAn Encomium for Jesus: Deeds of the Body and Deeds of FortuneAn Encomium for Jesus: A Noble Death

Part Three:  The Sermon on the Mount in Cultural Perspective

Matthew 5:3-12—Honoring the DishonoredMatthew 5:21-28—Calling Off the Honor GameMatthew 6:1-18—Vacating the Playing Field (v).

These chapters are preceded by an introduction and followed by a bibliography and indices.

Assessment

Neyrey is a tough read. Not only is it hard to follow the arguments, the arguments challenge important preconceptions that we hold in reading scripture. What happens if the “Jesus in our head” is not the Jesus of the bible?  What if our kids hear something different than what we do during the Sunday morning service? These are important questions which directly affect our interpretation of scripture and experience of church.  In Part 2 (look for the post on Monday, March 2), I will explore Neyrey’s arguments in more detail.

Footnotes

http://www.knowledgeworkx.com/blogs/k....

For example, read:  2 Corinthians 7: Godly Grief (http://wp.me/p3Xeut-Ba).

Neyrey Explains Honor and Shame, Part 1Also see:Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter: https://bit.ly/Christ_2021

 

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Heart and Mind: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 17, 2022

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on Heart and Mind. 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!

Heart and Mind: Monday Monologues (podcast), January 17, 2022
Also see:



Monday Monologue On March 26, 2018 



Other ways to engage online:



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





Newsletter: https://bit.ly/Christ_2021

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