Tag Archives: Hebrew Scriptures
Compassion as Steadfast Love
Compassion Compassion as Steadfast Love Monday, September 27, 2021 Quaker author Richard Foster has long written on themes of prayer and spiritual practice. Focusing on the Hebrew word hesed, Foster explores the many ways that compassion shows up in the Hebrew Bible, both in God and in how people relate to one another: [The Hebrew… Continue Reading Compassion as Steadfast Love
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible: Weekly Summary
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Saturday, July 3, 2021 Week Twenty-Six Summary and Practice Sunday, June 27—Friday, July 2, 2021 Sunday When we have an understanding of the great themes of Scripture, the whole book from Genesis to Revelation, we see it as communicating a pattern to humanity. The message is this: You are… Continue Reading Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible: Weekly Summary
God Is Always Choosing People
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible God Is Always Choosing People Friday, July 2, 2021 Much of the Bible is largely character development and transformation of persons and institutions. It usually begins with an experience of “election” or chosenness. There’s no getting started, it seems, without somehow knowing oneself as special and empowered. Then the… Continue Reading God Is Always Choosing People
Job: Hoping Against Hope
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Job: Hoping Against Hope Thursday, July 1, 2021 The author of the biblical book of Job wrestled with the mystery of evil. If we look at this book as a drama or play, we can easily see Job as the protagonist, God as the hero, and Satan as the… Continue Reading Job: Hoping Against Hope
Samuel: Bowing to a King
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Samuel: Bowing to a King Wednesday, June 30, 2021 Beginning with the books of Samuel, we can see a tension starting to develop between charism and institution, between the freedom of the Spirit and the inertia of society. Israel started out as a people on the move, following God’s… Continue Reading Samuel: Bowing to a King
Exodus: The Journey of Faith
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Exodus: The Journey of Faith Tuesday, June 29, 2021 The journey of Exodus, the journey that Israel walked, is an image of the journey made by every person who sets out to seek the Divine Presence. Israel is, as it were, humanity personified, and so what happened to Israel… Continue Reading Exodus: The Journey of Faith
Genesis: Everything Is Gift
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible Genesis: Everything Is Gift Monday, June 28, 2021 The first recordings of “The Great Themes of Scripture” began in October, 1973. There were about 1,200 young people attending Friday night services through the newly formed New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati. Richard would often preach for an hour, mostly on… Continue Reading Genesis: Everything Is Gift
You Are Loved
Great Themes of Scripture: Hebrew Bible You Are Loved Sunday, June 27, 2021 When I first gave the “Great Themes of Scripture” talks as a young priest in 1973, I couldn’t begin to imagine how they would change my life, and apparently the lives of many others. They changed mine because they were put on… Continue Reading You Are Loved
Justice in the Scriptures
Prophets: Part Two Justice in the Scriptures Sunday, July 7, 2019 Let me expand on our secular and limited definition of justice which for most Westerners is merely retributive justice. When people on the news say, “We want justice!” they normally mean that bad deeds should be punished or that they want vengeance. Our judicial,… Continue Reading Justice in the Scriptures
Understanding the Prophet
Prophets: Part One Understanding the Prophet Sunday, June 30, 2019 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they… Continue Reading Understanding the Prophet