Posts Tagged: Jeremiah

“The Humanity of the Biblical Prophets”

On November 20, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

A speaker at the Society of Biblical Literature at the 2021 annual meeting, pointed out that the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both prophets and priests. They both talked about the anger of God toward God’s people, as well.

However, she then pointed out that there was a huge difference in them. “Jeremiah was a compassionate prophet who happened to be a priest, whereas Ezekiel was an angry priest who happened to be a prophet.” I was intrigued by this observation. And whether or not she is quite correct in this, she points out something that we always need to remember: The prophets were real, live human beings. They had their own personalities, their own stories, their own styles. What was true for the prophets is also true for all other biblical authors.

Yes, I believe that the Bible contains God’s Word for all people for all time. However, the Bible did not fall from Heaven. It was given through human beings. No matter how much we emphasize the divine aspect of the Bible, we also need to take seriously the human aspect of the Bible.

And to my way of thinking, taking seriously this human aspect of the Bible makes it even more compelling and miraculous. If God can reveal himself to a bunch of idiosyncratic people, then God is indeed the God of miracles and of mercy. I’ve been a human all of my life. I’ve hung around other humans a lot. So, I can say—without any hesitation—that we humans are an ornery lot.

A Christian teacher was asked by a skeptic why he believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His response was, “One reason I believe the Gospel is that it has survived two thousand years of the church.” Perhaps the same could be said of the Bible. One of the indicators of its divine nature is that has survived being written down by human beings. Taking the Bible seriously as a human production might help us to understand it better. It might also help us to appreciate God’s part in its production even more.

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“On Refusing to Make God’s Violent Language My Own”

On December 2, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I heard a paper presented at the annual Society of Biblical Language that made me profoundly uncomfortable. That does not make it a bad paper. Sometimes a body needs to be profoundly uncomfortable.

The basic thesis of the paper was that the violent language about God’s punishment of Judah in the Book of Jeremiah is profoundly disturbing. Such language can be—has been—used to justify violence in contemporary domestic relationships. This language participates in the very common practice of “victim-blaming.”

I checked out of the paper early. I couldn’t listen anymore. I can only handle so much truth at one time.

Of course, there are other ways of reading Jeremiah’s words. Jeremiah and other parts of the Bible can be read, not as God’s deepest intentions for Judah or the human race. Rather, these violent words can be read as the horrible consequences of our own decisions and behaviors.

Furthermore, I believe that it is always questionable to take the words of God, and use them to justify our own thoughts, words, and actions. God is God, if there is a God at all. We are not God. It might be wise to keep that in mind.

Two more observations might help (a little) with the violent language of God.

  1. The human race is violent. If God is to communicate with us at all, God must use language that we understand. Unfortunately, we are all fluent in the language of violence.
  2. Neither Judah, nor I, nor you, nor anyone are altogether innocent victims. Violence begets violence. Perhaps it isn’t that God’s violence begets ours, but that our violence gives birth to the violence of God.

When I was an atheist, I was violent. Now that I am a believer, I still struggle with violent thoughts and words. Especially on the highway, I struggle with my violent tendencies. The violence with which I need to wrestle is my own violence.

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