S Y N C R E T I S M

"I see syncretism as a first step in moving beyond religion toward spiritual practice. Eventually we will realize that God is unknowable, so creed is untenable. What matters is how compassionate and just we are. Those religious ideas and practices that enhance our capacity for compassion and justice will become part of our lives, regardless of the religion from which they come. And to that I say, Amen."

-- Rabbi Rami Shapiro

...and this coming from a Jew? There is hope and it is good!

Summer Reflections

I have finished my reading assignments for the year: EfM Year 1.

I love to read Lowell Grisham's blog (see this page for a link). Today I read the following:

Rabbi Shapiro suggests that there are "three major phases of life." After we have spent some time, usually some considerable time, achieving some degree of financial success, most people find that pursuit unsatisfying, and shift into a second phase of accumulating -- this time "accumulating spiritual things the way you used to accumulate material ones. You 'collect' gurus, seminars, retreats, and mystical experiences in pursuit of the next spiritual high."

He says that this second phase of spiritual accumulation eventually "proves unsatisfying, and you enter the third phase -- divestment. You simplify your life externally and internally. You stop chasing gurus and focus on those few people who really matter to you. You stop shopping for enlightenment and make peace with not-knowing. You realize that life isn't a question to be answered or a problem to be solved but a gift to be enjoyed, both in solitude and with loving friends. The first two phases are hard work. The third is pure play."

I took a moment to look up this Rabbi Rami Shapiro and found:

"Organized religion is sane and not silly when read as myth and poetry rather than science and law. Religion speaks nonsense when taken literally, but reveals some of the deepest truths of humankind when understood mythically, poetically, and even allegorically—that is when it is read with an active and creative imagination."

Excellent stuff! I am now a follower if Rabbi Shapiro's blog.

Chapter 34 - Wisdom & Apocalyptic Literature

Wisdom Literature: common to many Near and Middle Eastern cultures.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job

Apocalyptic Literature: Alexander the Great, Syria, great changes for Judah.

The mind of the wise may perceive wisdom, but wisdom herself issues only from YHWH.

Proverbs...
Ecclesiastes...
Job...

Job addresses the "good things happen to bad people and bad thing happen to good people" - Punishment and reward are beyond comprehension. We continue to wrestle with justice and obedience - ethics and religion are bound together. More than moralistic bookkeeping.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrates the temple - revolt. From Wikipedia, "What began in many respects as a civil war escalated when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenizing Jews in their conflict with the traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned the traditional religion of a whole people"

Aristotle: supreme essence or "Being Itself" - which we might call "God" - but without name or specific cultus.

YHWH - anthropomorphic and constantly involved in the activities of humankind - obedience

Greek tolerance posed a great threat. It made the stubborn insistence of Judaism on the supremacy and jealousy of an old tribal deity look naive.

Pogrom - term dates from Czarist Russia but the practice dates from Antiochus Epiphanes (Epimanes).

Judas the "Maccabee" or "Maccabeus" - Chanukkah/Hanukkah - defeat of the Syrian force in Jerusalem and re-dedication of the temple.

Chasidism groups: quiet piety, interpretation of torah, apocalyptic writers.
Pharisees - expanded oral tradition of interpretation of the torah
Sadducees - literal interpretation

Apocalyptic - to uncover or to reveal - outgrowth of the wisdom tradition

The Book of Daniel: two parts - a series of six narratives (chapters one to six) and four apocalyptic visions (chapters seven to twelve).

The phrase 'son of man' is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. The phrase is also used in Judaism and Christianity. The word used in the Greek, translated as Son of man is ἀνθρώπου, Anthropos. The Book of Daniel's use of the phrase son of man is different because it describes an event of eternal significance.[4] Parts of the text originally written in Aramaic, this portion of the volume deals with a vision attributed to the author about "the times of the end": Daniel 7:13-14 The expression occurs 82 times in the four Gospels, and is used only in the sayings of Jesus. It only occurs four times in other New Testament books.

Common theme: "the historical accuracy of the story has no bearing on its theological thrust."

During and after the Exile, under the influence of Babylonian and Persian systems of belief, a great change becomes noticeable in the angelic lore of the Jews. The more the monotheistic idea took hold of the people—permitting no being to interfere with the absolute supremacy of YHWH—the greater became the need of personifying the working forces of life, and of grouping them in ranks around the throne of God to form His royal court. His transcendent nature demanded a more definite system of heavenly functionaries attending Him and awaiting His commands. Gradually the celestial government was formed after the pattern of the earthly one, as it presented itself, imposing and well organized, at the Persian court. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1521&letter=A interesting reading)

Eschatology - eschaton - last things

First clear statement of resurrection: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Successive world ages
One like a human being
Symbolism involving numbers and beasts
Supernaturally determined future
Woes of the time immediately preceding the end
Last judgment and resurrection
Developing angelology

The effect of the rise of apocalyptic on the formation of the NT can hardly be overstated.

Chapter 33 - The Psalter

One hundred and fifty psalms

Difficulty in dating individual psalms

Hymns of praise or laments

Often laments can turn into songs of praise

Divided into five books

Psalm 22: did the early Christians find this psalm fit the actual details of Jesus' death or was the story shaped by the details of the psalm.

Psalm 58: The psalm is not a "fight song" after which the participants go out and wreak vengeance themselves... (except in modern-day Israel when dealing with the Palestinians) Why can't we have the words of our faith in our hearts which we take into the world instead of leaving the words in holy books or in holy places? I look at what our nation and other nations have done - nations that consider themselves to be Christian or Jewish. Let's complain to God - give God all our grievances and then leave it at that - the vengeance, the punishment is God's; not ours.

Use of the psalms by early Christians... the early church.

Chapter 32 - The Restoration

I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Third Isaiah, Ruth, Jonah... this might be a big chapter!

Even though they were free to return home, many stayed because of the prosperity of Babylon.

Life in the new Jerusalem: exclusive and nationalistic - how horrible.

The P version of history began while in exile.

Read and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the following sequence:

1. Ezra 1, 2:1-70 6. Neh 1:1-7:5

2. Neh 7:6-73a 7. Neh 11-13

3. Ezra 3:1-4:6 8. Neh 9:38-10:39

4. Ezra 4:24-6:22 9. Ezra 7-10

5. Ezra 4:7-23 10. Neh 8:1-9:37

Second Isaiah -> Cyrus "the annointed"
Haggai -> Zerubbabel, the Messiah
Apocalyptic Literature -> Messiah mysterious "a role no historical figure could possibly fill"
Zechariah -> Joshua receives the crown of the Messiah. Originally the name was almost certianly Zerubbabel. Not apocalyptic.

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Isaiah 58 - Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Horrible text from Isaiah 63: I [YWHW] trampled them [Edomites] in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.

One of my favorite images: The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. (Isaiah 65)

"The Jews to whom Third Isaiah was addressed might not have perceived an inconsistency between bloody triumphalism and a vision of peace" <- sounds like today's Israel, eh?

I keep seeing hints that the difference between Israelites and Gentiles must disappear in the fullness of Israel and yet it seem that, with the flourish of fundamentalism, the perceived differences between all peoples is being underlined. God help us all.

Isaiah 61: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Luke 4: Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Damn! This one gets me into trouble, eh? [Ezra] "You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt. Now make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives." ... " All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives." I guess my name would have been on that list.

Is "narrowness of purpose" and "exclusiveness" acceptable (justifiable) if it saves the faith from syncretism?

Voices lamenting the exclusiveness: Ruth and Jonah

Chapter 31 - The Second Isaiah

Persian King Cyrus - Babylon god: Marduk
Nabonidus - moon-gad: Sin

Second Isaiah - hears news of Cyrus, the liberal ruler. Writes from 550-540 BCE

Finally: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."

Handel’s Messiah:
(1) Overture.
(2) Isaiah 40:1-3 “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ...“
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord) make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.
(3) Isaiah 40:4 “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain"
(4) Isaiah 40:5 “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it”.

Error in the text: 48:18-20 should read 40:18-20 (page 538)

It's a fine line, eh? We were taken into exile not because their gods are greater than our God but because our God wanted it. Sounds suspicious to me. We went into exile because we were bad not because your armies were stronger. Because we were bad God made our armies weak and yours strong. Hmmm... yeah, yeah.

"Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!" - reminds me of Jesus and some of the things he did. Were Jesus' acts to be taken literally or a continuation of this concept: we see and we hear but we don't get it... we don't understand.

I struggle with this: present circumstances reflect the righteous judgment of God. I look around me today and see bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people and I can't believe that this reflects the righteous judgment of God.

YHWH will give Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba in ransom for Israel. I struggle with this too. Unless, to the Egyptians, God says, "I will give Ethiopia and Seba and Israel in ransom for Egypt." ...and to the Ethiopians God says, "I will give Egypt and Seba and Israel in ransom for Ethiopia." ... and to the people of Seba God says, "I will give Egypt and Ethiopia and Israel in ransom for Seba." As, in my eyes, we are all part of God's creation. Get over yourselves Israel!

This is good: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

In Hebrew the word for "word" and the word for "deed" are the same. Well, this is significant. If I once new this I had forgotten it. So God's words are deeds.

The Servant. Establishing justice but gently. The Servant will establish a way of life and will provide teachings that will bring about life. (Sounds like Jesus)

Exiles, Servant, suffering, sin-offering, glorification because of suffering, bore the sin of many... WOW. This language is familiar.

Suffering: a medium of salvation. Only through the suffering of the righteous. The unrighteous cannot be the means of salvation for themselves. Interesting...

It is only by reading the Old Testament that we begin to understand the New Testament.

More Servant: Servant's task is given by God, Servant's task may involve suffering, this suffering will be for the many, Servant is a light to the nations.

The Messiah (kingly) and the Servant (intercessory) are separate images. It is Jesus who brings them together: Who do you say that I am? The Messiah. The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected.

Chapter 30 - Ezekiel

More gloomy oracles? More destruction? Can't wait...

Individual Responsibility: revolutionary concept.

Part I - 1-24: visions/prophecies against Jerusalem
Part II - 25-32: oracles against foreign nations
Part III - 33-48: oracles of hope for return and reconstruction

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

He is given pastoral responsibility for God's people. He must warn others or he is guilty.

This is some strange stuff:
"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year."

Although the elders remain PUBLICLY loyal to YHWH, in SECRET, perhaps within an actual secret sanctuary, these leaders of Israel worship the animal-like gods of Egypt. - perhaps the "secret sanctuary" is their hearts, their minds. But YHWH has access to everything.

Wonderful story (parable):
"Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare. Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for you—the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them."

Big OUCH: "So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you." (a whore who pays her tricks)

New mood for the community that returns: penitential, concern for atonement for sin: sin-offerings, guilt-offerings. Sacrifice: pain and loss.

Individuals experienced their worth and followed out their destiny only as members of a family, tribe, clan, or nation. Guilt of the individual could become the corporate guilt of the nation.

The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

The change in the direction determines: turning from one to the other (from righteousness or to righteousness)

Those in Jerusalem not taken into exile cannot depend on the righteousness of previous generations. Those in exile complaining about the actions of previous generations that have resulted in their exile should look to their own lives.

Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Reconstruction of the new temple - the new temple should be the human heart.

Ezekiel 34:11-16:
I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I was reminded of Psalm 23 as I read the above:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me....

The Valley of the Dry Bones: the resurrection/restoration of a dead community.

Detail plans for the temple: "I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man's hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high. Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep. Then he measured the portico of the gateway; it was eight cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.... . . . . . . " I was very disappointed when I read this. It shows me that they still didn't get it. It's not a physical temple made out of stones that counts it is the human temple in the hearts of the people.

A legal code was read to the people but it was not Ezekiel's code. Ezekiel differs from the norm of the Torah. Censorship... regulations forbidding anyone under 30 from reading the book. Hmmm...