03-07-2022, 08:00 PM
Oh, that can of worms. I've already laid the groundwork: You cannot approach Hebrew writing with an English/Western orientation. Well, the article you refer to shows the inherent flaw of Jewish Talmudic legalism, since it is reading Hebrew from a Hellenist orientation (which Hellenism is now a fundamental aspect to Western Civilization, to include the English language). Using Aristotle to explain Hebrew mystical parables means you cannot avoid missing the point of the Scripture text. Trying to nail down mystical parables with concrete boundaries results in religious legalism.
I reject both ex nihilo and the silly mythology in that article as different flavors of the same lie: missing the point. It's asking all the wrong questions, and is quite irreverent of God's purpose in having Moses include that narrative in his Pentateuch. The primary purpose of the narrative is not to answer all the questions we might have, but to provide a moral sense about our fallen nature and why this world is such an annoying existence. It wasn't meant to provide the grounds for hints and speculation about the mechanism of Creation, but to leave you with a sense of obligation about what God requires of you.
There is a sense in which all divine revelation is cast in terms of what God requires of us. Knowing what God commands and demands is the only possible way we can know Him. The root nature of spiritual birth is to become aware of God's divine moral character, and it's written into our convictions in terms of what we must and must not do to please Him. Love Him as your Father and feudal Lord, and love your covenant brother/sister as yourself. This is what He requires; redemption is embracing His requirements as the definition of "good".
All we really need to know in order to set our feet on the path of redemption is that God made everything and that the situation today is not what He had in mind for us. The Seven Days of Creation provide a Hebraic concept of taxonomy, not a scientific explanation. The Hebrew language is inherently symbolic and dramatic, not precise and literal. The whole mental orientation that the precise word choice of Genesis 1&2 is critical is completely outside the ancient Hebrew culture. It's story time children; you cannot possibly understand the real facts -- they can't be put into words -- so we are going to give you enough for you to proceed with what really matters for living as children in the Household of God.
So, to announce to an English audience that the Holy Spirit is somehow the feminine aspect of God is asking for trouble. You can already guess what kind of blasphemous nonsense that will produce. To say the same thing to an ancient Hebrew audience would produce an entirely different reaction. They don't even have the same concept of "feminine". I won't argue that the statement is false; I'll assert that it's improper for a Western audience that doesn't have a solid background in Hebrew thinking.
I reject both ex nihilo and the silly mythology in that article as different flavors of the same lie: missing the point. It's asking all the wrong questions, and is quite irreverent of God's purpose in having Moses include that narrative in his Pentateuch. The primary purpose of the narrative is not to answer all the questions we might have, but to provide a moral sense about our fallen nature and why this world is such an annoying existence. It wasn't meant to provide the grounds for hints and speculation about the mechanism of Creation, but to leave you with a sense of obligation about what God requires of you.
There is a sense in which all divine revelation is cast in terms of what God requires of us. Knowing what God commands and demands is the only possible way we can know Him. The root nature of spiritual birth is to become aware of God's divine moral character, and it's written into our convictions in terms of what we must and must not do to please Him. Love Him as your Father and feudal Lord, and love your covenant brother/sister as yourself. This is what He requires; redemption is embracing His requirements as the definition of "good".
All we really need to know in order to set our feet on the path of redemption is that God made everything and that the situation today is not what He had in mind for us. The Seven Days of Creation provide a Hebraic concept of taxonomy, not a scientific explanation. The Hebrew language is inherently symbolic and dramatic, not precise and literal. The whole mental orientation that the precise word choice of Genesis 1&2 is critical is completely outside the ancient Hebrew culture. It's story time children; you cannot possibly understand the real facts -- they can't be put into words -- so we are going to give you enough for you to proceed with what really matters for living as children in the Household of God.
So, to announce to an English audience that the Holy Spirit is somehow the feminine aspect of God is asking for trouble. You can already guess what kind of blasphemous nonsense that will produce. To say the same thing to an ancient Hebrew audience would produce an entirely different reaction. They don't even have the same concept of "feminine". I won't argue that the statement is false; I'll assert that it's improper for a Western audience that doesn't have a solid background in Hebrew thinking.