I have seen recently the emergence of this idea of a Hebraic way of thinking.
Something that is different from the traditional Greco-Roman way of thinking.
More of a meditating on Scripture, rather than analyzing Scripture.
This model for thinking about Scripture and other things is sometimes touted as better than the model we currently have.
And now, I have some thoughts here.
And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Matthew 13:52
We engaged with some similar back-and-forth with the New Perspective on Paul, and Old Testament vs. New Testament, and black-and-white-versus-shades-of-gray.
And I can that this mentality of Either/Or has led us to denigrate where we came from or where we are going.
Or denigrating the old church or the new chesed community.
Or church vs. life after church.
Or swearing as reality versus not -swearing as reality.
There are people who just glued to old ways of doing things, and there are people who are glued to the new ways of doing things. I have seen a whole lot of people set forth these various sides of the coin as the better way of doing things.
In another example, in a church that is hyper-focused on the prophetic, if you get a new prophetic word every week, then in a given year that is 52 words a year. And did you get to go back and sift through whether any of those words were off, and of the words that were on point, how many did you really get a chance to unpack?
And I cannot help but think, if I trash either where I have been, or worse yet, the old ways of doing things, or if I trash the new ways of doing things. If I set where I think G-d has been against where I think G-d is going…
Then I have done myself a disservice.
We are responsible to unpack what is ours to unpack. We are responsible, and especially those of us that are in the office of Scribe, as I am, to bring out and show the value of the old treasures and the new treasures.
And for those who are newly obsessed with Hebrew, this Jew would be the first to remind you that the New Testament was not autographed in Aramaic (ahem, Brian Simmons) or Hebrew, but in Greek. So, while in the OT, the warrior Hebrew informs the text, the language of the Prophet/Phiolosophers of Greece informs the text of the NT, and is no less inspired.
Ultimately, we are each going to have to flow in where we are strongest and what works best for our individual hardwiring, but if we could do so without denigrating the old or the new, but being able to recognize the value in both John MacArthur AND Heidi Baker, in both Chuck Swindoll AND Bill Johnson, in both John Wesley AND Jonathan Edwards, in both Harvard AND Yale, in both the Old AND the New, in both the East AND the West, in the elements outlined in the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Reason, Tradition, Experience), and yes, there is a life-giving redemptive history that threads its way through the history of the church, then we might understand one another.
Even when John MacArthur takes Heidi Baker to task, as he did in Strange Fire, that does not mean we have to do the same, or that we have to refuse to find truth in both modes of being. There is value in being sober-minded in our approach to the text and bring the text of Scripture, the whole canon, to our experiences, and there is also value in bringing an enjoyment of the new wine of our experiences to help us read the text of Scripture, if you will pardon the expression.
And while our experiences should not contradict Scripture, we cannot properly interpret Scripture apart from the inner witness of the Spirit of Truth who leads us into all truth and with the anointing that teaches us all things.
The Bible, in both parts, Giver Old Testament and Prophet New Testament, cannot be read apart from the Holy Spirit, lest what ensue results in our spiritual death from the letter of the law.
We need the Spirit
And our experiences are best tempered with a thorough reading of the text of Holy Writ.
We walk best in authority when we walk in both His words and His works. Both bear witness to His reality.
Just some thoughts.
So, be careful in gallavanting toward your new expression that you do not curse the old expression.
And be careful, in adhering to your older expression that you do not curse the new expression.
There is value, deep value in both.
And in those of us who are Scribes of the Kingdom, the old and the new intersect. Two sets of curiosities litter our homes.
With those twin lenses, we see as with a kaleidoscope.
“dichotomy–
— a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.”
This word popped unbidden into my thought process as I sifted through the gems herein!
There is that contrast of ‘length’ and ‘breadth’, two dimensions. Then I was seeing that these two gave room for the third dimension of ‘depth’! 3-D is richer than 2-D anytime, right?
As a child I enjoyed the treasury of a kaleidoscope, an optical instrument, cylindrical in form, through which I viewed these chips of colour. The delight was in how they tumbled within the plane as I turned the cylinder. The amazing thing to me was that, between thosr two pieces of glass (twin lenses) there appeared to be depth also! Amazing congruence!
So all this was to describe my impression of the wisdom of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Baby in bathtub can be so much lively fun! And the wisdom of reflecting on both sides, through each of the lenses, is sure to bring such rich treasures, as with a glorious kaleidoscope, as you so aptly put it, David!
“dichotomy–
— a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.”
This word popped unbidden into my thought process as I sifted through the gems herein!
There is that contrast of ‘length’ and ‘breadth’, two dimensions. Then I was seeing that these two gave room for the third dimension of ‘depth’! 3-D is richer than 2-D anytime, right?
As a child I enjoyed the treasury of a kaleidoscope, an optical instrument, cylindrical in form, through which I viewed these chips of colour. The delight was in how they tumbled within the plane as I turned the cylinder. The amazing thing to me was that, between thosr two pieces of glass (twin lenses) there appeared to be depth also! Amazing congruence!
So all this was to describe my impression of the wisdom of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Baby in bathtub can be so much lively fun! And the wisdom of reflecting on both sides, through each of the lenses, is sure to bring such rich treasures, as with a glorious kaleidoscope, as you so aptly put it, David!
Ahhh…not only but also. Sweet!
Bingo. One thing I picked up from you many yeara ago, was if we divorce ourselves from our history, and erase those then we have a good.chanc3
Okay, cannot edit that reply. What I was going to say is that you taught me it is bad news and can lead to blandness if we attemot to divorce ourselves as churches from our past in an attempt to purify our structure.
Ahhh…not only but also. Sweet!
Bingo. One thing I picked up from you many yeara ago, was if we divorce ourselves from our history, and erase those then we have a good.chanc3
Okay, cannot edit that reply. What I was going to say is that you taught me it is bad news and can lead to blandness if we attemot to divorce ourselves as churches from our past in an attempt to purify our structure.
I have more thoughts on this than I have time to express right now. Good words and thoughts, and necessary when we humans tend to find the latest thing that “resonates” and then run with zeal as if it’s the ONLY way. In that vein, I’m totally agreed with the spirit of your message. It’s so necessary.
One way I see Hebraic vs. Greek (among several ways) is that Hebraic is like the spirit while Greek is like the soul.
And for me, in that way of thinking, as the spirit is to “drive” the soul and not the other way around, so the Hebraic is the “heart” of the matter, the Greek more the “mind” of it.
Yes, both are needed, just as the Lord designed us in our make-up. Yet, to me, they are not “equal.” When one is to be the “driver” and the other to be the “follower” of the driver, that is not quite equal, per se.
Rather, like in Eden, we “walk with God” when the Breath blows…. yes, the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, or whatever “language” (and linguistics is related to mindset, to perspective, to essence) was spoken by God and man in the beginning — shall we call it “Edenese?” — THAT is the thing.
Greek-ish N.T. says “led by the Spirit,” “walk in the Spirit,” and whatever the original LANGUAGE of those thoughts are, the bottom line is exactly as you say — WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT when we interact with and infuse the Word into ourselves.
Amen, brother. And there’s much more to say.
For me, I have found the words and works of Dr. John Garr (Hebraic Heritage) and a couple others to be quite balancing in perspective as well as high-quality research and perspective. I was and still am thankful that the Lord led me, in His sovereignty, to resources like these, as well as to being filled (aahhhh, FILLED, and to be continually RE-filled) with His own Spirit.
May we each follow His Spirit in this aspect of our journeys. Lead us, Lord. “Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.”
I have more thoughts on this than I have time to express right now. Good words and thoughts, and necessary when we humans tend to find the latest thing that “resonates” and then run with zeal as if it’s the ONLY way. In that vein, I’m totally agreed with the spirit of your message. It’s so necessary.
One way I see Hebraic vs. Greek (among several ways) is that Hebraic is like the spirit while Greek is like the soul.
And for me, in that way of thinking, as the spirit is to “drive” the soul and not the other way around, so the Hebraic is the “heart” of the matter, the Greek more the “mind” of it.
Yes, both are needed, just as the Lord designed us in our make-up. Yet, to me, they are not “equal.” When one is to be the “driver” and the other to be the “follower” of the driver, that is not quite equal, per se.
Rather, like in Eden, we “walk with God” when the Breath blows…. yes, the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, or whatever “language” (and linguistics is related to mindset, to perspective, to essence) was spoken by God and man in the beginning — shall we call it “Edenese?” — THAT is the thing.
Greek-ish N.T. says “led by the Spirit,” “walk in the Spirit,” and whatever the original LANGUAGE of those thoughts are, the bottom line is exactly as you say — WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT when we interact with and infuse the Word into ourselves.
Amen, brother. And there’s much more to say.
For me, I have found the words and works of Dr. John Garr (Hebraic Heritage) and a couple others to be quite balancing in perspective as well as high-quality research and perspective. I was and still am thankful that the Lord led me, in His sovereignty, to resources like these, as well as to being filled (aahhhh, FILLED, and to be continually RE-filled) with His own Spirit.
May we each follow His Spirit in this aspect of our journeys. Lead us, Lord. “Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.”