Pentecost Thought
There are occasions when you feel like kicking yourself for missing something that has been staring you in the face all the time. In the past I have tended to see the relationship between Exodus 32 and the Day of Pentecost primarily in terms of contrast: 3,000 people are slain after the giving of the Law at Sinai, whilst 3,000 people are saved after the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. Whilst all of this is certainly true, it now seems to me that they might be more of a parallel going on.
This morning the violence of the expression ‘cut to the heart’ (Acts 2:37) struck me for the first time. Reading, as the modern reader tends to do, such an expression merely as colourful figure of speech, I had never asked why it might have been employed. I now think that there might be something more to it.
In Exodus 32 we see that Israel has been unfaithful and worshipped the golden calf. Moses, the one who had ascended, calls those who are faithful to come to him. The Levites take the sword and slay their brethren, killing 3,000. They are then blessed and consecrated and fear comes upon the people. On the Day of Pentecost we see that Israel has been unfaithful and slain her Messiah. The ascended One gives those who are faithful to Him the sword of the Spirit and they cut 3,000 of their brethren to the heart. They are then blessed and fear comes upon the people.
I have observed in the past that the start of priesthoods seems to be associated with acts of righteous violence. We see this in Exodus 32 and Numbers 25, for example (another example is Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in the wilderness after His Baptism). It only seems appropriate that the foundation of the New Covenant priesthood should be accompanied by such a decisive and significant act of holy warfare.
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[...] ***Josh, the Fearsome Pirate, puts his finger on one of the reasons why I would find it hard to become a Lutheran and reminds me of one of the reasons I so appreciate the Reformed tradition: ‘The Bible & Lutheranism’. ***Peter Leithart blogs on a subject that has long interested me: the necessity of the Incarnation. The question of the necessity of the Incarnation might strike some as needlessly speculative. However, our answer to this question does have a lot of practical import, not least in our understanding of the relationship between creation and redemption and the manner in which Christ relates to the cosmos. It raises teleological questions very similar to those raised in supra-infra debates, but does so in a far more biblical manner (supra-infra debates that are not grounded in Christology do strike me as unhelpfully speculative). ***Leithart also blogs on the subject of Pentecost on the First Things blog, one of a number to do so over the last few days. NTW sermons on Ascension and Pentecost have also been posted on the N.T. Wright Page. Joel Garver also blogs on Pentecost here. Over the next few months I will be doing a lot of work on the subject of canonical background for the account of Acts 2 (something that I have blogged about in the past). I will probably blog on the subject in more detail in the future. ***There have been a number of engagements with popular atheism in the blogosphere recently, particularly by Doug Wilson. Wilson’s recent debates with Christopher Hitchens can be found on the Christianity Today website: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. It is interesting to see how Hitchens consistently seems to fail to get Wilson’s point about warrant for moral obligation. Macht also has a helpful post in which he observes Richard Dawkins’ tendency to lightly dismiss positions (not just Christian ones) without ever taking the trouble to try to understand them first. ***Joel Garver summarizes the recent PCA report on the NPP/FV and posts a letter raising some questions and concerns on the subject. ***Ben posts an interesting list of recent and forthcoming must read theological books and Kim Fabricius loses all credibility. ***A recent convert to Roman Catholicism argues that FV theology leads Romeward. A recent convert to Eastern Orthodoxy argues that Peter Leithart was instrumental in his conversion. The first post prompted a very lively and rather heated discussion in the comments (which I participated in). [...]
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By toby on 06.12.06 9:55 pm
[...] ***Josh, the Fearsome Pirate, puts his finger on one of the reasons why I would find it hard to become a Lutheran and reminds me of one of the reasons I so appreciate the Reformed tradition: ‘The Bible & Lutheranism’. ***Peter Leithart blogs on a subject that has long interested me: the necessity of the Incarnation. The question of the necessity of the Incarnation might strike some as needlessly speculative. However, our answer to this question does have a lot of practical import, not least in our understanding of the relationship between creation and redemption and the manner in which Christ relates to the cosmos. It raises teleological questions very similar to those raised in supra-infra debates, but does so in a far more biblical manner (supra-infra debates that are not grounded in Christology do strike me as unhelpfully speculative). ***Leithart also blogs on the subject of Pentecost on the First Things blog, one of a number to do so over the last few days. NTW sermons on Ascension and Pentecost have also been posted on the N.T. Wright Page. Joel Garver also blogs on Pentecost here. Over the next few months I will be doing a lot of work on the subject of canonical background for the account of Acts 2 (something that I have blogged about in the past). I will probably blog on the subject in more detail in the future. ***There have been a number of engagements with popular atheism in the blogosphere recently, particularly by Doug Wilson. Wilson’s recent debates with Christopher Hitchens can be found on the Christianity Today website: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. It is interesting to see how Hitchens consistently seems to fail to get Wilson’s point about warrant for moral obligation. Macht also has a helpful post in which he observes Richard Dawkins’ tendency to lightly dismiss positions (not just Christian ones) without ever taking the trouble to try to understand them first. ***Joel Garver summarizes the recent PCA report on the NPP/FV and posts a letter raising some questions and concerns on the subject. ***Ben posts an interesting list of recent and forthcoming must read theological books and Kim Fabricius loses all credibility. ***A recent convert to Roman Catholicism argues that FV theology leads Romeward. A recent convert to Eastern Orthodoxy argues that Peter Leithart was instrumental in his conversion. The first post prompted a very lively and rather heated discussion in the comments (which I participated in). [...]
By alastair.adversaria » Links and News, but not in that order on 05.31.07 5:28 pm
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