Hermeneutics: Interpretation and Sounds of Silence

It seems that I just cannot keep silent about silence. John the Baptist abstained from wine and excused himself from an ordinary social life for eating locusts and wild honey in the wilderness. Jesus turned the water into the best wine, ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors; but nevertheless, did make [...]

Hermeneutics: Interpretation and the Wizard of Silence

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” – The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (1939). In hermeneutics (interpretation) silence is the man behind the curtain: a pretentious wizard with an odd collection of personal effects. Those who would interpret the Bible cannot ignore him. He may [...]

Flesh is Flesh and Spirit is Spirit

Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6). Later Jesus compared the one born of the Spirit to the wind: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, [...]

Blessed Thought

“He leadeth me: O blessed tho’t! O words with heav’nly comfort fraught! Whate’er I do, where’er I be, Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.” — Joseph H. Gilmore, 1862.
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. [...]