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Shifting Sands.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Bard, Terry Ross |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Some years ago, when my daughters were much younger, I built a small “Play House” for them. It still stands in our backyard, and now has become the center of activity when our granddaughters come to “Papa's house.” The nicer summer weather prompted us to clean it up a bit, and I noticed that the floor was uneven. Upon further investigation, I realized that one of the side gutters had be removed, and that as a result, a large pool of water from the winter rains had cause the pier blocks on one side of the house to sink. Our little “Play House” is going the way of the “house built upon the sand” in the parable of Yeshua. Fortunately, it won't take much work to put it back on the plumb and make sure the foundations are well secured again. Of course, I'll need to fix that gutter or the same problem will occur again. When Yeshua gave His parable of the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matt 7:24–27; Luke 6:47–49), He began like this: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man....” The words to which He refers are those commonly called “The Sermon on the Mount.” Many interpretations have been offered for Yeshua's parable, but all agree that primarily the issue He is emphasizing is living one’s life according to God's wisdom. It is clear that a wise man not only recognizes that today’s actions impact tomorrow's consequences, but knowing this to be the case, he does what is right today in order to be ready for tomorrow. What caught my attention as I pondered this parable, however, was Yeshua's emphasis upon His “words” – “everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them....” In our postmodern era, we are being told that one can never be certain about exactly what an author meant when he or she communicated via words. “Language,” we are being told, “is a container for meaning which must be filled up in some measure by the listener.” In other words, what the author meant to convey in his or her words is mostly lost because the language container itself gets emptied during the communication process. Thus, the postmodern hermeneutic (method of interpreting language) insists that the listener, or the reader, must imbue the language of the author with meaning. This also means that there is a very possible disconnect between the author and the reader. Or to say it simply: one can never be sure that the words he or she is hearing or reading actually convey the author's original intention. In such a hermeneutic, the best we can hope for is: “what does it mean for me?” Moreover, “what it means for me” may be somewhat different (or even entirely different) than “what it means for you.” In short, the postmodern hermeneutic has determined that “meaning” conveyed by verbal communication is constantly changing—it's like the shifting sands upon which the foolish man built his house. Now when such a hermeneutic is applied to the Scriptures, the result is that one's house falls, and its fall is very great. Some of you might think I have in mind liberal, neo-orthodox theology or mainline Christian denominations that have found a way for the Bible to mean exactly opposite of what it says. No one, for instance, could think that Moses or Paul approved of homosexuality, but we're being told that they did. Surely liberal, neo-orthodoxy has easily evolved into the postmodern theology. But that actually is not my present concern. What has saddened me is the obvious state of hermeneutical and thus theological demise that is quite apparent within Messianic Judaism. I recently received the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Kesher, a Journal of Messianic Judaism. This issue is devoted entirely to the doctrine of Soteriology, or the manner in which God saves sinners. The current Journal is entitled הרָוֹשׂבְּ, B’Sorah, the Hebrew term denoting “good tidings, or good news,” which in biblical terms means the “Gospel.” I took it along with me as I traveled to Canada recently, and the hours on the airplane both going and returning afforded me time to read its pages. Usually articles in |
| Starting Page | 3 |
| Ending Page | 4 |
| Page Count | 2 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.torahresource.com/pdf-articles/shifting-sands.pdf |
| PubMed reference number | 26956744v1 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1542305016633990 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1542305016633990 |
| Journal | The journal of pastoral care & counseling : JPCC |
| Volume Number | 70 |
| Issue Number | 1 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Accidental Falls Essays Etoposide/Ifosfamide/Mesna/Mitoxantrone Fill Foundations Fracture Hearing How True Feel Bewildered Right Now Interpretation Process Movement National origin PAPPA wt Allele Page (document) Pitted Medical Device Material Rain Sad mood Speech Thinking, function parable saw (device) |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
