soon to come!
caring for bodies as a witness to life: nannying
also also coming 
Filed under embodiment, life, theology
“Recap of Duke Divinity School 2009-2010″ or “An Answer to ‘Isn’t that place kind of liberal?’”
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“What can we do?”: Thoughts from the African leadership panel discussion at the Duke Center for Reconciliation Summer Institute
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Filed under Church, Duke Divinity, theology
Psalm 45 and the Blessings of Kingly Virtue
Exegesis of Psalm 45 for Old Testament. (1 exam down, 2 to go!)
Introduction
At the half time of most English football games, fans arise and sing these words,
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God Save the Queen.
During the midst of a celebratory national event, the song rings out as an anthem calling forth God’s blessing on a monarch because of her nobility. Psalm 45 has a similar tone; part wedding song, part national anthem, it is a song of blessing for a king that invites listeners and readers into participation in the praise. The Psalm consists of two main sections, the first imploring God’s blessing on the king in response to his military might. Then, the second section serves to bring God’s blessing upon the king in light of his impending marriage. In lauding a victorious warrior and joyous groom, these seemingly unrelated sections are drawn together with the locus of praise being of the high virtue of the king. The king of Psalm 45 is characterized as one to whom a nation and a future wife desire to subject themselves because he is not merely victorious; he is also good. Thus, Psalm 45 can be read as a song of praise to a king that calls forth the blessings of military victory and joyful marriage in light of the king’s godly virtues. After an examination of the contextual and form critical issues within the text, I will offer a detailed analysis of this hymn, finally showing how its inclusion in the Psalter lends the psalm to be more than just a national anthem or wedding song, but a hymn of praise that can be understood in Christological terms for the church.
Contextual Analysis
An examination of monarchical markers, Ancient Near Eastern wedding rituals, post-exilic uses of Psalm 45, and the editorial shaping of the Psalter can help illumine important aspects of the passage. From the beginning, a reader sees that the psalm contains ‘verses to the king,’ and what follows is praise of the king’s reign and blessings for his marriage.[1] Because the text has such a monarchical focus, it likely originated during Israel’s history after the time of the judges but before the Babylonian exile.[2] Although a more specific time frame cannot be fully substantiated, textual references offer tools for plausible reconstructions of the text’s composition. For example, Ophir, referenced in v. 9 for its gold, is noted in 1 Kings 10 as a possible origin of gold brought to Israel during the reign of Solomon.[3] Also noted in 1 Kgs 10 is King Hiram of Tyre as the owner of fleets of ships carrying the gold of Ophir to Solomon.[4] Psalm 45:12 mentions Tyre in connection with riches, a claim consistent with the Tyre of King Hiram mentioned in 1 Kgs 5 who offers supplies for the construction of Solomon’s temple.[5] For these reasons, although uncertain, the psalm could have been composed for the marriage of Solomon to one of his foreign wives; nevertheless, the ultimate anonymity of the text implies use beyond the context of a specific king.
Psalm 45 richly describes aspects of a royal wedding ceremony.[6] In light of analyses of Ancient Near Eastern marriage texts, the typical marriage ritual included the bridegroom sending a messenger with a gift for the bride and her family.[7] After the family accepted the gift as a confirmation of agreement to the union, the veiled bride would proceed to her new home, possibly with companions. As expected, the bride and groom would consummate the marriage in hopes of procreation.[8] In Ps 45:12b.—15, the legal proceedings are not described, but rather, beginning in v. 14 “the bride is led to the king; behind her the virgins , her companions, follow. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.” The Psalm depicts here the intimate, anticipatory moments leading prior to the consummation of the marriage.
Psalm 45 also could have occupied a unique place in Israelite worship after the monarchy. Following Mowinckel’s theory of enthronement psalms, Clifford suggests that this Psalm was used to celebrate the reign of Yahweh and “his regent on earth, the Davidic king.”[9] In post-exilic Israel, royal psalms remained but a monarch did not. With this new political location, continued use of Ps 45 could have taken on a redirected messianic tinge.[10] An eschatological reinterpretation of such a Psalm functions from the text’s retention while maintaining also maintaining that retention.
While the exact nature of the Psalter’s editorial shaping is unknown, the work of Gerald Wilson at least affirms that purposeful placement of psalms exists, and interpreting literary context is possible.[11] The placement of Ps 45 in between 44 and 46-48, all noted as Korahite songs, offers interpretive insight. Psalm 44, after recounting the promises of God, laments God’s seeming absence in the face of military defeat. The psalm affirms the superior strength of God while remaining befuddled as to why such strength is not being exercised on behalf of Israel. As if response to the plea of 44:26, “Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love,” Psalm 45 describes a king blessed by God in victorious in battle, a king that can function as helper and redeemer. Then, a wedding ritual is described, a ritual that seems out-of-place until we see in Ps 46-48 Zion is extolled as safe and secure in the triumphant victory of Yahweh as warrior and king. Somehow the victorious warrior-king and his wedding carry Israel from defeat to victory, from helpless to helped. Perhaps the connection of the king’s victory in war to a wedding implies a bride as booty or a political alliance.[12] Either way, such a marriage could have served peaceful ends to “make wars cease” and “subd[ue] the peoples.”[13] The historical and literary context of this passage as a song about a king and his wedding will help us understand the logic of the text that calls forth blessing upon this king for his virtue.
Formal Analysis and Text Structure
While many forms of Hebrew poetry appear in the Psalter, including hymns, laments, and thanksgivings, numerous biblical scholars have noted the presence of royal psalms among these categories, naming Ps 45 as such.[14] While some scholars have wanted to contest stricter categorizations of royal psalms due to the prevalence of monarchical themes throughout the Psalter,[15] Gunkel’s strict categorization of royal psalms as “concerned entirely with kings”[16] and using “royal nomenclature,”[17] certainly holds true for Ps 45. Perhaps Mowinckel is a bit more generous in his categorization, wiring, “[Royal psalms] comprise nearly all kinds of psalms, both hymns of praise and lamentations, thanksgivings and prophetic sayings. Common to them is the circumstance that the king is in the foreground. He is the one who prays or the one who is spoken of, or who is prayed for.”[18] Whether or not an exact definition of ‘royal psalm’ is agreed upon in biblical scholarship, the notion that Psalm 45 is one of those psalms remains uncontested.[19] As a royal psalm, its concerns center on the monarch’s blessing, in particularly in this royal psalm because of the monarch’s virtue.
The superscript of the passage indicates the psalm as a “love song” in the NRSV or a “wedding song” in the NIV. Therefore, scholars have not only thought of this as a royal psalm, but as a song composed to honor a king of Judah or Israel, possibly upon military victory or a wedding celebration, or both.[20] Schoeder notes that the connection between military victory and political marriage are not uncommon. Often, victorious kings would take a wife from the royal family of the conquered country as a way to ensure peace and dominion.[21] As discussed earlier, this wedding could have served the purpose of the peace sought for in Ps 44 and noted in Ps 46-48. As a wedding song, Ps 45 jumps in between these other psalms as a reminder and connection of why victory and peace belong to this people: the military might of the king that leads to a marriage. Within the text these correlating features are unified in how they are both blessings upon the king for his virtue.
In terms of structuring the passage, Clifford and Schroeder note two main sections including vv.2-6 and 7-16.[22] Each section begins with parallel introductions of “divine blessing” that function to divide the “psalm into two strophes,”[23] the first about the king’s military might, and the second about a royal marriage. Both Clifford and Schroeder assume the text has an inclusio structure, with vv.1 and 17 framing the passage with the composer becoming self-aware of an address to the king.[24] In the beginning, the composer announces his task; then he finishes the psalm with what the continuing function of that task is to be: the enduring praise of a virtuous king. The Psalm is structured so that it can be read as a song of praise to a king that calls forth the blessings of military victory and joyful marriage in light of the king’s godly virtues.
A. Composer announce his task (v. 1)
B. Blessing #1: The king is handsome and grace is poured upon his lips, therefore God blesses him (v. 2)
-vv. 3-6: discuss the blessing as one of military might by the king’s righteousness
C. Blessing #2: The king loves righteousness and hates wickedness, therefore God has anointed him with the oil of gladness (v. 7) The following verses enumerate the nature of that blessing with a description of the royal wedding proceedings.
-vv. 8-9: description of the king and queen awaiting the bride
-vv.10-13a: the queen addresses her daughter, the bride-to-be
-vv. 13b-15: description of the bride and her companions going to meet the king
D. Blessing #3 and completion of inclusio structure: The king will have many and sons as posterity and will be remembered forever because of the song of the composer (vv. 16-17)
Detailed Analysis
To prepare for a theological interpretation of the passage, we will examine the details of this passage in light of its formal structure and context, details that show Ps 45 to be a hymn of praise to king that rests its reasons for blessings of military victory and marriage on the king’s virtuous character. To begin, the psalm has an inclusio structure, as many scholars have noted.[25] The use of first person in v. 1 and v. 17 serve to enclose the hymn into a song style whereby the courtly composer is proclaiming blessing upon the king in two main strophes, one with a military motif, and the other with a wedding motif.[26] The composer proclaims the victory of the king in these connected spheres of his reign. The two blessings of the strophes, followed by the last blessing in v. 16 that begins the final part of the inclusio, is conferred upon the king in a successive chronology. Blessing in war leads to blessing in marriage. Blessing in marriage leads to blessing in posterity. By using first person at the beginning and end of the psalm, generations of readers are able to include themselves in the blessing of the king, and the composer’s almost outlandish promise of eternal praise is enacted.[27]
Verses 2-7a make up the first strophe, the first blessing and that of military victory. Clifford notes that v. 2 is parallel in syntax to v. 7a, where the king is blessed in relation to a virtue he possesses.[28] Here in v. 2 is found the first of three repeating “therefore” phrases in the hymn. The first reads, “You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured on your lips: therefore God has blessed you forever.” First I will examine why the king is blessed, and then I will examine the content of the blessing.
This king is blessed in victory because he is a good king. Interestingly, the king’s physical majesty and beauty are consistently described in relation to his ethical and moral character.[29] Parallel syntax between vv.2 and 7 lead to this conclusion in part, for the king’s handsomeness and gracious lips in v. 2 are syntactically in the same location that his love of righteousness and hate for wickedness are in v. 7. The Hebrew word for “grace” in v. 2 is chen meaning in the subjective sense, kindness or favor.[30] Kindness and favor are poured upon the king’s lips. This kindness and favor, praised by means of the king’s embodied presence, are paralleled to virtue and induce God’s blessing. Then, the favor of God through the king extends to all the people of the kingdom as the monarch acts to “defend the right” and execute justice.[31] Such equations of physical splendor and virtue are not surprising, in light of Clifford’s comments that, “the Hebrew word for beauty marks someone as chosen.”[32] This is especially expected when the equation of virtue and beauty is viewed in combination with frequent descriptions of kingly beauty, including the handsomeness of Saul and David.[33] Perhaps, Calvin’s more practical thought is helpful as well: “A noble disposition of mind often shines forth in the very countenance of a man.”[34] Even so, the link between the aesthetic and the ethical are striking.
The content of the king’s blessing because of his virtue is actually the extension of virtue itself. In a sense, the king himself is the blessing of God. This is especially noticeable in the repetition of the word “your” throughout this section. There is an emphasis on the king as the possessor of virtues and therefore the recipient of blessing. “Your” proceeds “lips” in v. 2, “glory” in v. 3, “majesty” in v. 4, “right hand” in v. 4, “arrows” in v. 5, “throne” inv . 6, and “scepter” in v. 6. The king is blessed as a “mighty one” in his glory, victorious in his majesty, and one to be feared in his hands.[35] His lips are blessed with grace, his throne with eternality, and his scepter with equity. These blessings of military victory are also linked to the aesthetic and ethical virtue of the king described earlier. He succeeds militarily because of the virtue and righteousness of his reign, and it is the virtue itself that is the cause and telos of his reign: “In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right.”[36] Clearly seen here, with God’s blessing, the king in his physical majesty gains military victory through and for the sake of the virtues he possesses.
In vv. 6-7 there occurs an interesting shift in tone, not only because the composer enters into the second strophe, but also because the word “Elohim” is used in an intriguing way. Despite the fact that his psalm falls within the Elohist tradition of Book 2 of the Psalms,[37] many scholars affirm what deClaissé says about these verses, claiming that the composer in addressing the king in such a manner uses a “hyperbolic appellation that reflects the ancient Near Eastern culture of which Israel was indisputably a part.”[38] The courtly singer is still speaking to the king when he uses the phrase “O, God” in v. 6. In part, the plausibility of Elohim referring to the addressee of the hymn remains because the theme and pattern of the verse is coherent with the blessings of the previous two verses. The psalmist says “your throne” and “your royal scepter,”[39] continuing to laud and prophetically proclaim the king’s military might. This reading of “hyperbolic appellation” coincides nicely with the understanding that the king here is chosen and favored, extending God’s gracious rule over the people through military victory. IN a sense, the hymn is the composer’s celebration of the king’s godliness and even godlikeness. That said, even though such an interpretation lends itself well toward certain understandings of the Israelite monarch, divinizing the king, while maybe popular in Israel’s surrounding culture, would have been perilous ground for worship. This is true especially in light of the fact that the other Psalms in this book that use Elohim, including v. 7 of Psalm 45, refer to the one God of Israel. Even so, the composer’s likening of the king to Elohim in v. 6 must remain in context with the blessing of v.2: this king is godlike because he is specifically blessed by God.
Verse 7 enters into the hymn’s second strophe officially by introducing the blessing of marriage. While this section has a different tone and voice than the first, perhaps the composer, in his or her description of the blessing of marriage, takes on the voice of the queen mother in vv. 9-13b and then describes to the king the anticipatory and joyous bride awaiting their union.
The king’s love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness are the reason behind a second blessing from God, which in v. 7 is referred to the anointing of the oil of gladness. The “oil of gladness” describes not the anointing oil that elects the king for Israel; rather the phrase is used in only one other place in the Old Testament and also in conjunction with marriage language.[40] Isaiah 61:3 speaks of the “oil of gladness” in the context of the marriage of God and Israel. Here God is anointing the king with joy and mirth in the form of a bride, as the composer goes on to say. With regards to this anointing, Schroeder writes, “In the Middle Assyrian laws . . . the bridegroom . . . pours oil on the head of the bride. It must be noted that [in Psalm 45:7] it is God who anoints the bridegroom.”[41] Verse 7 also serves to connect the motifs of the hymns two strophes. The king’s virtuous love of righteousness becomes the reason for God’s blessing of the “oil of gladness” as indicated by “therefore.” Herein lies the link between the military and marriage blessings of the king: his virtue.
Scholars remain divided on the identity of the speaker of vv.9-13a. In light of Ancient Near Eastern texts, some argue it is highly plausible that the queen mother is speaking to her daughter, the bride-to-be. This finds a parallel in 1 Kgs 2:19, wherein, a queen mother is sitting at the right hand of a king, alongside her bride’s noticeable movement from her chamber to the palace.[42] Still others argue that the “queen” of v. 9 is the bride herself and that the address to her in vv. 10-13a is in the same voice of the psalm’s composer. While the inclusio structure of the psalm itself cannot deny this second reading, the fact that a description of the wedding festivities follows v. 13a reasonably suggests that the composer is interpolating the queen mother’s voice to the bride as part of that description. The voice of the composer is never lost, but as the song moves to describe the wedding, the composer does so by creating an intimate portrait of one queen’s words to now another.
The queen’s words suggest that bowing to this king is a cause for joy and celebration. Interestingly, in this marriage, the bride herself will become united with the beauty and virtue of her groom-king, such that other nations will seek her favor. The bride, although she bows to her groom, is also a powerful conduit through which nations are brought into relationship with the king.
The intimate words of the queen make way for an intimate, joyous and more direct description of the celebration from the composer in vv. 13b-15. The description that follows is one of the beautifully dressed princess-bride making her way to the palace of the king, and as most scholars note, the consummation of the marriage is in view here, as indicated by the promise of posterity in v. 16.[43] The Psalmist is describing events leading up to a consummation and procreation, where the bride will enact the commands given to her by the queen mother. In the events leading up to the consummation, the bride is “forgetting” her people and being moved to have the king desire her beauty.[44] The text notes again and again that this forgetting is not sad, but a time for joy with the repetition of the word “gladness” from v. 7 again in v. 11. Although a different Hebrew word, it is rendered in English texts as the same substance with which the king is anointed in v. 7. She, too, is partaking in God’s blessing of gladness upon the king, possibly with the knowledge that the king is not just mighty but virtuous.
Finally, the voice of the composer changes again to directly speak to the king in v. 16, with the final blessing upon him in v. 17. However, this last “therefore” is not like the previous two. First, the speaker begins using first person again, to balance the inclusio structure initiated in v. 1. Also, the blessing here is not directly related to the virtue or beauty of the king himself. Rather, this blessing is a kind of sequential promise made by the composer wherein the composer’s action is cause for the king’s blessing. In light of the king’s beauty, virtue, military victory, and marriage, the singer makes “a vow” to do something that will have the continuing effect of blessing.[45] This is the first time in the Psalm God is not doing the work of blessing. This certainly can complicate the inclusio structure introduced earlier, and perhaps rightly, for the promise made by the composer seems only to be fulfilled by God. However, something significant lies in this ambiguity. The singer makes an almost outlandish promise: perpetual remembrance. Yet, the Psalter itself, by enabling the covenant community to participate in worship through such a song, testifies to the work of God in the fulfillment of this promise. The king is still remembered and praised.
In the end, Ps 45 becomes a magnificent tribute of praise to a king on his wedding day, enumerating the king’s virtues and the blessings of those virtues upon others. His gracious lips lead to military victory and his love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness lead to anointing with the “oil of gladness” (Ps 45:7). The description of the king’s prowess in battle and the description of his bride “decked in her chamber” could seem quite disconnected; however, all these descriptions serve as scenes that portray the blessings of God upon the king resulting from his virtue.
Theological Analysis
As part of the corpus of Christian scripture, Psalm 45 gives voice to praise Christ in a way of looking back at the work Christ performed on earth and as a way of looking forward with an eschatological vision of Christ’s eternal reign. Christ is the appropriate object of praise in the psalm as the divine Groom-King of the Church.
First, how is Ps 45 to be interpreted Christologically in light of its historical context? As discussed earlier, Ps 45 was most likely written during the monarchic period of Israel in praise of an earthly, yet divinely appointed king. However, the Psalm itself was retained throughout the exilic and post-exilic period of Israel’s history.[46] As such retention occurred in a post-monarchial context, Jewish understandings of the passage slowly turned toward messianic hope, as the Targum of verse 2 suggests, reading “Thy beauty, O king Messiah.”[47] With the possibility of intentional editing of the Psalter, such a Messianic hope becomes even more pronounced within the text as it stands alongside Psalm 44 and 46, which move from defeat to victory linked by the hymn of praise to a king. If the canon of Christian scripture indicates Jesus as Messiah in continuity with the Davidic monarchy, reading the psalm in the new context of the post-ascension church could lead to a faithful Christological reading, even though the psalm was not originally written for a messianic king. McCann writes, “In particular, the early church read the psalms messianically, an interpretive practice that had already begun in postexilic Judaism. . . . In any case, it is clear that the early church could not understand or proclaim faith in Jesus Messiah/Christ without frequent use of the Psalms.”[48] Just as post-exilic Israel’s interpretive context changed expanded interpretations of the Psalm, so the coming of Jesus as Messiah allowed it to take on new meaning within the corpus of Christian scripture.[49]
More particularly, the Psalm can be read in praise to Christ, giving right voice to the eschatological vision of the Church as it anticipates Christ’s reign over all things and eternal blessedness with Christ. As stated earlier, the first strophe contains a military motif in which the psalmist acknowledges God’s blessing of military victory upon the king because of correlating virtue and physical beauty. At this point in the reading, the particulars with which the Psalm was written in an ancient Israelite context might be best read allegorically with respect to Christ. Christ is the one ultimately riding forth in glory and majesty for the cause of truth and meekness, defending the right. Also, it is part of the Christian Trinitarian confession that God has indeed blessed Christ forever, as the firstfruits of the resurrected, the one under whom God has put all things in subjection.[50] The second strophe with the wedding motif, speaks of God blessing the king with gladness in marriage because of the king’s upright character. Again, while the church is not literally dressed in the gold of Ophir awaiting the second coming, allegorically, the text makes sense about Christ. Through Christ’s character and righteousness, a people, the church, has been won to him for eternal, blessed relationship. The marriage motif is continuous with other passages in the Old as well as New Testament that speak of God’s covenant with God’s people in terms of marriage fidelity and joy.[51] Because of the virtue of Christ unto death, God has granted him victory over all things and eternal relationship with the Church, just as the king of Psalm 45 is blessed in military victory and marriage because of his character.
Conclusion
Christ is a king that the Church joyfully submits to because Christ is a good king that has not only conquered the Church as a people but has wooed by his love and justice. Now, just as the bride of Ps 45 becomes one whose favor is sought, a conduit of the king’s blessing, so is the Church in the world a conduit of Christ’s blessing as his body. Within the church today, Psalm 45 is much more than national anthem or song relegated to a happy event, but it casts in beautiful, poetic language a vision of the Church’s life as a people won and wooed by the virtue of Christ, now existing as a blessing to him.
[1] Ps 45:1 (NRSV).
[2] Richard J. Clifford, Psalms 1-72 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 222.
[3] D.N. Freedman, “Ophir (Place)” in ABD (6 vols; New York: Doubleday, 1992), 5:26-27.
[4] 1 Kgs 10:11.
[5] Freedman, “Tyre (Place)” in ABD, 6:687.
[6] Christoph Schroeder, “ ‘A Love Song’: Psalm 45 in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Marriage Texts,” CBQ 58 (1996): 418-432, 422.
[7] Ibid., 424.
[8]Ibid. See also Gordon Wenham, “Marriage and Divorce in the New Testament,” Didaskalia 1 (1989): 13-15.
[9] Clifford, 25. See also Sigmund Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 2 vols (D.R. AP-Thomas, trans.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004).
[10] John I. Durham, “The King as ‘messiah’ in the Psalms,” Review and Expositor 81 (1984): 431. See also Jamie A. Grant, “The Psalms and the King” in Interpreting the Psalms (eds. Philip S. Johnston and David G. Firth; Leceister: Apollos Press, 2005), 114.
[11] Grant, “The Psalms and the King,” 107.
[12] Schroeder, 421.
[13] Ps 46:9, 47:3.
[14] Philip S. Johnston, “Appendix 1: Index of Form-Critical Categorizations,” in Interpreting the Psalms (eds. Philip S. Johnston and David G. Firth; Leicester: Apollos, 2005), 297. Johnston’s list includes Gunkel, Sabourin, Seybold, Day, Bellinger, Gillingham and Lucas as all categorizing Ps 45 as a “royal psalm.” See also, Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1:47.
[15] Jamie A. Grant, “The Psalms and the King,” 103.
[16] Gunkel in Grant, 102. As noted in Grant, Gunkel named only Ps 2, 28, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 132, and 144:1-11.
[17] Grant, 103.
[18] Mowinckel, 47. Here, Mowinckel offers a list that is more extensive than Gunkel’s and includes the qualifier that the list includes “quite a number of others.”
[19] See note 1. Grant offers a history of the debate in 101-109 of “The Psalms and the King.”
[20] Mowinckel, 72. See also Christoph Schroeder, “ ‘A Love Song’: Psalm 45,” 431-432.
[21] Schroeder, 421.
[22] Schroeder uses Vulgate numbering.
[23] Schroeder, 418, 419.
[24] Clifford, 226; Schroeder, 431.
[25] Nancy de Claissé, “Psalm 45,” Psalms for Preaching and Worship: A Lectionary Commentary (eds. Roger E. Van Harn and Brent A. Strawn; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 156. See also James L. Mays, Psalms (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 181.
[26] Schroeder, 420.
[27] DeClaissé, 156.
[28] Clifford, 223.
[29] Schroeder, 419. Erhard S. Gerstenberger, “Psalms: Part 1 with an introduction to cultic poetry,” FOTL, 17 vols. (eds., Rolf Knierim and Gene M. Tucker; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988) 14:187.
[30] Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for chen (Strong’s 2580)“. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 28 Apr 2010. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? strongs=H2580 >.
[31] Ps 45:4.
[32] Clifford, 223.
[33] 1 Sam 9:2 and 17:42.
[34] John Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, vol. 2, <http://www.ccel.org/ccel /calvin/calcom09.xi.i.html>.
[35] Ps 45:3.
[36] Ps 45:4.
[37] Kent Harold Richards and David L. Peterson, Interpreting Hebrew Poetry (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), 90.
[38] DeClaissé, 157. Gerstenberger, 188.
[39] Ps 45:6, emphasis added.
[40] Clifford 225.
[41] Schroeder 426-7.
[42] Schroeder 428-30. Clifford 225.
[43] Schroeder, 426. Clifford, 222.
[44] Ps 45:10-11.
[45] DeClaissé 157.
[46] Stanley D. Waters,“Finding Christ in the Psalms” in Go Figure!: Figuration in Biblical Interpretation, ed. Waters (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick 2008), 32.
[47] J. Clinton McCann, Jr. “Psalms” in Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, ed. Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005). 645.
[48] McCann, 645.
[49] Waters, 42.
[50] 1 Cor 15:20, 28.
[51] Rev 21:1-4, Is 61: 10.
Filed under Duke Divinity, scripture, theology
“He’s Gonna Marry Me” in less than 3 months–yipee!
I love Dolly Parton. There I said it. Not sure what to make of her totally–part plastic surgeon’s dream part hillbilly feminist. Still I love her.
Especially this song. I’m studying write now, and it came on my ipod. So I found it on youtube to share with the world. This should prepare you for what kind of music we’re having at our reception! 
He done kiss me on the mouth
3 months and counting!
yes please?
Saw these at smittenkitchen.com. Homemade poptarts. Some have nutella in them.
Filed under food
The Logic of Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15
Below is a sermon I had to write for my introduction to New Testament class. Calling it a sermon was sometimes a mental block for me–so if it is for you, merely imagine it as a “talk.”
The Logic of Resurrection: A Sermon 1 Corinthians 15:1-20
When I was in high school, I met Callie, who is one of my dear friends to this day. She became a Christian during her freshman year.[1] Her past was less than pristine, but she was still filled with an incredible new-convert fervor. Today her life witnesses to God’s strong redemptive power, but I remember a time when she was struggling to understand the implications of Christ’s lordship over all of her life, including her bodily existence. For example, one time as she was telling me about this new boy she had met, she said, rather innocently, “I guess God doesn’t care how far we go as long we don’t have sex.” Alarm bells went off in my head! I knew Callie was really trying to walk with God; I knew she wasn’t denying orthodox theology. She wasn’t questioning Christ’s crucifixion or resurrection, but she wasn’t connecting her theology to her lived, embodied practice of faith.
We experience this kind of disconnection all the time and not just in our sexual lives. Maybe you struggle with viewing food rightly. Maybe you need to rethink how your body can serve others through your time, your money and your talents. Maybe you need to rethink what you communicate with how you dress. Maybe you’re struggling with how to live faithfully in illness. Maybe you’ve just never thought much about how your bodily existence matters. Callie is not the only one; we all have disconnections like this. Sometimes our theological synapses are collapsed. A synapse is a device in our bodies that sends messages between nerve cells. In this passage, Paul is offering us a resurrection logic that can act as a synapse to help us bridge the all-too-prevalent chasm that exists between our theology about Jesus and our living for Jesus.
This text about the importance of resurrection for Christian life comes at the end of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, a letter that has been chock full of instructions, reprimands, and corrections directed at the ethical life of the Corinthian church. In chapter 1, he critiqued their petty divisions over which church leader they were going to follow. In chapters 5, 6, 7 he critiqued and offered instruction for their sexual lives. In chapter 8, he helped them discern what kind of food to eat. In chapter 11 (although we don’t always like these verses) he told women what to wear in communal worship. All throughout this letter Paul was bringing the lordship of Christ to bear on Christian embodied existence. Following Jesus impacts what we do with our bodies—how we use them, feed them, clothe them. As Paul says in chapter 6, the Holy Spirit makes its dwelling in human bodies, the loci of Christian discipleship, the site where God’s glory is made manifest in the world. That’s why Paul says in 10:13 “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Now we arrive in chapter 15, where Paul is offering what I’m going to call “resurrection logic,” a logic that will help us make the jump between theology and practice.
Paul begins the passage with a reminder to the Corinthians of the gospel they have received. He spells out in vv.3-8 an almost creedal statement, a summary of the gospel that he preached and the Corinthians received. Note, Paul is not proclaiming this gospel to the Corinthians. As he says, he is reminding them of the gospel, its credibility in v. 6, and his credibility to preach in v. 8. Paul is speaking to people who are already Christians. He’s not out to prove the resurrection. He’s not doing cross-cultural apologetics. Rather, as one commentator puts it, he’s reasserting their common ground in the gospel, the gospel on which he will base his following argument. [2] As the passage continues, Paul is not evangelizing; he’s teaching and making disciples.
The heart of Paul’s argument lies in vv. 12-19. Let’s try to wrap our minds around the logic Paul is using here—a resurrection logic to help the Corinthians, and now us, make the connection between Christ’s lordship and bodily living. In v. 12 we learn that something is amiss in the Corinthian understanding about the resurrection. They believe Jesus has been raised from the dead, but in Paul’s estimation, some among them are questioning the fact that they will raise from the dead. They’ve lost their resurrection logic, and Paul draws out some astonishing implications. He says that to deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny that Christ has risen. If Christ hasn’t risen, we’re left with the force of his words in vv. 17-18, “Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” Do you feel the force of that? Paul is basically saying, “If Christ isn’t risen, faith in Christ is meaningless. Life is a worthless heap if you do not affirm the resurrection of your own body.” At this point, the Corinthian church might as well agree with the popular sentiment inscribed on the tombstones of their contemporaries: “I was not, I am not, I don’t care.”[3]
But wait—this is confusing, or at least it should be! Earlier Paul has just asserted the common gospel, rooted in Christ’s resurrection, that he shares with the Corinthians. And now he’s saying, they’re denying the resurrection of Christ. So what is he doing here? What’s his point? What exactly is this resurrection logic he’s putting forth?
By making these radical claims in vv. 13-19, Paul takes the Corinthians thoughts to the inescapable conclusions. In so doing, he does violence against the very resurrection he knows they believe and affirm! He claims that a denial of the resurrection of their bodies affirms that death has won and Christ’s work was ineffectual. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Paul is using that same reasoning here in reverse, “If your body cannot be raised by the Spirit of Christ that indwells you, than that Spirit is useless. Your life is meaningless.” Paul is offering a logic to help them jump the chasm between theology and practice by forcing them into a contradiction that they must deny.[4]
How does Paul communicate this? I think looking at the way he uses two Greek words that deal the concept of “vanity” that we see in these core verses can help us figure that out. In v. 14, the text says, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” The word translated “useless” there is the Greek word kenos. It is translated elsewhere in this chapter as “without effect” and “in vain.” The word denotes a lack of content that leads to a lack of effect. Things that are kenos are empty and therefore lack impact.[5] Eating iceberg lettuce to get your daily dose of vitamins is kenos. Iceberg is the most pointless vegetable you will ever eat! It is void of virtually any nutritional value and therefore cannot have a significant impact on your health. If Christ has not been raised, the Corinthians’ faith nothing, it lacks content and reality, and thereby is ineffectual in the process of salvation and sanctification.
The other word in this core passage that Paul uses in line with this vanity motif is mataios. Verse 17 uses includes this word, “And if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” This word, translated here as “futile” is synonymous with “worthless,” or “powerless.”[6] It involves a transgressing of values or norms so that those norms are proved as empty or nothing. A faith that is rendered kenos or “useless” because it does not affirm the resurrection of the body is a faith that is mataios or futile because it can’t do anything. A faith that does not affirm the resurrection of the body cuts itself off from its very source. A faith that cuts itself off from the reality of Christ’s resurrection, through a denial of the resurrection of the body is a meaningless faith. Paul is issuing a warning to the Corinthians. He knows this is not the faith they profess.
Now come the theological questions. Why does Paul assume that a denial of the resurrection of the body necessitates a denial of the resurrection of Christ’s body? How do we reckon with what he’s saying here? He’s saying that if Christianity does not affirm the materiality and tangibility of physical resurrection, the gospel itself is left void of content and tangibility. Christ’s death is not atoning if Christ is not raised. Christ’s death is ineffectual if it is not conquered through the very content of His body. The denial of bodily resurrection in its functional denial of Christ’s resurrection leaves humankind in opposition to God. As Barth writes, for the Corinthians to deny their resurrection is to “[saw] off the branch upon which they are sitting.”[7] I think vv. 20-22 are helpful in understanding how Paul can say in v. 13, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” Let’s read it. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Human nature, the thing that is common to all humanity, the image of God, fell with Adam’s sin. But when Christ became a man, a particular human being, yes, but also becoming human nature, the thing that is common to all humanity, our very bodily existence was redeemed. Just as we are all connected to Adam’s flesh and so we die in sin, we are all now connected to the new Adam’s flesh, Jesus, the risen Lord. When are grafted into the Body of Christ, our bodies are made one with the very flesh of our Lord Jesus, flesh that rose from the dead, flesh that defeated death. Human nature itself, that which is common to all humanity, is united with the divine nature in the person of Christ. In a sense, all that is common of humankind was present in Christ bodily—both in his death and resurrection. As N.T. Wright says, “The future resurrection is guaranteed, in other words, by Jesus’ status as the truly human being, the one who fully bears the divine image.”[8] Therefore, a denial of bodily resurrection is a functional denial of the effect of the incarnation and bodily resurrection of Jesus. Such denials make faith useless and futile. Rather, Paul is encouraging his Corinthian brothers and sisters to remember the now inseparable connection between their bodies and the body of their risen Lord. He is calling them to have their very bodily existence bear witness to the truth of the life now victorious through Christ’s bodily resurrection. This is the logic of the resurrection; this is what keeps faith from becoming kenos and mataios, empty and ineffectual.
The Corinthian church was denying something we actually affirm every Sunday when we say the creed. “I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” Do you know what body we’re talking about there? Not just Christ’s body, but our bodies. Your body, my body, the bodies that have been baptized into the Body of Christ. Foundational to Christian hope and life is the affirmation of the resurrection of the body; this life is not the end! The past truth of Christ’s resurrection and the future hope of our resurrection give meaning to our present embodied existence. Because my body will be raised, it matters what I eat, what I drink, how I serve with it, how I have sex. Bodily existence matters for the Christian because Christ is lord of all, and his lordship over our bodies will be complete and fulfilled when they are resurrected in the age to come. Yet the Scriptures are calling us to live into that resurrection logic now. The foundation of Christian hope lies not in a disembodied existence. The body is not the enemy; death is. Christian life now is meant to be a witness that death has not won the day! Why? Because of what Paul says in v. 20: “But Christ has indeed raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Do I believe your faith is in vain? No! Do I think we live like it sometimes? Yes. We have received the gospel, but we do not always take our stand on it, to use the language of v. 1. I think the way we eat, the way we have sex, the way we serve, the way we’re lazy, the way we give money all reflect a functional denial of the resurrection of the body. Does the way you wake up in the morning witness to life? Does the way you eat food witness to life? Perhaps you over-indulge or perhaps you objectify you’re body with caloric-obsession. Do you have sex with your spouse as an affirmation of resurrection life? Perhaps you commodify your beloved into a mere pleasure-producer, or perhaps you fear the bodies of others as dirty and dangerous. Is the way that you live your life, whether in sickness or in health, a testimony to the fact that death is defeated, and resurrection has won the day? When you look in the past and affirm the resurrection of Jesus you are looking ahead to the day that the Spirit will give life to your mortal body also. The fact that all would be lost without this truth helps me make the leap from theology to practice—because all is not lost. Paul’s words here encourage me to live into the resurrection life that is proclaimed in the gospel. I’m not exactly sure what all the practical implications of that would look like in your life. In mine, I think it will help me feed my body rightly so that my embodied existence can better be a testament to the life of Jesus Christ. I think it will encourage me to remain abstinent until Kyle and I take our wedding vows. I think it would have helped Callie realize that it does matter what her body does with the body of another boy—whether they have sex or not! It matters how she interacts sexually with others because sex too is meant to proclaim the defeat of death and the victory of Christ’s life in us. What story is your body telling? How are Christ’s resurrection and your imminent resurrection that has already begun with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit informing the story that your body tells now?
To close, I’d like for you to join me as we affirm our faith in the words of the Apostle’s Creed, remembering we embody this creed in our theology and practice.
Christian, what do you believe?
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.”
[1] The details of this story have been altered for privacy.
[2] Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 718.
[3] N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2003), 34.
[4] Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 740.
[5] G. Kittel and G. Friedrich,“κενός,” in TDNT (trans. G.W. Bromiley, 10 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 3:659.
[6]E. Tiedtke and H. G. Link, “μάταιος,” in NIDNTT (ed., Colin Brown, 4 vols.; Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1975) 1: 550.
[7] Karl Barth, The Resurrection of the Dead (trans. H.J. Stenning, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1933), 161.
[8] N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 334.
Filed under Duke Divinity, embodiment, scripture, theology
thoughts on the Waltke sitch
Where does the locus of Scripture’s truth lie?
In our ability to prove what is said in Scripture in terms of our modern understandings of “fact” and “history”?
Or
In the One, the Truth, who has chosen to self-disclose through the Scriptures?
(From my limited knowledge) it seems people on all sides are trying to handle the Waltke/RTS issue with tact and decorum and genuine Christian affection. But, it is still a sad thing to me that he had to leave in the first place. We must have a definition of truth that is not threatened by historical fact and scripture not matching perfectly. Or at least a definition of truth in which we can discuss issues like theistic evolution and archaeological evidence in non-schismatic ways. From an outsider perspective, this whole issue just looks silly and petty. From an insider perspective, it seems like the authority of Scripture is in question–it’s a doctrinal issue. But maybe we need to rethink wherein the authority of Scripture lies?
That’s enough for now. I’m wading into deep waters, I know.
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2010/04/bruce_waltke_he.html
