Alastair, this was a wonderful piece, thank you. Like many, seminary triggered a crisis of faith in my life, and it was in my discovering our heritage in the church fathers and mothers, and the ACNA tradition, that helped me not lose faith in Jesus and the truthfulness of our scriptures. I will say it's funny how much more I enjoy reading the Bible after purchasing the ESV Reader set (not to mention how much more fruitful it has become). Not worrying about the chapter and verse markings makes a huge difference.
Naomi Baron (among many others, I'm sure) has discussed the navigational aspect of reading and its impact on memory and integration:
>> The discrepancies between print and digital results are partly related to paper’s physical properties. With paper, there is a literal laying on of hands, along with the visual geography of distinct pages. People often link their memory of what they’ve read to how far into the book it was or where it was on the page.
>> But equally important is mental perspective, and what reading researchers call a “shallowing hypothesis.” According to this theory, people approach digital texts with a mindset suited to casual social media, and devote less mental effort than when they are reading print.
Susannah- enjoyed the story about the curious commies.
Alastair- I was very excited to see you talking about sacrifices as recapitulation of events. I had had a similar idea about Abram's sacrifice when cutting the covenant with the Lord in Gen. 15. There are three adult animals (heifer, a goat, and a ram- Hagar, Sarai, Abram) and then two animals not given ages but one is indicated as "young" and dove is clearly a sacrifice suitable for a young child (Lk. 2:24). The goat and the ram are clearly meant to mate, the ram and the goat not. The thing that most stretches my credulity about this is the fact that Hagar and Ishmael almost seem to be included in the covenant through this imagery. But God does seem to make a separate covenant of sorts with Hagar and Ishmael-- and it seems like it is mediated through Hagar's proximity to Abram. Anyway, I had the thought in Birmingham and haven't known what to do with it since. Any thoughts?
It is interesting to relate the animals in the ritual of Genesis 15 with the animals in Leviticus 1. It is as if the whole sacrificial system is a refraction of the root covenantal import of the Abrahamic ritual. The presence of female animals in Genesis 15 is also noteworthy, as they weren't used for most of the sacrifices.
Alastair, this was a wonderful piece, thank you. Like many, seminary triggered a crisis of faith in my life, and it was in my discovering our heritage in the church fathers and mothers, and the ACNA tradition, that helped me not lose faith in Jesus and the truthfulness of our scriptures. I will say it's funny how much more I enjoy reading the Bible after purchasing the ESV Reader set (not to mention how much more fruitful it has become). Not worrying about the chapter and verse markings makes a huge difference.
Thanks, David! I've found the same.
Naomi Baron (among many others, I'm sure) has discussed the navigational aspect of reading and its impact on memory and integration:
>> The discrepancies between print and digital results are partly related to paper’s physical properties. With paper, there is a literal laying on of hands, along with the visual geography of distinct pages. People often link their memory of what they’ve read to how far into the book it was or where it was on the page.
>> But equally important is mental perspective, and what reading researchers call a “shallowing hypothesis.” According to this theory, people approach digital texts with a mindset suited to casual social media, and devote less mental effort than when they are reading print.
(from https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/reading-memory/)
Susannah- enjoyed the story about the curious commies.
Alastair- I was very excited to see you talking about sacrifices as recapitulation of events. I had had a similar idea about Abram's sacrifice when cutting the covenant with the Lord in Gen. 15. There are three adult animals (heifer, a goat, and a ram- Hagar, Sarai, Abram) and then two animals not given ages but one is indicated as "young" and dove is clearly a sacrifice suitable for a young child (Lk. 2:24). The goat and the ram are clearly meant to mate, the ram and the goat not. The thing that most stretches my credulity about this is the fact that Hagar and Ishmael almost seem to be included in the covenant through this imagery. But God does seem to make a separate covenant of sorts with Hagar and Ishmael-- and it seems like it is mediated through Hagar's proximity to Abram. Anyway, I had the thought in Birmingham and haven't known what to do with it since. Any thoughts?
Thank you both for writing.
-Jonathan
It is interesting to relate the animals in the ritual of Genesis 15 with the animals in Leviticus 1. It is as if the whole sacrificial system is a refraction of the root covenantal import of the Abrahamic ritual. The presence of female animals in Genesis 15 is also noteworthy, as they weren't used for most of the sacrifices.