The Evolution of Old Testament ReligionOrchard, W. E. (William Edwin)
Religion
The Evolution of Old Testament Religion
Orchard, W. E. (William Edwin)
Bible. Old Testament -- Theology; Judaism -- History -- To 70 A.D.
The pressure of this problem of Providence is supposed to have driven
the Psalmists to pierce the veil and to descry beyond the grave a
compensation for the inequalities of this life, and passages are
frequently adduced to prove this (Ps. xvi. 10, 11; xvii. 15; xlix.,
15; lxxiii. 23-26). The current belief of Israel embraced an existence
after death, but only in the form of unconscious and shadowy life in
the under world, _Sheol_, and this is most explicitly expressed in
many of the Psalms (vi. 5; xxx. 9; xlix. 14; lxxxviii. 10-12). What
then is the significance of the expressions which seem to point to
something more? An accurate translation and a correct exegesis dispose
of nearly all of these passages as in any sense explicit evidence for
a definite belief in immortality; but there remains a witness of much
greater value. It is through communion with God, and because of the
significance with which it invests conscious life that the Psalmists
are led to feel that their experience can never be interrupted by
death. To those who know the reality of personal communion with God,
this has more cogency than any other argument for immortality. The
experience of communion throws a new value on personality and gives
a deeper meaning to this life, and in face of this discovery death
becomes nothing more than a passing shadow. While therefore the
application of Ps. xvi. 10 to the resurrection of Christ is foreign to
the methods of modern interpretation, that passage does show the real
significance of the resurrection of Christ; for it is the person of
Christ in communion with God that has brought life and immortality to
light. The Psalmist shared this vital experience whether he was able
to infer immortality of the soul from it or not.
But the glory of the Psalms is found in their realisation of the
presence of God. This expresses itself in the vivid consciousness of a
present and helpful Personality rather than in intellectual concepts
or theological definitions. The transcendence of God receives full
appreciation, but it is never in terms of spatial distance, but in an
inward realisation of His moral excellence (Ps. xxxvi. 5-7). To the
discerning soul the presence of God is inescapable and is absolutely
omnipresent (Ps. cxxxix. 7-10). Right alongside of the recognition of
the might of God and His holiness, there is found the sense of His
fatherly pity, His gentleness, and His understanding of us (Ps. ciii.
13; xviii. 35).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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