Dr. Brian Toews’ Blog

A few years ago the National Basketball Association used this phrase in the league's promotional material. Although my service at PBU isn't a game, there are moments in the semester where I feel the rush of learning and teaching. This week has been one of those moments. I just came back from teaching the book of Isaiah. In this class we were discussing how Isaiah informs the New Testament's teaching on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and how Isaiah helps us understand the scope of the gospel message. Later tonight, I am showing a movie in my film course that deals with the Cold War and the atomic bomb. In my cultural anthropology course we are studying family and kinship. I have such an incredible opportunity to think and help my students to think biblically about Jesus Christ and his gospel, film, culture, history, technology, and a host of other topics. This is what a biblical university means to me and I love it.

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This statement is obviously hyperbole, but I believe there is some truth to the fear that Isaiah 43:10 instills within us. In this verse the Lord is describing Himself - Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. What is so awesome about the Lord is that He is so completely Other. In Genesis 2 the Lord formed Adam from the dust of the ground. So human beings are formed, but the Lord is not. There was a beginning to the creation, but no beginning to the Lord. He is from everlasting to everlasting. As we meditate on this truth, it becomes clear to us that the God we worship is the Holy Other. He is separate and distinct from His creation. He is the only God that ever was, is, and will be. Nothing and no one can challenge His existence nor bring it to an end. In some sense there just aren't words to describe Him. He is inscrutable (Rom. 11:33). While He is the Holy Other, He is at the same time our heavenly Father. The awesome reverence that His being evokes from us is matched by the love that He shows us. We should heed the call of the psalmist - to rejoice with trembling (Ps. 2:11)

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Today is March 20, the first day of Spring. It snowed. This seemingly contradictory state of affairs made me think of prayer and our lives as Christians. Much of it has to do with expectations. From our reading of Scripture we have certain expectations of what the blessings of God are. We also expect that the Lord will answer our prayers in a timely fashion. What happens to our faith when those expectations are not met? The book of Ecclesiastes constantly readjusts my expectations. From the Preacher's perspective, there is a time for every event under heaven (3:1-3). A time for war and a time for peace. A time for love and a time for hate. Even a time for snow in Spring. These times are appointed by God. He teaches us to fear him and wait in patient faith. For more on this, read Ecclesiastes 3-6.

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We have finished the first half the semester and with that we finished the first half of the book of Isaiah. The class reflected on what we have read and considered so far. Eventually, we came around to Isaiah's usage of the words 'righteousness' and 'justice.' We turned to Isaiah 1 and 11. In these texts Isaiah speaks of righteousness and justice with respect to the 'orphan and widow' - those individuals who have no one to support them or defend them. For Isaiah doing righteousness and justice is the barometer of one's faithfulness to the Lord. For us the Christian life is to be lived. Our faith and faithfulness to the Lord is not an idea or simply relegated to the heavenly realm. Our faithfulness to the Lord is fleshed out in doing right and just deeds to our neighbor.

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Yesterday I took the students in my Pentateuch class to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. The purpose of the visit was to show them the artifacts from Egypt and Canaan. It always amazes me to see objects from another time and place. It is like a time machine. The places, people, and culture mentioned in the Bible are directly related to events in the real world. Our faith is in the God of creation who breaks into space and time to accomplish great deeds.

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This semester I have been teaching Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology. These two courses intersect at the point where language is discussed as the primary transmitter of culture. We become enculturated by means of learning our mother tongue. Since language provides us with a symbolic system to view the world, our mother tongue gives us linguistic symbols tied into our American culture. Just think how the word 'freedom' or 'liberty' transmit much more information than just the word's meaning. We inhabit a world created by our linguistic environment. Because of this it is very important that we consider the language we adopt in thinking and speaking about the gospel and our faith. Does our Christian language fit with the revelation found in Scripture?

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