It was when reading the early Walter Brueggemann I first came across the name of Abraham Joshua Heschel. I found an old pbk copy of The Prophets and discovered in Heschel a way of writing about the Old testament that was new to me. In my theological education I had used standard introductions, and the dominant names were Gerhard Von rad, Walther Eichrodt, Ott Eissfeldt, Claus Westermann, Artur Weiser and as a conservative pushback R K Harrison. But on the prophets it was Von Rad.
A J Heschel's The Prophets is a masterpiece, and a classic. Mind you, Gerhard Von Rad has retained classic status too, both for his 2 volume Old Testament Theology and as commentator on Genesis and Deuteronomy. But Heschel made no attempt at "objective critical scholarship" rooted in the historical critical project. Not that he dismissed such approaches - it simply wasn't his way of reading the sacred texts of the prophets.
I began reading more of Heschel, and eventually he became a regular conversation partner in my study. Philosopher, humane scholar, Hasidic lover of the text, passionate apologist for a faith that was humane, laced with wonder, fuelled by moral passions, humble and awe-filled in his conception of human existence lived out before the presence of God who speaks, acts and relates to each person alert enough to notice the miracle that is life itself.
Heschel has been one of my teachers since I bought that first book over 40 years ago. As one who wrote a great book on The Prophets, over the years many recognised Heschel as a latter day manifestation of that same ethical passion and theological vision brought to bear on the urgent and at times dangerous questions of our times.
I go back to him regularly, to hear him say again words that make sense of those times in our lives when what we need more than anything, is someone who can confirm, yet again,
that doing good is worth it,
that compassion is better than selfishness,
that hope is defiance of despair
that creating generously trumps selfish consumption every time,
that life lived with God on the horizon enables us to see deeper, further and at times, more clearly the mystery and miracle of it all,
and that prayer isn't about me making God notice me, but being open to God so that when God speaks in silence or in word, I notice God because I'm learning to pay attention, listening with the soul.
I guess you could say I'm encouraging you to seek out Heschel's wisdom. The slim anthology, I Asked for Wonder is a good place to start. Here is just one extract:
"We cannot make Him visible to us, but we can make ourselves visible to Him. So we open our thoughts to Him -- feeble our tongues, but sensitive our hearts. We see more than we can say. The trees stand like guards of the Everlasting; the flowers like signposts of His goodness -- only we have failed to be testimonies to His presence, tokens of His trust. How could we have lived in the shadow of greatness and defied it." Pages 38-9.
Comments