Re: esther & MN and the resurrection???
George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Fri, 20 Mar 1998 15:40:59 -0500Bill Hamilton wrote:
>>That
> >isn't what's happening in Esther. It's an exaplanation of what happened
> >in terms of natural human, political &c motives & actions with no
> >explicit reference to God. It is not a rationalistic trimming of a
> >miraculous story.
>
> It's true that there is no explicit reference to God. However, Mordecai
> and Esther both fasted. Esther 4:12-16 doesn't explicitly mention God,
> it's true, but those verses seem to me to be the words of people who trust
> that God will protect them (and fasting is the act of an individual who
> understands that there is a sovereign God and submits himself to Him).
>
> I do agree with you that this is an example of God working (powerfully)
> through events that seem ordinary.
Fasting is a pretty general religious practice, not necessarily
related to belief in the God of Israel. Yes, I think we can assume that
the writer intended us to see God at work in the events of the story,
but the fact that he/she then precisely did _not_ make an explicit
statement about that is very significant.
> Bill Hamilton
> Staff Research Engineer
> Chassis and Vehicle Systems
> GM R&D Center
> Warren, MI
-- George L. Murphygmurphy@imperium.nethttp://www.imperium.net/~gmurphy