Another elegant and cogent piece. I never realised why the dove was released!
Apropos footnote 1. After watching a Theopolis Institute video I read all of Jordan's "Through New Eyes". Like your work, this book length primer has had a huge influence on me. His visual imagery (symbolism) and repeated patterns (typology) seems to be "very similar" to your approach.
My question is this. Are there any other prominent thinkers working in the "space" that you and Jordan seem to be occupying, or is it pretty niche? I am asking because this style of hermeneutic (for want of a possibly better signifier) is having a major impact on me.
A lot of Theopolis content is influenced by and similar to James Jordan’s work. Are you familiar with the work of, for instance, Peter Leithart and/or Alastair Roberts?
In addition to the Theopolis guys, The Language of Creation by Matthieu Pageau is also helpful. His brother Jonathan runs the Symbolic World podcast, which is worth listening to. They are Eastern Orthodox, so there are some issues, but there's still a lot to be gained from them.
Thanks, Bnonn. I have just had a quick look at the above links and will take a taste by looking at "the cosmological significance of head coverings". Here's hoping! Paul does say in Corinthians that head-coverings are to be worn "because of the angels" and I have never heard anyone speak into this apparently straightforward statement. Thanks again for your response.
Great work - I'm so glad you value biblical chronology.
- The 3 sendings of the 'dove' suggest 3 major actions of the Spirit in Christ's 'new-creation' ministry:
(1) The Virgin Birth: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you' (Lk1:35).
(2) Christ's Baptism, in which the 'dove' descends fulfilling 'to anoint the most holy' in Dan 9:24 as per A. Steinmann.
(3) The Spirit descending at Pentecost.
[The resurrection (Rom8:11) is a poorer candidate since the Spirit 'remained' (Jn1:32-22) on Christ after his Baptism and so would not involve a distinct dove 'sending' event].
If one's understanding of the kingdom of God allows it, your chronology also opens up a parallel with other aspects of Christ's first advent:
- The raven precedes the dove: the linkage to Elijah is the other main appearance of a raven. And Elijah is strongly linked with John the Baptist (Lk 1:17, Mal 4:5-6) who prepares the way for the Messiah, announcing the kingdom of God at hand. John was a transition point: “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached.”
Thus God sends a raven, then three times a dove, just as it transpires in the NT.
I like this idea, but wonder if it needs tweaking a bit, as the dove not finding a permanent dwelling place on its first flight doesn’t fit Christ’s baptism so well. I wonder if an OT referent would work better there. I wonder if we could think, for instance, about the unusual outpourings of the Spirit on the judges, or on Saul. Or on the guys in Numbers who prophesy.
I find the 'dove' linkage too striking to walk away from. I would answer your helpful counterpoint by suggesting that the 'resting' place of the dove in the first 2 instances is ultimately the Ark which receives it (virgin birth, baptism) in contrast to the 3rd sending where the 'resting' place is in the world (pentecost).
After all, the ark with its 8 people is a type of Christ (gematrical number of Jesus in Greek is 888, he ushered in a new creation by rising on 8th day etc..) in whom we are saved.
Thanks for your very interesting approach to the flood year problem, James! I have a draft paper on the same subject where I experimented with several possible interpretations. (It has one error in it I've yet to fix.) You may find it interesting.
Another elegant and cogent piece. I never realised why the dove was released!
Apropos footnote 1. After watching a Theopolis Institute video I read all of Jordan's "Through New Eyes". Like your work, this book length primer has had a huge influence on me. His visual imagery (symbolism) and repeated patterns (typology) seems to be "very similar" to your approach.
My question is this. Are there any other prominent thinkers working in the "space" that you and Jordan seem to be occupying, or is it pretty niche? I am asking because this style of hermeneutic (for want of a possibly better signifier) is having a major impact on me.
A lot of Theopolis content is influenced by and similar to James Jordan’s work. Are you familiar with the work of, for instance, Peter Leithart and/or Alastair Roberts?
Yes. Thanks for the helpful clarification.
In addition to the Theopolis guys, The Language of Creation by Matthieu Pageau is also helpful. His brother Jonathan runs the Symbolic World podcast, which is worth listening to. They are Eastern Orthodox, so there are some issues, but there's still a lot to be gained from them.
Other "lesser" voices in the space, writing from a Reformed perspective, include Josh Robinson (https://joshrobinson.substack.com) and myself. I have a podcast with my wife that is specifically oriented toward symbolic theology at https://www.truemagic.nz, but I've also been working on a series on the transformation of the mind which draws heavily from these kinds of ideas; e.g., https://www.discipleshipdominion.com/p/to-consume-god-he-must-first-consume
Thanks, Bnonn. I have just had a quick look at the above links and will take a taste by looking at "the cosmological significance of head coverings". Here's hoping! Paul does say in Corinthians that head-coverings are to be worn "because of the angels" and I have never heard anyone speak into this apparently straightforward statement. Thanks again for your response.
Would first fruits of new harvest be literal bodily resurrection?
Right!
Great work - I'm so glad you value biblical chronology.
- The 3 sendings of the 'dove' suggest 3 major actions of the Spirit in Christ's 'new-creation' ministry:
(1) The Virgin Birth: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you' (Lk1:35).
(2) Christ's Baptism, in which the 'dove' descends fulfilling 'to anoint the most holy' in Dan 9:24 as per A. Steinmann.
(3) The Spirit descending at Pentecost.
[The resurrection (Rom8:11) is a poorer candidate since the Spirit 'remained' (Jn1:32-22) on Christ after his Baptism and so would not involve a distinct dove 'sending' event].
If one's understanding of the kingdom of God allows it, your chronology also opens up a parallel with other aspects of Christ's first advent:
- The raven precedes the dove: the linkage to Elijah is the other main appearance of a raven. And Elijah is strongly linked with John the Baptist (Lk 1:17, Mal 4:5-6) who prepares the way for the Messiah, announcing the kingdom of God at hand. John was a transition point: “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached.”
Thus God sends a raven, then three times a dove, just as it transpires in the NT.
I like this idea, but wonder if it needs tweaking a bit, as the dove not finding a permanent dwelling place on its first flight doesn’t fit Christ’s baptism so well. I wonder if an OT referent would work better there. I wonder if we could think, for instance, about the unusual outpourings of the Spirit on the judges, or on Saul. Or on the guys in Numbers who prophesy.
I edited it a bit.
I find the 'dove' linkage too striking to walk away from. I would answer your helpful counterpoint by suggesting that the 'resting' place of the dove in the first 2 instances is ultimately the Ark which receives it (virgin birth, baptism) in contrast to the 3rd sending where the 'resting' place is in the world (pentecost).
After all, the ark with its 8 people is a type of Christ (gematrical number of Jesus in Greek is 888, he ushered in a new creation by rising on 8th day etc..) in whom we are saved.
But maybe somebody else can do better!
Thanks for your very interesting approach to the flood year problem, James! I have a draft paper on the same subject where I experimented with several possible interpretations. (It has one error in it I've yet to fix.) You may find it interesting.
https://www.academia.edu/75911170/Flood_Year_Calendar
Very interesting. It's obvious that symmetry reveals purpose.