Judaizer! Hebraist!

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One of my pet theological peeves is a distortion of the value of “emphasis.” Heresy is a matter of right or wrong, affirmation or denial. Someone can be imbalanced by being . . . imbalanced, but damnable error involves more than being half a bubble off.

On top of that, critiquing “emphases” lends itself to faux theological sophistication. Indulged in very long, it might also lead to that same faux sophistication coupled with pipe smoking.

If you are limber in your joints, you can play the emphasis game, and run circles around everybody. If a theologian “emphasizes” the Old Testament too much, it might lead one to suspect Judaizing. That would be bad. Or, if you like him, you might applaud his recovery of certain Hebraic echos in the letters of Paul. If his work happens to be in the New Testament, the suspicion might be that he is active in promoting Hellenism. After all, is he not a Greek scholar? Hmmm? But if he is a good guy, then the word Hellenism disappears.

Speaking of disappearing, I am going to bed.

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