Questioning God

Description

The interpretation of certain key texts in the Bible by two Dominican Friars: the celebrated preacher and author Timothy Radcliffe and the Director of the Biblical Institute in Jerusalem Lukasz Popko. When the Lord first spoke to Samuel in the Old Testament, he did not understand. So it is in the modern secular world that we too have muffled our ears. How are we, like Samuel, to hear God speaking to us in the words of hope and joy in a way that will make our ears tingle? As the Psalmist says, we have 'ears and hear not'. Some people dismiss such sentiments in the Bible as products of long-dead cultures that have nothing to do with us. As with other religions, which have sacred texts, many hear them as celestial commandments demanding unthinking submission. But God does not address us through a celestial megaphone. Revelation is God's conversation with his people through which they may become the friends of God. The novelty of Biblical revelation consists in the fact that God becomes known to us through the dialogue which he desires to have with us. How can we learn to listen to our God and join Him in the conversation?

A former Master of the world-wide Dominican Order in Rome, Timothy Radcliffe is now based in Oxford but spends much of his time travelling the world lecturing, preaching and broadcasting. He has written a number of bestselling books for Bloomsbury/Continuum. Lukasz Popko is a leading Biblical scholar and head of the Biblical Institute (Ecole Biblique) in Jerusalem. Polish by birth, he speaks and reads many languages. He has written books and learned articles in both his native language and in English.