Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says of Joel, “If people know anything at all about the prophet Joel, it is because Simon Peter quotes from this book on the day of Pentecost. A major theme if the Book of Acts, which records that sermon, is inclusion. This passage from Joel is a radical vision of an inclusive age: Then afterwards I will pour out my spirit on all flesh’ Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, You old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, In those days, I will pour out my spirit. Joel 2:28-29 The gift of the spirit is promised to “all flesh,” sons and daughters, young and old, male and female, slave and free. The writer of Acts credits Peter for interpreting the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost as the fulfillment of this prophesy. This interpretation has become accepted wisdom for the church, but what is interesting is that Peter was actually “prooftexting” from Joel. The practice of “prooftexting” is pervasive among preachers,…It means that a preacher or interpreter of the scripture has taken a portion of scripture out of its context…Peter doesn’t bother to quote the whole text, which is probably a good thing because it says: I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire And columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the Moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Joel 2:30-31 Joel’s vision was clearly apocalyptic, but the moon didn’t turn to blood on the day of Pentecost. So was he wrong, or was Peter?...It could be the beginning of the end of excluding religion defined by who is in and who is out. Of course, the way people of faith have behaved the past 2,000 years, it seems more likely that the moon will turn to blood.”
Rev. Michael Piazza in Liberating Word says of Joel, “If people know anything at all about the prophet Joel, it is because Simon Peter quotes from this book on the day of Pentecost. A major theme if the Book of Acts, which records that sermon, is inclusion. This passage from Joel is a radical vision of an inclusive age:
ReplyDeleteThen afterwards
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh’
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
You old men shall dream dreams,
And your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
In those days, I will pour out my spirit.
Joel 2:28-29
The gift of the spirit is promised to “all flesh,” sons and daughters, young and old, male and female, slave and free. The writer of Acts credits Peter for interpreting the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost as the fulfillment of this prophesy. This interpretation has become accepted wisdom for the church, but what is interesting is that Peter was actually “prooftexting” from Joel.
The practice of “prooftexting” is pervasive among preachers,…It means that a preacher or interpreter of the scripture has taken a portion of scripture out of its context…Peter doesn’t bother to quote the whole text, which is probably a good thing because it says:
I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire
And columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the
Moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
Joel 2:30-31
Joel’s vision was clearly apocalyptic, but the moon didn’t turn to blood on the day of Pentecost. So was he wrong, or was Peter?...It could be the beginning of the end of excluding religion defined by who is in and who is out. Of course, the way people of faith have behaved the past 2,000 years, it seems more likely that the moon will turn to blood.”