Category Archives: Abraham Joshua Heschel

Teaching Faith to Youth

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Derek Leman

I’ve been doing a short series on Sabbath afternoons with the youth of our congregation talking about faith. I didn’t have any when I was a teenager and was not raised in any sort of religious environment. So I find, … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Atheism, C.S. Lewis, Christian, Faith, Judaism, Judeo-Christian | 5 Comments

Is Faith Imagined?

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Derek Leman

Many people suspect so. And I don’t just mean the critics. Many people who believe wonder, “Am I just imagining this?” I used to hear as an objection to faith, “It’s wish-fulfillment. You wish there were such a thing as … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Atheism, Faith, J-BOM, Philosophy | 3 Comments

Sci-Fi, God, the Universe, and Us

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Derek Leman

Science fiction was my religion once. Asimov was my prophet and Clark too, and my teacher was Sagan. That was before I came to Jesus and Judaism. Some of the radical amazement I used to feel for the vastness of … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Atheism, Faith, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

God in Search of Man, #4

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Derek Leman

Justin Bond sort of got the jump on me over at Messiah Connection. I had discussed possibly resurrecting J-BOM (the Jewish Book of the Month). And 3.5 people responded enthusiastically! I’d said let’s make Heschel’s God in Search of Man … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Atheism, Bible, Judaism, Philosophy | 2 Comments

God in Search of Man, #3

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Derek Leman

This is all part of a parallel series on Heschel’s God in Search of Man and Lewis’s Miracles. If Messianic Judaism is a sort of Christian-Jewish hybrid, why not study two the greatest modern thinkers, one from each? And the … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Judaism, Philosophy | 3 Comments

God in Search of Man, #2

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Derek Leman

Since Messianic Judaism is a hybrid of Judaism and Christianity, I had the bright idea of doing a blog series on a great, modern thinker from Judaism and another from Christianity. Obviously (many will agree) the choice for Judaism is … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bible, Judaism, Philosophy | 8 Comments

God in Search of Man, #1

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Derek Leman

Messianic Judaism is, in essence, a hybrid faith incorporating Jewish and Christian traditions and theology. I have for some time had in mind a project: reviewing some works by one Jewish and one Christian thinker who might be termed seminal … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bible, Christian, Faith, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism | 5 Comments

The difference between religion and philosophy…

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Derek Leman

From Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: Not only are the problems of philosophy not identical with the problems of religion; their status is not the same. Philosophy is, in a sense, a kind of thinking that has … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Mysticism, Philosophy | Leave a comment

On Reading Good Jewish Books

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Derek Leman

I read a lot of books for information. There are commentaries, atlases, lexicons, and many sources of information in my library. I also read for entertainment. I like suspense and fantasy novels and tend to fluctuate between the two. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Book Reviews, Christian, Judaism, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Wyschogrod | Tagged | 8 Comments

The Bad News Bible

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Derek Leman

As a part of my long, slow preparation for a return to Hebrew Bible studies, I am reading The Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel. The first chapter started on an alarming note, depressing me more and more with each word. … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bible, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Prophets | Tagged | 2 Comments

Heschel on Amos

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Derek Leman

Read this one slowly and with the book of Amos close at hand. Read it more than once over the next few days. Perhaps it will revive you as it did me. …………………………. Of the minor prophets, Amos has always … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bible, messianic, Messianic Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Prophets, Torah | Tagged , , | 1 Comment