As I understand it, Hebrew prophetic experience is a perpetual conversation between a people and their God: Are You still with us? Why have You done this to us? etc.
Joshua Coffin goes through this process as an individual:
it is a blessing that the lowland fruit is found to be edible;
it means that He who fed Israel in the wilderness has also fed Coffin's lost son who therefore is still alive;
no, it is not a blessing;
it means only that it is possible to search the lowland in detail;
thus, God commands His servant Joshua to continue this search indefinitely through vines, thornbush and creepers;
no, it is crazy to think that God designed a planet just to punish me!
And so on. These reflections will continue until they are interrupted by a need for action.
Science is like a conversation of question and answer with the natural environment - but one that does yield definite answers.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteBut we see Joshua Coffin rationally examining and testing what he finds. THEN he interpreted what he thought those findings meant.
Ad astra! Sean