The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua HeschelOK, so The Sabbath is also one I read for school, and last fall, too. And I'm just going to post the paper (or the introductory paragraph--the paper will be attached) I wrote on it for my Old Testament class. But I really may re-read at least parts of this book. This was such a breath of fresh air in the midst of reading lots of dense theological arguments.
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Particularly in the modern West, Christians have a great deal to learn from the wisdom of Abraham Heschel. Whereas the Sabbath is often spoken of and treated as a means to an end—a period of rest in order to make one a more effective laborer the other 6 days of the week—Heschel emphasizes the nature of the Sabbath as an epitome of rather than a lull in the life of the world. Though there are some limitations of nuance in translating Heschel’s deeply Jewish reading of the Old Testament, Heschel’s treatment of several apparent dichotomies—space versus time, labor versus rest, and heaven versus earth, and holiness versus goodness—articulates a theology of creation and eternity that presents a positive, Scripturally-based challenge to both Jews and Christians.
Download the entire paper as a PDF here.
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