DOCSLIB.ORG

Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job1 Mart-Jan Paul

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job1 Mart-Jan Paul Papers Behemoth and leviathan in the book of Job1 Mart-Jan Paul Behemoth and leviathan, the two enigmatic animals mentioned in the book of Job, are commonly equated with a hippopotamus and a crocodile, respectively. Exegesis of Job 40 and 41 indicates that a hippopotamus and a crocodile are not likely candidates for these enormous creatures described by Job. Neither should behemoth and leviathan be taken as mythological animals. After establishing their identities, I also consider to what degree they symbolize the power of evil, and whether they are connected with Satan (who is mentioned in the first two chapters of the book). Were behemoth and leviathan real animals? c. God does not describe past cosmic events in relation to behemoth and leviathan, but rather the appearance and he book of Job, presumably written in the second habits of animals that were present. Therefore he is Tmillennium BC , details the events of the patriarchal Job in the land of Uz.2 At the end of the book, in God’s speech referring to animals that Job observed personally. Both to Job, two large animals are described. The first animal animals are extraordinarily powerful and evoke awe. is described in ten verses (40:15–24) and the second in no d. It is possible that some poetic licence was employed in less than 34 verses (41:1–34). Several English translations the description of the animals, but this does not mean give the Hebrew names rather than a translation: behemoth that Job and his friends did not observe real animals. and leviathan. In the course of history, people have often It is therefore plausible that the two animals indeed questioned whether these passages describe actual animals. were real. Various interpretations have moved between the extremes of mythical and realistic explanations. Apocalyptic and Behemoth (Job 40:15–24) early rabbinic Judaism typically represented them from a In chapter 40, God describes an impressive animal. It is mythical point of view, where the animals are to play a role the first or most prominent among God’s works. Behemoth in the future.3 In Christian circles a symbolic explanation apparently is a masterpiece (v. 19). This description is or application has been present for a long time. Thomas about twice as long as that for the animals in chapter 39. Aquinas, on the other hand, equated behemoth with Job is asked to consider behemoth4 that eats grass like an elephant, and leviathan with a whale. Since Samuel an ox and is therefore some kind of herbivore (v. 15). Bochartus, in his Hierozoicon (1663), identified behemoth Job is urged to pay attention to the power of its loins and the with the hippopotamus and leviathan with the crocodile, strength of its belly muscles (v. 16). A problem with the idea this has become the current consensus. that this description refers to a hippopotamus is that in this The word ‘behemoth’ is the plural for ‘livestock’ animal the loins are not individually visible and neither are (see Gen. 2:20). This plural form is often used for beasts the muscles. The hippopotamus is a very thickset animal. of the field or woods. Leviathan is mentioned once as Behemoth can stretch its tail like a cedar.5 This tree is denoting a normal sea creature (Psa. 104:26) and three known for its size and its hard wood, which is very well times in a symbolic manner (Job 3:8; Isa. 27:1 and suited for building. The tail thus should be strong and long. Psa. 74:14). While both words can be used in a variety The tail of the hippopotamus has no resemblance to a mighty of ways, several contextual factors in Job 40–41 favour cedar or cedar branch at all. The short and thick tail is only interpreting behemoth and leviathan as two real animals 35 to 50 cm long; it is broad at its base and has a pointed that Job could have witnessed: end. Furthermore, the hippopotamus does not stretch its tail, a. The first time the Lord speaks in Job 39 He describes but lets it hang down and wiggles it. For this reason, the real animals (from which we can glean important truths translation ‘to slacken’ has been proposed, but this does not about the nature of the world and the special place of fit with the comparison of the tail to a cedar. The cedar has mankind). In the following verses two more living very long branches of some 10 to 20 m, so restricting the animals are mentioned, which strengthens the argument comparison to a cedar branch does not provide a solution. that the Lord is referring to real creatures. Although the hippopotamus is impressive, the elephant b. Behemoth is not described as a horrible and rapacious and the rhinoceros are nevertheless larger. These animals are, animal, as in several creation myths. On the contrary, together with the hippopotamus, depicted and mentioned on it is described as a grass-eating animal (Job 40:15). the so-called Black Obelisk.6 It seems that the hippopotamus It lies peacefully in the shadow of the river plants is brought forward as a tribute (payment of a vassal), which (vv. 21–22). would seem an unlikely fate for behemoth according to its 94 JOURNAL OF CREATION 24(3) 2010 Papers depiction here. The remainder of verse 19 can be interpreted in two ways: the creature has been given a sword by God, or it is a creature against whom only God can draw His sword. The word ‘sword’ is often taken to indicate the teeth of a hippopotamus because they can grow to lengths of ca. 50 cm and are similar in form to a scimitar (compare Prov. 30:14, and figure 1). If this is the right explanation, it seems strange that the word is used in the singular form. The possibility that the Maker approaches this animal with his sword, because people do not dare to do this, is more in line with verse 24 and with the impossibility for attacking Figure 1. Hippopotamuses and Egyptian hunters (from Keel, ref. 10). this animal. The trees it lies down under and provide it with shade an animal living in Egypt to describe this animal accurately, (vv. 21–22) are usually identified as the Ziziphus lotus, a and that confusion with other animals arose from this thorny tree that is 2–5 m tall. However, this tree grows in a situation. However, this is an ad hoc solution. Remains of dry climate and therefore cannot be meant here. In ancient hippopotamuses have been found in Tel Dor in Israel and Egypt, there were two famous water plants, the blue and it is likely that they were present in large parts of Israel the white lotus. These are plants though, and not trees, through to the Iron Age.11 Therefore we can assume people and therefore the translation “lotus trees” is incorrect.7 living in Israel when Job was written were familiar with this The hippopotamus can lie in the water, with only its eyes, animal. If we were to start from this knowledge and try to ears and nose just above the water. But do the plants really describe the hippopotamus, the description would focus on give the animal shade? Also, in view of the verse 22, the its squat appearance, its large mouth and deadly incisors, the translation “trees that give shadow” is preferable. Marshes strong legs that can crush and the gigantic strength of the occur in the Near East in many places, not just in Egypt. The animal.12 In Job, however, different things are mentioned. trees by the stream or wadi are willows or poplars. Willow, It is therefore likely that another animal is described. in particular Salix babylonica, originally did not occur in the What, then, was behemoth? Near East and came to this area from China during Medieval times. The trees that bring shadow probably represent a If we take extinct animals into consideration, a species of poplar (Populus euphratica Olivier) or several herbivorous dinosaur seems a more likely candidate. The kinds of reed that can be several metres tall. apatosaur had a large tail, lived on green plants and weighed Even if the current in the water is very strong, this does about 30 tonnes. The ultrasaur could reach a height of 18 m not hold it back. It is secure, even though the Jordan should and a length of 30 m, with a weight of 136 tonnes. It also surge against its mouth (v. 23). The mention of the Jordan was a herbivore with an enormous tail. The brachiosaur was indicates that we are biased if we only look to Egypt for the 12 m tall, 23 m long and 60 to 70 tonnes in weight. Its tail identification of behemoth.8 After this description follows could reach a length of nearly 6 m and a breadth of nearly a question: does anyone dare to grasp this animal from the 1.5 m. In the sauropods, large bundles of muscles are visible front, to pierce its nose? (v. 24). The animal is here seen on the outside of the body of the animal. Behemoth is not as invincible (v. 19), while in Egypt the hippopotamus was only a herbivore, but more specifically it is a grass-eater. An hunted. A favourite tactic was to pierce the nose, forcing animal that does fit this aspect is the 15 m long nigersaur, 13 the animal to breathe through its opened mouth (figure found in the Republic of Niger in Africa.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Religion, Family, and Society in Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (2014)
    Journal of Religion & Film Volume 24 Issue 2 October 2020 Article 1 October 2020 Corruption as Shared Culpability: Religion, Family, and Society in Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (2014) Maria Hristova Lewis and Clark College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf Part of the Christianity Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Other Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Hristova, Maria (2020) "Corruption as Shared Culpability: Religion, Family, and Society in Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (2014)," Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 24 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. DOI: 10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.24.2.001 Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol24/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Religion & Film by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Corruption as Shared Culpability: Religion, Family, and Society in Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (2014) Abstract This article engages in close analysis of how Andrey Zvyagintsev depicts corruption and its various manifestations: moral, familial, societal, and institutional, in Leviathan (Leviafan, 2014). While other post- Soviet films address the problem of prevalent corruption in Russia, Zvyagintsev’s work is the first ot provoke strong public reactions, not only from government and Russian Orthodox Church officials, but also from Orthodox and political activist groups. The film demonstrates that the instances of legal and moral failings in one aspect of existence are a sign of a much deeper and wider-ranging problem that affects all other spheres of human experience.
    [Show full text]
  • The Words of Job Are Spoken in the Midst of Chaos. Job Has Just Lost His Home, His Farm
    9 September 2018 Job 1:1; 2:1–10; 10:1-9; 38:1-7; 42:1-6 When the world is in chaos First Mennonite Church The words of Job are spoken in the midst of chaos. Job has just lost his home, his farm. All Job's children are dead. Now he has lost his health, his body disfigured with open sores. My days are without hope, he says (7:6). He wishes he were dead. Let the day perish wherein I was born (3:3). Job asks God, why? Why is light given to one in misery? (Job 3:20) I sat down this week and read through the book of Job to get a feel for it. I’ll be honest with you—it’s not an easy book to read, let alone preach on. Anytime anyone attempts to speak about God the Creator and human suffering, there's a good chance that we're going to sound like Job's friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu. They come, at first as friends to console and comfort Job as he goes through the valley of the shadows. But, in the face of Job's sores, his dead children, how do his "friends" comfort and console him? Here's a sampling: Eliphaz: Now Job, think who that was innocent ever perished (4:7). Are you perishing? Now, let's figure out what you’ve done wrong to deserve this. Bildad: Job, are you suggesting that God is unjust? If you were pure and upright, God would answer you with prosperity (8:3-6).
    [Show full text]
  • God's Answer to Job
    Rel. Stud. 32, pp. 339-356. Copyright © 1996 Cambridge University Press WESLEY MORRISTON GOD'S ANSWER TO JOB Let the day perish in which I was born... [Job 3: 3a]1 ...he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness ... though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. [9: 17-18,2ob] ... therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. [g: 22] I call aloud, but there is no justice. [19: 7 b] Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! [31: 35 a] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind. Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?... Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? ... when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? [38: 1-2, 4a, 7] I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. [42: 5-6] In the long poem at the centre of the book of Job, we encounter a decidedly impatient Job — one who curses the day he was born, accuses God of treating him unfairly, and demands an accounting from his maker. At the dramatic climax of the book, God answers Job out of a ' whirlwind ', displaying the wonders of creation and putting Job firmly back in his place.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 2: Three Cycles of Speeches Chapters 3-31
    JOB 70 Part 2: Three Cycles of Speeches Chapters 3-31 In the long second section of Job, we will look at a of his conception. Job wishes his mother’s womb had set of three speeches or conversations. become his tomb. • First cycle of speeches (Chapters 3-14) Verses 20-23. Commenting on these verses, Barbara • Second cycle of speeches (Chapters 15-21) Reid, O.P., writes: • Third cycle of speeches (Chapters 22-31) “Job continues his lament in 3:20-23 with vivid imagery. Having been robbed of all he previously FIRST CYCLE OF SPEECHES (Chapters 3-14) treasured, he speaks of wanting death so badly that this is now the hidden treasure for which he earnestly CHAPTER 3: Job curses the day he was born digs. In his dark despair he laments that it would “Perish the day on which I was born, the night when have been better never to have been given light. Job they said, ‘The child is a boy.’” (v 3) feels “fenced in,” trapped in desperation and darkness. At the beginning of Job’s story, Satan had In his introduction to chapter 3 and the first cycle of observed that God had “put a fence” of protection speeches, Peter Ellis, C.SS.R., writes: and blessing around Job and his house and all he had, blessing all that Job had and causing it to The first cycle of speeches in the unfolding increase (1:10). Job has lost sight of God’s psychological drama is begun by Job, who shocks his protection that still encircles him, even in his loss friends by cursing the day he was born.
    [Show full text]
  • Melville's Bibles
    © 2008 UC Regents Buy this book University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2008 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pardes, Ilana. Melville’s Bibles / Ilana Pardes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-25454-1 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-25455-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Melville, Herman, 1819–1891. Moby Dick. 2. Melville, Herman, 1819–1891—Religion. 3. Bible—Commentaries. 4. Bible—Hermeneutics. 5. Bible and literature. 6. Religion and culture. 7. Religion and literature—United States—History— 19th century. 8. American fi ction—19th century— History and criticism. I. Title. ps2388.b5p37 2008 813’.3—dc22 2007014870 Manufactured in the United States of America 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on New Leaf EcoBook 50, a 100% recycled fi ber of which 50% is de-inked post- consumer waste, processed chlorine-free. EcoBook 50 is acid-free and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/astm d5634–01 (Permanence of Paper). chapter 1 Playing with Leviathan Job and the Aesthetic Turn in Biblical Exegesis But if, in the face of all this, you still declare that whaling has no aesthetically noble associations connected with it, then am I ready to shiver fi fty lances with you there, and un- horse you with a split helmet every time.
    [Show full text]
  • Eliphaz Speaks: Job Must Have Sinned Greatly
    JOB 4 Eliphaz Speaks: Job Must Have Sinned Greatly Introduction : In this chapter, Eliphaz, the first of Job’s three friends begins to speak. After having kept silent for seven days and nights with the rest, the first words out of his mouth are not very encouraging to Job. Eliphaz basically assumes that Job must have done something very terrible to experience the extreme affliction and distress he’s going through. Eliphaz appears to be offended by Job’s reaction. This is typical of the oriental or Middle Eastern view of the tragedies and blessings of life—they are in direct proportion to what one does. But it is not necessarily consistent with God’s viewpoint or dealings with man. Therefore Eliphaz’ counsel to Job will not be very helpful at all. To give more authority to what he says, Eliphaz actually mocks Job’s integrity to make himself look like a wise counselor. In the end though, injustice is settled and the folly of Eliphaz and the other two “friends” of Job, Bildad and Zophar, is exposed: And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has ”.—Job 42:7-8 This chapter serves as a reminder to us not to get too prideful in our own position because it is the Lord who justifies and is sovereign.
    [Show full text]
  • CS Lewis Library
    C.S. Lewis Library Background Information The majority of the Lewis Library was acquired from Wroxton College in 1986, where it had been in use by the patrons of the college library. Other titles have been given by C.S. Lewis’s friends and associates to the Wade Center. Related Materials 1. The Lewis Library Inserts Archive contains items that were found between the pages of the books in C.S. Lewis' personal library. A list and photocopies of some of the handwritten annotations in the books are also included. 2. “C.S. Lewis: A Living Library” by Margaret Anne Rogers is a thesis written about the Lewis library collection while it was at Wroxton College. 3. From the Library of C.S. Lewis: Selections from Writers who Influenced his Spiritual Journey, edited by James Bell, is an anthology of excerpts from books in Lewis’s library. Key: SIGNED: An * indicates that the book contains a signature, many by C.S. Lewis. Other names in this column indicate that the book is signed by others, e.g. W -- Warren H. Lewis, A -- Albert J. Lewis. Many books in Lewis’s library were presentation copies. UNDR: An * indicates that there is underlining in the book. ANT.: An * indicates that the book has been annotated. Bolded text: Indicates the book is shelved by title This listing is owned by the Wade Center and is not to be duplicated or deposited in another institution without written permission from the Wade Center. It is a working draft and complete accuracy is not guaranteed. Marion E.
    [Show full text]
  • The New Beginning By: Ray C
    Title: The New Beginning By: Ray C. Stedman Scripture: Job 42 Date: January 1, 1978 Series: Let God be God Message No: 12 Catalog No: 3551 The New Beginning by Ray C. Stedman We last saw our friend Job flat on his face be- beasts. As Job learns that these are the problems in fore God. He had been shown two unforgettable his own heart, problems that God has to deal with, aspects of God’s glory and character. You recall he bows before him. Before this breathtaking vi- how God took him on a trip through the world of sion of God’s power and might and glory and wis- nature and showed him his creative power and wis- dom, Job repents in dust and ashes and cries out to dom, not in mysteries beyond men’s ken, but in the God. simple things all around him. God asked him Now, in Chapter 42, beginning with Verse 7, questions, but he could not answer. Neither can we come to a new beginning, and this is a very ap- we, with our advanced science today. By means of propriate section for this New Year’s Sunday. Job this, God showed Job that he was entirely out of his has learned his lesson now. He saw that there were league in trying to question God’s ways and God’s depths and degrees of pride and self-sufficiency in wisdom. What God did was so far beyond what himself that he was not aware of. Surely there is man can even remotely dream, there is no compari- nothing more difficult for us to learn than the fact son at all, and no possibility of challenge.
    [Show full text]
  • Leviathan, Behemoth, and Other Biblical Tannînim: Serpents, Not Dinosaurs Weight on Land
    Article Leviathan, Behemoth, and Philip J. Senter Other Biblical Tannînim: Serpents, Not Dinosaurs Philip J. Senter An extensive and growing body of young-earth creationist literature treats the Bible as a science textbook and claims that the Bible mentions dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles. Such literature equates the Hebrew term tannîn (often translated “dragon”) with dinosaurs and/or Mesozoic marine reptiles. Accordingly, it misidentifies the tannîn Leviathan as a literal fire-breathing dinosaur or marine reptile. It also misidentifies the monster Behemoth as a dinosaur. These misidentifications have been incorporated into grade-school science textbooks that teach students that ancient reptiles breathed fire. Numerous clues from the Bible and other ancient sources falsify those misidenti- fications. Such clues reveal that tannîn means “serpent,” that the ancient Hebrews envisioned Leviathan (and possibly Behemoth) metaphorically as a serpent, and that Leviathan’s fire-breathing is not literal but metaphorical. Leviathan and Behemoth are not natural animals, but rather supernatural entities with important roles in ancient Hebrew eschatology. he Bible is not a science textbook. A corollary of the YEC view is that Nevertheless, advocates of the humans and dinosaurs once coexisted, Tyoung-earth creationist (YEC) because they were created during the worldview treat it as one. According to same week. To support that corollary, an the YEC view, the biblical book of Genesis enormous and ever-growing body of YEC is an accurate record of past events that literature claims that the Bible mentions took place exactly as Genesis describes dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and other reptiles them, so its descriptions of events can be that are known today only from Mesozoic treated as scientific data.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chapters of the Bible a Guide to the Systematic Study of the Bible
    Scholars Crossing An Alliterated Outline for the Chapters of the Bible A Guide to the Systematic Study of the Bible 5-2018 The Chapters of Job Harold Willmington Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/outline_chapters_bible Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Willmington, Harold, "The Chapters of Job" (2018). An Alliterated Outline for the Chapters of the Bible. 33. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/outline_chapters_bible/33 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the A Guide to the Systematic Study of the Bible at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in An Alliterated Outline for the Chapters of the Bible by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Job SECTION OUTLINE ONE (JOB 1-2) Job is introduced. God allows Satan to test Job's faithfulness by taking all that he has. Job responds with great sorrow, but he worships God. Satan accuses Job again and strikes him with boils. Job's wife tells him to curse God and die, but Job remains faithful. Three of Job's friends come and mourn with him. I. JOB'S PRESTIGE (1:1-5) A. His faith (1:1): "There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil." B. His fortune (1:3): "He owned 7,000 sheep, and 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and he employed many servants.
    [Show full text]
  • "Leviathan"? He Wanted an Image of Strength and Power to Stand Metaphorically for the Commonwealth and Its Sovereign
    Leviathan as Metaphor SAMUELI. MINTZ Why did Hobbes name his masterpiece "Leviathan"? He wanted an image of strength and power to stand metaphorically for the commonwealth and its sovereign. So much is clear. Nevertheless the title seems odd. Why didn't he call the book by its subtitle, "The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common- wealth" ? This subtitle, precise and denotative, like a description in a book catalogue, would have been a title in the hands of almost any other political philosopher of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We think of Bodin's Six Books of the Republic, of Locke's Two Treatises of Government. Doubt- less there were exceptions: Harrington's Common-Wealth of Oceana is one; but Harrington belongs also to the genre of utopian romance. It is Hobbes who stamped his book with the name of a myth, rich in traditional associa- tions ; also, in a sense I hope to make clear, it is a 'poetic' name; and, what no one can dispute, it is memorable. Leviathan was the great sea-beast of the Book of Job whom only God could tame and whose power was contrasted by God with Job's weakness. In Isaiah 27 : 1, Leviathan is referred to as "the piercing serpent," "that crooked serpent... and dragon in the sea" who is dispatched by God's mighty sword. Hobbes chose the Jobian Leviathan, an image of neutral or benign power, over the figure of evil in Isaiah. The two Biblical Leviathans, from Job and from Isaiah, became objects of mythical accretion, interpretation, and etymological speculation in a long tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • What Job Sees MARTHA E
    Word & World Volume 39, Number 1 Winter 2019 Beauty and the Eye of the Beholder: What Job Sees MARTHA E. STORTZ eauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In its most hackneyed use, the prov- erb references the subjective nature of what is considered beautiful. What one“B person finds beautiful might not comport with the tastes of another. Taste impacts vision. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But the saying invites multiple interpretations. In another interpretation, the proverb refers not simply to what is seen but how one looks.1 Vision, particularly the vision of things beautiful, depends upon the eye of the beholder, because peo- ple see what they want to see, often editing out all the rest. Quite literally, people find what they are looking for. For example, on his first voyage across the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus recorded sightings of mermaids, because he was certain they existed.2 He was so convinced he was approaching the Far East that he read 1 “Each of us is responsible for how we see, and how we see determines what we see. Seeing is not merely a physical act: the heart of vision is shaped by the state of the soul.” John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), 18–19. 2 Christopher Columbus, The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, ed. and trans. J. M. Cohen (Lon- don: Penguin, 1969). Beauty is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder. But God calls us to see the world not as we think it is but in the beauty of how God sees it.
    [Show full text]