Religious Significance of Amazement in the New Testament
Religious Significance of Amazement in the New Testament
Moses was called at the burning bush, Isaiah through a visionary experience in the temple, Peter after a dangerously large catch of fish, and Paul when the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Inexplicably amazing experiences—what some call “divine encounters”—are a core part of how God led many of his saints to serve him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. The emotional experience of amazement played a critical role in their journeys of faith.
I have found it surprising that many New Testament scholars disparage statements about amazement in the New Testament and pit it against true faith. Since amazement plays a key role in the story of the empty tomb, I studied its cultural and religious significance. What I found has enriched my view of the role of amazement in the New Testament and has given me a clearer window into how God works in our lives.
I hope you enjoy reading the following excerpt from my thesis as much as I enjoyed researching it.
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Amazement in the New Testament
The default Greek verb for amazement, θαυμάζω, holds a rich and layered meaning in biblical literature.
As defined by the BDAG, when transitive, the verb θαυμάζω means “to be extraordinarily impressed or disturbed by something.” The cultural context of this term in ancient Greece suggests that a person who experiences 'amazement' would then pursue a deeper understanding of the cause of their amazement (Scodel and Caston 2019, 121). This indicates that 'amazement' is not antithetical to faith, contrary to how many New Testament scholars discuss it, but instead can be seen as a culturally valid spiritual experience that prompts a quest for deeper understanding.
Although amazement does not play a central role in Western Christianity because of Western Secularization (Cosper 2017; cf. Taylor 2014), amazement was a very important concept in Greco-Roman and Jewish spirituality. Amazement was an essential part of the worship experience in Greco-Roman festivals, closely associated with feelings of shock, awe, disorientation, and appreciation of beauty (Naiden 2019, 39). Concerning Greco-Roman religion(s), Silva (2014, Vol. 2, 420) states:
”Examples of θαυμάζω as the human reaction to the working of a deity in the revelation of its divine power can be seen extensively in the history of Gk. [Greek] religion and are already to be found in the Homeric epics (e.g. Od. 1.323; Il. 3.398). From Hel. [Hellenistic] times mention may be made of Aelius Aristides (2nd cent. AD), the orator and devout worshiper of Asclepius, who in his writings alludes to the marvelous and powerful deeds of the god (G. Bertram in TDNT 3:28).”
Amazement also played an important role in the worship of the Israelites. Of the 147 occurrences of θαυμάζω and its cognates in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint/LXX), over 25% appear in the Psalms, describing God’s actions in history. In the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament article on this word group, Bertram (1964, Vol. 3, 29) states that this word and its cognates are a distinctive expression for experiential piety in the LXX. In other words, the Greek translation of the Old Testament taught that amazement is a core part of the lived experience of faith in the God of Israel.
In the New Testament, amazement plays an especially important role in the Gospel accounts and in Luke in particular. In Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, Card (2011, chapter 1) states that Luke "exhausts the language of amazement," using every root for amazement found elsewhere in the New Testament.
Translation implications: If the receptor language has words for amazement specifically linked with spiritual experiences, it would be prudent to use those words to translate words for amazement in the NT.
Amazing Circumstances Fling Open Doors to New Ways of Life
Amazing circumstances can be like the magical wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, opening the door of the human heart to perceive new realities and even to adopt a new way of life. For Moses, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul, amazing events underscored their calls to ministry. For the women who visited Jesus’ empty tomb in Luke 24:1-12, the angelic explanation of the miraculously empty tomb drove home the significance of Jesus’s resurrection in God’s plan for humanity.
TL;DR
If the email was too long to read, here are the main points:
- Many New Testament scholars disparage amazement as less than true faith.
- While researching amazement for my thesis, I found that amazement often operates as a door for people to enter into their ministry and to shift beliefs.
Challenge for You
In Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World, Michael Cosper (2017) argues that modern Western systems galvanize people against amazement. Secularism and materialism strips us of belief in God’s providential guidance of the world. Our social media environment inundates us with the most “amazing” feats humans can perform. Now we can even generate AI audio-visual content of anything we can imagine.
Cumulatively, our beliefs and media environment dull our hearts to experiencing amazement at God’s intervention in history.
–> Consider making a list of all the things you find amazing in the Bible and that you believe God has done in your life.
Hours of meticulous research and commitment went into creating this newsletter. Remember, knowledge grows when it's shared. So, don't hesitate to pass this on!
References
- Bertram, Georg. 1964. “Θαῦμα, Θαυμάζω, Θαυμάσιος, Θαυμαστός.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, 3:27–42. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
- Card, Michael. 2011. Luke: The Gospel of Amazement. First Edition. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP.
- Cosper, Mike. 2017. Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World. IVP.
- Naiden, Fred S. 2019. “2. Religion and Spirituality.” In A Cultural History of the Emotions in Antiquity, 35–45. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474207027.
- Scodel, Ruth, and Ruth Caston. 2019. “6. Literature.” In A Cultural History of the Emotions in Antiquity, 109–24. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474207027.
- Silva, Moisés, ed. 2014. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis Set. Second edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic.
- Smith, James K. A. 2014. How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. First Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.