Pneuma-Filled ESV

by

1 minute

I had my ESV opened this morning and sitting to the left of my laptop while finishing up some homework for my summer Old Testament II class. At one point I picked it up to get a better look and then set it back down. Upon setting it down, it began dancing as I happened to capture in the video below. To be honest I was considerably spooked out. I quickly grabbed my cell phone to record the action.

This may be silly but what immediately came to mind were the innumerable accounts of supernatural happenings in the middle ages. I, however, unlike a scribe of yesteryear, had the means and technology to record my preternatural experience. I could go to class this morning and share with a classmate my dancing, pneuma-filled ESV and prove it with a video, whereas a scribe in the 13th century going to class (or wherever a scribe would go to hang out with his buddies) after experiencing something like I did, would have to rely on his integrity as a truth-teller alone to gain an audience. You can imagine a scribe going to Haplography 102 and reporting his morning supernatural experience to his friends, the conversation being overheard by the class historian, and the account of a dancing scroll finding its way into the annals of Christian history as a mighty act of the pneuma of God. You can imagine it, right?

Well, unfortunately, I have to report that my dancing, pneuma-filled ESV has a natural explanation: the side fan from my laptop. Check it out (sorry so small; it’s my phone’s camera):

Tags

2 responses to “Pneuma-Filled ESV”

  1. Andy Reinhardt Avatar
    Andy Reinhardt

    Just for someone who isn’t well versed on theology, what do many of the terms you speak of mean (ESV, pneuma, etc.). I am going into astrophysics, but I place higher value on the Bible and its teachings, and this interests me a whole lot. Also, I should note that just because there is a natural explanation for it doesn’t necessarily mean that God won’t always be trying to communicate something with it. Perhaps this isn’t some great sign or miracle (still very confused about what exactly you were talking about), but God’s hidden voice can be heard in everything on this Earth, even something as small an occurance as that. For instance, I am moving to Huntsville AL in August, and every time we are on the way back home, when we cross over into TN, Sweet Home Alabama comes on the radio and goes off at the exact moment we cross the border. This could be a simple coincidence at this point (only happening twice), but its occurance has a purpose. You event may or may not as well.

  2. Drew Maust Avatar

    Hey Andy! It’s good to hear from you and that you’re doing astrophysics. Thanks for the read and re-posting your thoughts from Facebook. Hopefully seeing the video shed some light on the “dancing” ESV.

    As to some of the terms. ESV stands for English Standard Version which is a translation of the Bible. You can read it and about it online at their website: http://www.esv.org. Pneuma is a Koine Greek word employed in the New Testament which is variously translated “wind” or “spirit” or “Spirit.” You may note the intended polysemy of pneuma in the above post by rendering it “wind-filled” (i.e., the laptop fan is blowing on the Bible) or “spirit-filled” (i.e., a spirit or the Holy Spirit is causing the pages of the Bible to dance).

    I appreciate your point that just because something has a natural explanation doesn’t preclude a supernatural explanation. They’re not mutually exclusive. Indeed, there would be no natural without the supernatural or ever-sustaining work of God in Christ who “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). Morever, I also completely agree that God communicates through nature, those “miracles” which seem completely natural, chief among which are the heavens that declare his glory (Psalm 19).

    Thanks again Andy. Stop by anytime!

CommentsOnToast

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from MaustsOnToast

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading