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"This paper will attempt to examine the interface between the contribution made by medical treatment of addiction and recovery ministries by various Churches and Christian agencies. Four contemporary models will be examined. Alcoholics... more
"This paper will attempt to examine the interface between the contribution made by medical treatment of addiction and recovery ministries by various Churches and Christian agencies. Four contemporary models will be examined. Alcoholics Anonymous grew out of the Oxford Movement and Rev. Sam Shoemaker’s Calvary Episcopal Church about seventy years ago. Over the years, churches and clergymen such as Dr. Calvin Chambers and Dr. Robert Claytor have endeavored to work cooperatively with this program. However, as the program has grown, it has drifted from some of its earlier Biblical roots, as described by Dick. B., making this cooperation increasingly challenging. Secondly, the Book the Cross and the Switchblade told the inspiring story of how a simple country preacher established Teen Challenge as a rehabilitative program for drug addicts 51 years ago. This has now grown to a worldwide network of over 1000 Teen Challenge treatment centers. Thirdly, Alistair Jappy, an experienced and licensed drug and alcohol counselor compared the results of a Christian group and a spiritually eclectic group in a publicly funded alcohol and drug community clinic. Finally, I will examine Celebrate Recovery: Kevin Nieman conducted a unique “hermeneutic interpretation” of cohesiveness and its effects on a large Celebrate Recovery program in a large Church of Christ in Louisiana. Although each program is unique, it adds to and improves on the A.A. 12 Step model.
Insights from each of these programs will be used along with models presented by Drs. Earley and Roberts from the Talbott Recovery campus in Atlanta Georgia to suggest how medical and spiritual modes of treatment can work collaboratively to address the needs of a person suffering from addiction.
"
Insights from each of these programs will be used along with models presented by Drs. Earley and Roberts from the Talbott Recovery campus in Atlanta Georgia to suggest how medical and spiritual modes of treatment can work collaboratively to address the needs of a person suffering from addiction.
"
Coppola, though, seems to use the cinematographic medium as a way to convey meaning through images, always keeping the various sides balanced so that the film remains understandable, in one way or another, by all members of the audience.... more
Coppola, though, seems to use the cinematographic medium as a way to convey meaning through images, always keeping the various sides balanced so that the film remains understandable, in one way or another, by all members of the audience. It is a commercial necessity, of course, one which corresponds to the spirit of our day. Maybe this spirit has been created by the commercial intentions of the medium (where the medium is the message), or the spirit of the day has emerged from history itself and has invested the medium with its essence (where the message is the medium). Does postmodernity emerge from the market economy in the field of ideas, ideologies, and cultural constructions, or does it come from the slow and steady evolution of the human species in its historical adventure? We cannot know for sure. We might even say that this market economy can be seen as part of this historical adventure in what some identify as a dialectical though not antagonistic relation. For sure, great filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola go along with the spirit of their time, trying to satisfy their own artistic needs in addition to the commercial needs of their audiences. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Coppola attempts to connect as many people in the audience as possible beyond their various divides—sexual, social, economic, cultural, artistic, religious, or whatever.
BEYOND THE “SEAL OF THE PROPHETS”: BAHA’U’LLAH’S BOOK OF CERTITUDE (KITAB-I-IQAN) Buck, Christopher. “Beyond the ‘Seal of the Prophets’: Bahā’u’llāh’s Book of Certitude (Ketāb-e Iqān).” Religious Texts in Iranian Languages. Edited by... more
BEYOND THE “SEAL OF THE PROPHETS”:
BAHA’U’LLAH’S BOOK OF CERTITUDE (KITAB-I-IQAN)
Buck, Christopher. “Beyond the ‘Seal of the Prophets’: Bahā’u’llāh’s Book of Certitude (Ketāb-e Iqān).” Religious Texts in Iranian Languages. Edited by Clause Pedersen & Fereydun Vahman. København (Copenhagen): The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters / Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab – Historiske-filosofiske Meddelelser 98, København, 2007. Pp. 369–378.
INTRODUCTION
Because of its international audience, Baha’u’llah’s Book of Certitude (Ketab-e Iqan) may now be regarded as the world’s most influential Koran commentary in Persian outside the Muslim world. The basis for this claim is simple: the Iqan is coextensive with the Baha’i faith. As its preeminent doctrinal text, the Iqan helped crystallize Baha’i identity and lent considerable impetus to its missionary expansion. The core claims advanced by the Iqan have, in principle, been adapted to other religious environments. It is post-Islamic by dint of its claims: the Iqan vindicates the prophetic credentials of Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad Shirazi, known as “the Bab” (d. 1850), who broke decisively from Islam in 1844, by declaring himself to be the inaugurator of a new religious cycle. “Revealed” in January 1861, the Iqan sets the stage for Baha’u’llah’s impending claim to revelation in April 1863 in Baghdad.
The Iqan advances an Islamic argument to legitimate its post-Islamic claims. The Iqan's most original and dramatic act of Koranic interpretation may well be its argument for how God could (and would) send another prophet after Muhammad, notwithstanding the latter’s station as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40). Baha’u’llah’s exegetical strategy is a tour de force—using an essentially Islamic argument to prove something ostensibly alien to orthodox Islam, both Sunni and Shi‘a. More significant than its theological argument, however, is the Iqan's historical impact. Even though, from the Islamic point of view, the Iqan argued the impossible, Baha’u’llah’s discourse on realized eschatology became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The argument for a post-Islamic rev- elation was not academic. It was historical.
EXCERPT:
The “Seal of the Prophets”
[...] By shifting the focus of prophetological attention away from the “Seal” verse itself to refocus on the several Koranic “Divine Presence” verses, Baha’u’llah could make an Islamic case for post-Koranic revelation. From a certain point of view, his entire line of argumentation in the Iqan is calculated to establish the priority of Q. 33:44 over Q. 33:40. Baha’u’llah accepts the importance of the Koranic verse designating Muhammad as “the Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40), yet draws attention to an exegetical oversight but four verses later:
“How strange! [...] Even as the Lord of being hath in His unerring Book [the Koran], after speaking of the ‘Seal’ in His exalted utterance: ‘Muhammad is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets’ (Q. 33:40), hath revealed unto all people the promise of ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ (cf. Q. 33:44). To this attainment to the presence of the immortal King testify the verses of the Book, some of which We have already mentioned. The one true God is My witness! Nothing more exalted or more explicit than ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ hath been revealed in the Koran.” [...]
“And yet, through the mystery of the former verse, they have turned away from the grace promised by the latter, despite the fact that “attainment unto the divine Presence” in the ‘Day of Resurrection’ is explicitly stated in the Book. It hath been demonstrated and definitely established, through clear evidences, that by ‘Resurrection’ is meant the rise of the Manifestation of God to proclaim His Cause, and by ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ is meant attainment unto the presence of His Beauty in the person of His Manifestation. For verily, ‘No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision’ (Q. 6:103).” (Iqan 169–70/Persian text, 112)
This argument is predicated on an anti-anthropomorphist interpretation of Q. 6:103. It would be safe to say that, for Muslims universally, the Koran’s designation of Muhammad as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40) is possibly the most important prophetological verse of the Koran (certainly it ranks as one of the most crucial verses doctrinally). Yet Baha’u’llah here points to a verse just four verses later, and makes that verse (and its parallels) the centerpiece of his exegesis and the crux of his entire argument: “Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be “Peace!” And He hath got ready for them a noble recompense” (Q. 33:44).
While this brief description of the Iqan scarcely does justice to its broader range of Koranic interpretations, the reader should now have a clear idea as to the book’s purpose, theophanic claims, and historical impact. As a heterodox work of tafsir, the Iqan advances an Islamic argument to exegetically create the possibility of post-Koranic prophets. For this and other reasons, the Iqan preserves its place as the preeminent doctrinal text of the Baha’i Faith. To claim that the Iqan may now be regarded as the world’s most influential Koran commentary outside the Muslim world is simply to acknowledge the historical fact that the Baha’i religion has spun out of its Islamic orbit and radiated globally, while maintaining its Islamic roots.
BAHA’U’LLAH’S BOOK OF CERTITUDE (KITAB-I-IQAN)
Buck, Christopher. “Beyond the ‘Seal of the Prophets’: Bahā’u’llāh’s Book of Certitude (Ketāb-e Iqān).” Religious Texts in Iranian Languages. Edited by Clause Pedersen & Fereydun Vahman. København (Copenhagen): The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters / Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab – Historiske-filosofiske Meddelelser 98, København, 2007. Pp. 369–378.
INTRODUCTION
Because of its international audience, Baha’u’llah’s Book of Certitude (Ketab-e Iqan) may now be regarded as the world’s most influential Koran commentary in Persian outside the Muslim world. The basis for this claim is simple: the Iqan is coextensive with the Baha’i faith. As its preeminent doctrinal text, the Iqan helped crystallize Baha’i identity and lent considerable impetus to its missionary expansion. The core claims advanced by the Iqan have, in principle, been adapted to other religious environments. It is post-Islamic by dint of its claims: the Iqan vindicates the prophetic credentials of Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad Shirazi, known as “the Bab” (d. 1850), who broke decisively from Islam in 1844, by declaring himself to be the inaugurator of a new religious cycle. “Revealed” in January 1861, the Iqan sets the stage for Baha’u’llah’s impending claim to revelation in April 1863 in Baghdad.
The Iqan advances an Islamic argument to legitimate its post-Islamic claims. The Iqan's most original and dramatic act of Koranic interpretation may well be its argument for how God could (and would) send another prophet after Muhammad, notwithstanding the latter’s station as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40). Baha’u’llah’s exegetical strategy is a tour de force—using an essentially Islamic argument to prove something ostensibly alien to orthodox Islam, both Sunni and Shi‘a. More significant than its theological argument, however, is the Iqan's historical impact. Even though, from the Islamic point of view, the Iqan argued the impossible, Baha’u’llah’s discourse on realized eschatology became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The argument for a post-Islamic rev- elation was not academic. It was historical.
EXCERPT:
The “Seal of the Prophets”
[...] By shifting the focus of prophetological attention away from the “Seal” verse itself to refocus on the several Koranic “Divine Presence” verses, Baha’u’llah could make an Islamic case for post-Koranic revelation. From a certain point of view, his entire line of argumentation in the Iqan is calculated to establish the priority of Q. 33:44 over Q. 33:40. Baha’u’llah accepts the importance of the Koranic verse designating Muhammad as “the Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40), yet draws attention to an exegetical oversight but four verses later:
“How strange! [...] Even as the Lord of being hath in His unerring Book [the Koran], after speaking of the ‘Seal’ in His exalted utterance: ‘Muhammad is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets’ (Q. 33:40), hath revealed unto all people the promise of ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ (cf. Q. 33:44). To this attainment to the presence of the immortal King testify the verses of the Book, some of which We have already mentioned. The one true God is My witness! Nothing more exalted or more explicit than ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ hath been revealed in the Koran.” [...]
“And yet, through the mystery of the former verse, they have turned away from the grace promised by the latter, despite the fact that “attainment unto the divine Presence” in the ‘Day of Resurrection’ is explicitly stated in the Book. It hath been demonstrated and definitely established, through clear evidences, that by ‘Resurrection’ is meant the rise of the Manifestation of God to proclaim His Cause, and by ‘attainment unto the divine Presence’ is meant attainment unto the presence of His Beauty in the person of His Manifestation. For verily, ‘No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision’ (Q. 6:103).” (Iqan 169–70/Persian text, 112)
This argument is predicated on an anti-anthropomorphist interpretation of Q. 6:103. It would be safe to say that, for Muslims universally, the Koran’s designation of Muhammad as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Q. 33:40) is possibly the most important prophetological verse of the Koran (certainly it ranks as one of the most crucial verses doctrinally). Yet Baha’u’llah here points to a verse just four verses later, and makes that verse (and its parallels) the centerpiece of his exegesis and the crux of his entire argument: “Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be “Peace!” And He hath got ready for them a noble recompense” (Q. 33:44).
While this brief description of the Iqan scarcely does justice to its broader range of Koranic interpretations, the reader should now have a clear idea as to the book’s purpose, theophanic claims, and historical impact. As a heterodox work of tafsir, the Iqan advances an Islamic argument to exegetically create the possibility of post-Koranic prophets. For this and other reasons, the Iqan preserves its place as the preeminent doctrinal text of the Baha’i Faith. To claim that the Iqan may now be regarded as the world’s most influential Koran commentary outside the Muslim world is simply to acknowledge the historical fact that the Baha’i religion has spun out of its Islamic orbit and radiated globally, while maintaining its Islamic roots.
Christopher Buck, “Illuminator vs. Redeemer: A ’Trajectory’ of Ebionite Christology from Prophet Messianism to Baha’i Theophanology.” Abstracts: American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 1983 (Dallas).... more
Christopher Buck, “Illuminator vs. Redeemer: A ’Trajectory’ of Ebionite Christology from Prophet Messianism to Baha’i Theophanology.” Abstracts: American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 1983 (Dallas). Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1983, p. 86.
_________________________
• CITED BY HANS KUNG:
“Present-day scholars like Christopher Buck also have come to the same conclusion: ‘In the course of time the Ebionites together with the Sabaean Baptists seem to have become established in Arabia. This fertilization invites the hypothesis that the Qur’an reflects Ebionite prophetology’.” – Hans Küng, Christianity: Essence, History, and Future (New York : Continuum, 1995), p. 106 and 819, n. 177:
“Present-day scholars too have concluded: ‘In the course of time the Ebionites together with the Sabaean Baptists seem to have become established in Arabia. This fertilization invites the hypothesis that the Qur’an reflects Ebionite prophetology’.” – Hans Küng, Islam: Past, Present, and Future. Translated by John Bowden (Oxford: Oneworld, 2007), p. 42 and p. 672, n. 58: “C. Buck, report to American Academy of Religion, Abstracts AAR/SBL 1983.”
_________________________
ABSTRACT (published in 1983)
The rediscovery of Ebionite Christianity is one of the achievements of recent scholarship. Since World War II, specialists in Christian origins have sought to recover what might be thought of as “lost” forms of Christianity. Of all forms of Jewish Christianity, Ebionism is the most distinct and well known. The researches of Bavarian scholar Schoeps drew the notice of fellow scholars to verifiably Ebionite elements preserved in the Pseudo–Clementine Homilies (“H”) and Recognitions (“R”), until then deemed romances devoid of much historical worth. The late Cardinal Danielou treated Jewish Christianity phenomenologically, defining its various forms collectively as a culture (“a culture of apocalypses”). Made possible by the convergence of manuscript discoveries, Danielou succeeded in presenting Jewish Christianity as the predominant though not exclusive influence in the early Church for a full century after Christ. Jewish Christians were primarily living in Palestine, Transjordan, and Syria, but were doubtless in Rome, Asia Minor, and northern Africa as well. Jewish Christianity, like a lost civilization, appears once to have had a formative (though later ostracized) presence in the early Christian world.
The two Jewish revolts reversed the situation, such that the ethno- (“pagan”) Christians emerged as the prevailing “orthodoxy.” Judged in relation to “triumphant Pauline Christianity,” the early major forms of Jewish Christianity were “completely misunderstood by Western heresiologues” which condemned Millenarism, Encratism, and Ebionism as impoverished doctrine. All of this surprising data so revolutionized concepts of Christian origins that Quispel of Utrecht was led to declare that “the Jewish Christians or Ebionites were the legitimate heirs of primitive Christianity, whereas the New Testament to a large extent reflects the views of Gentile Christianity as defended by St. Paul and his fellows. This is the present state of scholarship.”
What, then, can be said about “the present state of scholarship” which Quispel asserted favoring the primacy of the Ebionites as preservers of the “original” traditions? We can safely say that there was more to Christianity than met the orthodox or heterodox eye. Post-World War II research has, indeed, revolutionized our views of Christian origins. Several important forms of Christianity took root and effloresced in a variety of cultural soils. That history favored one form over the other is not a proof of primacy. Perhaps we can think of a plurality of “apostolic successions” rather than in terms of one only. The fullest picture of early Christianity is perhaps the most impressive: a mosaic, not a monochrome. Historical enquiry can remove the whitewash of orthodoxy, such that orthodoxy itself becomes more human, more alive as the drama with all its actors is replayed before our historical eyes. Perhaps the appreciation and not the suppression of diversity within Christianity will evoke the richest sense of heritage, the broadest sense of commonality, and the greatest impulse against judgementalism ⎯ the fomenter of religious prejudice. The recovery of Ebionite Christianity is part of a long and painstaking process: the total restoration of our Christian past ⎯ a process which might be thought of as the “salvation” of salvation-history.
______________________
NOTES
This is the author's research paper for his first graduate course, "Problems in Ebionism," a directed study at Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University), under William K.B. Stoever (now Professor Emeritus), chair of Liberal Studies. The paper was awarded an A on its completion in June 1982. Dr. Stoever is named on the last page of the paper. The paper itself was word-processed by Carol Lenhard.
The “Abstract” (supra) was published in 1983. Although the paper itself is unpublished, it may be considered to be the equivalent of a peer-reviewed paper insofar as the paper was critically reviewed by Dr. Stoever. Of interest is the striking phenomenological resonance between the Ebionite Christian doctrine of the "True Prophet" with the Bahá’í doctrine of the “Manifestation of God.”
Excerpt from an early Jewish-Christian work, The Homilies of Clement:
Salvation of Jews and Christians
"For on this account Jesus is concealed from the Jews, who have taken Moses as their teacher, and Moses is hidden from those who have believed in Jesus. For, there being one teaching by both, God accepts him who has believed either of these" (H 8:6). "For even the Hebrews who believe Moses, and do not observe the things spoken by him, are not saved, unless they observe the things that are spoken to them... Neither is there salvation in believing in teachers and calling them lords" (H 8:5).
"Neither, therefore, are the Hebrews condemned by account of their ignorance of Jesus, by reason of Him who has concealed Him, if, doing the things commanded by Moses they do not hate Him (Jesus) whom they do know. Neither are those from among the Gentiles condemned, who do not know Moses, provided that these also, doing the things spoken by Jesus, do not hate Him (Moses) whom they do not know" (H 8: 7) .
"And some will not be profited by calling the teachers lords, but not doing the works of servants... Moreover, if anyone has been thought worthy to recognize both as preaching one doctrine, that man has been counted rich in God, understanding the old things as new in time, and the new things as old" (H 8:7).
_________________________
• CITED BY HANS KUNG:
“Present-day scholars like Christopher Buck also have come to the same conclusion: ‘In the course of time the Ebionites together with the Sabaean Baptists seem to have become established in Arabia. This fertilization invites the hypothesis that the Qur’an reflects Ebionite prophetology’.” – Hans Küng, Christianity: Essence, History, and Future (New York : Continuum, 1995), p. 106 and 819, n. 177:
“Present-day scholars too have concluded: ‘In the course of time the Ebionites together with the Sabaean Baptists seem to have become established in Arabia. This fertilization invites the hypothesis that the Qur’an reflects Ebionite prophetology’.” – Hans Küng, Islam: Past, Present, and Future. Translated by John Bowden (Oxford: Oneworld, 2007), p. 42 and p. 672, n. 58: “C. Buck, report to American Academy of Religion, Abstracts AAR/SBL 1983.”
_________________________
ABSTRACT (published in 1983)
The rediscovery of Ebionite Christianity is one of the achievements of recent scholarship. Since World War II, specialists in Christian origins have sought to recover what might be thought of as “lost” forms of Christianity. Of all forms of Jewish Christianity, Ebionism is the most distinct and well known. The researches of Bavarian scholar Schoeps drew the notice of fellow scholars to verifiably Ebionite elements preserved in the Pseudo–Clementine Homilies (“H”) and Recognitions (“R”), until then deemed romances devoid of much historical worth. The late Cardinal Danielou treated Jewish Christianity phenomenologically, defining its various forms collectively as a culture (“a culture of apocalypses”). Made possible by the convergence of manuscript discoveries, Danielou succeeded in presenting Jewish Christianity as the predominant though not exclusive influence in the early Church for a full century after Christ. Jewish Christians were primarily living in Palestine, Transjordan, and Syria, but were doubtless in Rome, Asia Minor, and northern Africa as well. Jewish Christianity, like a lost civilization, appears once to have had a formative (though later ostracized) presence in the early Christian world.
The two Jewish revolts reversed the situation, such that the ethno- (“pagan”) Christians emerged as the prevailing “orthodoxy.” Judged in relation to “triumphant Pauline Christianity,” the early major forms of Jewish Christianity were “completely misunderstood by Western heresiologues” which condemned Millenarism, Encratism, and Ebionism as impoverished doctrine. All of this surprising data so revolutionized concepts of Christian origins that Quispel of Utrecht was led to declare that “the Jewish Christians or Ebionites were the legitimate heirs of primitive Christianity, whereas the New Testament to a large extent reflects the views of Gentile Christianity as defended by St. Paul and his fellows. This is the present state of scholarship.”
What, then, can be said about “the present state of scholarship” which Quispel asserted favoring the primacy of the Ebionites as preservers of the “original” traditions? We can safely say that there was more to Christianity than met the orthodox or heterodox eye. Post-World War II research has, indeed, revolutionized our views of Christian origins. Several important forms of Christianity took root and effloresced in a variety of cultural soils. That history favored one form over the other is not a proof of primacy. Perhaps we can think of a plurality of “apostolic successions” rather than in terms of one only. The fullest picture of early Christianity is perhaps the most impressive: a mosaic, not a monochrome. Historical enquiry can remove the whitewash of orthodoxy, such that orthodoxy itself becomes more human, more alive as the drama with all its actors is replayed before our historical eyes. Perhaps the appreciation and not the suppression of diversity within Christianity will evoke the richest sense of heritage, the broadest sense of commonality, and the greatest impulse against judgementalism ⎯ the fomenter of religious prejudice. The recovery of Ebionite Christianity is part of a long and painstaking process: the total restoration of our Christian past ⎯ a process which might be thought of as the “salvation” of salvation-history.
______________________
NOTES
This is the author's research paper for his first graduate course, "Problems in Ebionism," a directed study at Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University), under William K.B. Stoever (now Professor Emeritus), chair of Liberal Studies. The paper was awarded an A on its completion in June 1982. Dr. Stoever is named on the last page of the paper. The paper itself was word-processed by Carol Lenhard.
The “Abstract” (supra) was published in 1983. Although the paper itself is unpublished, it may be considered to be the equivalent of a peer-reviewed paper insofar as the paper was critically reviewed by Dr. Stoever. Of interest is the striking phenomenological resonance between the Ebionite Christian doctrine of the "True Prophet" with the Bahá’í doctrine of the “Manifestation of God.”
Excerpt from an early Jewish-Christian work, The Homilies of Clement:
Salvation of Jews and Christians
"For on this account Jesus is concealed from the Jews, who have taken Moses as their teacher, and Moses is hidden from those who have believed in Jesus. For, there being one teaching by both, God accepts him who has believed either of these" (H 8:6). "For even the Hebrews who believe Moses, and do not observe the things spoken by him, are not saved, unless they observe the things that are spoken to them... Neither is there salvation in believing in teachers and calling them lords" (H 8:5).
"Neither, therefore, are the Hebrews condemned by account of their ignorance of Jesus, by reason of Him who has concealed Him, if, doing the things commanded by Moses they do not hate Him (Jesus) whom they do know. Neither are those from among the Gentiles condemned, who do not know Moses, provided that these also, doing the things spoken by Jesus, do not hate Him (Moses) whom they do not know" (H 8: 7) .
"And some will not be profited by calling the teachers lords, but not doing the works of servants... Moreover, if anyone has been thought worthy to recognize both as preaching one doctrine, that man has been counted rich in God, understanding the old things as new in time, and the new things as old" (H 8:7).