Isaias [Isaiah] and the God of Holiness

1. According to Fr. Bouyer: "In the preaching of Amos and the preaching of Hosea, we have been able to see two complementary aspects of the idea of God" – ideas, he says, "already latent in the idea of the Covenant with the special characteristics which it had from the beginning."  The Covenant is both demand and promise: demand which is indissolubly ethical and religious, and promise of a creative generosity and omnipotence.  Fruitful and rich as is this tension between these two inseparable terms, something essential would be lacking in the image of the biblical God, says Fr. Bouyer, without a third aspect which Isaiah brings out.  What is it?  Explain why this third aspect is as important as the other two.

2. What does Fr. Bouyer mean when he says that holiness "is not simply perfect moral purity"?

3. Please discuss the Jewish concept of the Kabod, the Glory, as it is explained by Fr. Bouyer.

4. According to Bouyer, are the ethical ideas so strongly emphasized by Amos and Hosea left behind by Isaiah?  Explain the prophets' important insights in this area.

5. According to Bouyer, what is Isaiah's message to the Jewish people about all their political intrigues?

6. In the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), chapter 1, section 5, the document talks about "the obedience of faith" that should be given to God who has revealed Himself to us.  Fr. Bouyer too talks about "obedience" in conjunction with "faith" in his discussion of Isaiah.  Explain the connection.

7. Toward the end of his article on Isaiah, Fr. Bouyer makes the following comment: "Isaias knows from the beginning that the word entrusted by God to him, this appeal to obedient faith in the God of all holiness and of all justice, will be merely an occasion for chastisement.  The revelation of Yahweh will not change the heart of the people: it will merely bring out clearly their unbelief, latent up till now, by forcing them formally to declare themselves."  Explain what he means.