The Road to Emmaus with Scott Hahn Athirst for the Spirit - Dr. Scott Hahn w/ Dr. Nina Heereman
Apr 5, 2023
Dr. Nina Heereman, Catholic scripture scholar and professor who wrote A Thirst for the Spirit, explores the Song of Songs and wisdom literature. She describes a retreat that reshaped her image of God toward bridal intimacy. She traces scholarly resistance, her choice to defend a theological reading, and calls for renewed bridal devotion and study of this biblical love poetry.
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Retreat Moment That Changed Her Image Of God
- Nina Heereman recalled an Ignatian retreat moment where the Song of Songs verse "I am my beloved's and his desire is for me" transformed her image of God into an intimate bridegroom.
- That personal encounter led her spiritual director to advise praying the Song of Songs as the Lord's love-song, which shaped her vocation and doctoral focus.
Modern Scholarship Stripped The Song Of Its Bridegroom Message
- Heereman noticed modern scholarship reduced the Song of Songs to secular love poetry, which she found devastating given its transformative spiritual role.
- She connected this shift to a loss in the church of Jesus as bridegroom, especially affecting consecrated celibates' intimacy with Christ.
Song Of Songs As Solomonic Messianic Redaction
- Heereman argues the Song of Songs is religious poetry from its earliest composition and that its final redaction frames Solomon as messianic king restoring temple/ paradise.
- The Solomonic redaction uses royal Near Eastern ideology to present the bride as temple and Israel as the bride of the Lord.
