Online Lecture by Dr. Minfu Hsu

Speaker: Minfu Hsu

Born in Taiwan, he received his Master’s degree in Chemistry from National Taiwan

University in 1975. While pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Iowa State University in

the United States in 1980, he came to faith in Christ. In 1985, he entered Trinity

Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago to study for a Master of Divinity degree and,

after graduating in 1988, served as pastor of the Chinese Evangelical Church in

Phoenix, Arizona. In 1998, he returned to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to

pursue a doctorate and received his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies in 2008. He is

currently engaged in theological education, primarily teaching exegesis, biblical

theology, expository preaching, and missiology.

Abstract: Psalm 1 as Wisdom psalm combined with Psalm 2 as Messianic psalm serves as

the introduction to the whole Psalter. The binary theme of Wisdom/Creation (Proverbs

8:22~35) with Messiah/Redemption is clearly delineated in the Narrative Structure of

the whole Psalter. This lecture is an attempt to demonstrate exegetically that Wisdom

Christology as key theme echoed in Psalter and Hebrews is not based on the

methodology of proof-texting, but rather on the narrative structure of the Psalter.

The Wisdom Christology of Hebrews 1:1-4 (Daniel J. Ebert IV, 2011) is followed by a

catena of quotations from the Psalter – 2, 97, 104, 45, 102, 110. Psalms 104-106,

especially the theme of Wisdom/Creation Psalm 104:24, as well as Psalm 104:4

quoted in Hebrews 1:7, separates Psalm 104 from the main flow of the Psalter – the

emergency of coming Messiah. The quotation of Psalm 8 (Creation), Psalm 18

(Messianic) and Psalm 22 (Messianic) in Hebrews continues the binary theme of

Wisdom (Creation) and Messiah (Redemption). The quotation of Psalm 95 in

Hebrews 3 and 4 depicts God as redeemer (v. 1) and creator (v. 6) that resonate with

redemptive rest (Deuteronomy 5:15) and creational rest (Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus

20:8-11). The depiction of Wisdom Christology is climaxed at the figure of

Melchizedek (Psalm 110) quoted in Hebrews 1:13, 5:6, 7:17, 7:21).

Hebrews 11 is not only pertaining to the Hall of Faith, but also depicting the meta-narrative

structure from original creation (Hebrews 11:3) to new creation (Hebrews 11:16). This new

creation is also termed as heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22) as well as unshakable

Kingdom (Hebrews 12:28). In summary, Wisdom Christology is depicted as key

theme echoed in Psalter and Hebrews overarched by “From Creation to New Creation

via Redemption”.

Email: donald.cac@errchina.com for more information and to register.