A lecture given by Sarah Chestnut at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts on July 16th, 2021. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/
The image of a master potter's hands on clay spinning on the potter's wheel is an image and metaphor used by the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and it is an image and metaphor drawn on again by the apostle Paul in Romans (quoting Isaiah) and 2 Corinthians (treasure in jars of clay). Job, too, uses the language of being clay. In this lecture we will aim to better understand how the biblical writers were using the metaphor and what it has to teach us about what God is like and how we should understand what it means to be human. Additionally, we will consider what the potter's foundational discipline of centering clay has to teach us about prayer.
