Theophanies | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 23, 2009 | |||
Studio | Studio 101, Melbourne, Florida | |||
Genre | Christian hip hop | |||
Length | 72:25 | |||
Label | Lamp Mode | |||
Producer | Hazakim | |||
Hazakim chronology | ||||
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Theophanies is the second album from hip hop duo Hazakim. The album was released on June 23, 2009, through Lamp Mode Recordings. [1] Although Theophanies was Hazakim's second album, it was their first studio album to be released on a record label with national distribution. Theophanies helped to establish Hazakim's unique sound and approach to lyricism in the christian hip hop genre.
Following their independent 2001 release titled Hip-Hologetics, Hazakim signed with Lamp Mode Recordings in 2007. [2] Theophanies was released by Lamp Mode Recordings two years later on June 23, 2009. It was produced entirely by Hazakim and contained guest appearances from fellow label-mates Shai Linne and Stephen the Levite as well as MuzeOne. Messianic Jewish scholar Dr. Michael Brown is also heavily featured throughout the album. [3]
The musical backdrop of Theophanies features a unique blend of East Coast hip-hop with melodies and sounds synonymous with Middle Eastern music. [3] While the lyrics are nearly entirely in the English language, sections of the album contain Hebrew. The lyrical content of Theophanies focuses heavily on the theological concept of theophanies in the Old Testament. The premise of the album is that Jesus of Nazareth, most often referred to in the album by his Hebrew name, Yeshua, is the ultimate revelation of God to man. This divine Messiah, they argue, appears throughout the Hebrew Bible as the divine Messenger of God's presence, and revealed Himself in time and space, most definitively, as Jesus of Nazareth. Throughout the album Hazakim cites, in rap form, passages from the Hebrew Bible where a divine visitor, who seems to carry the prerogatives and name of the God of Israel, manifests in a physical form. The album ends with a declaration that this messenger was, in fact, the pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus. In this way, the album makes a case for the deity of Jesus using the Hebrew Bible. [2] This concept of Jesus's pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament is known in Christian theology as a christophany.
Theophanies was met with positive reviews. Rapzilla critic Claude Atcho wrote, "Overall, Theophanies is nothing short of remarkable." [3] Due to the positive reception Theophanies received, Hazakim's subsequent album, Son of Man , was able to crack multiple Billboard charts, despite the five year gap between projects. [4] [5]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro" | Tony Wray, Mahlodi Wray | 1:56 |
2. | "Fulfillment (Ben Joseph, Ben David)" | Michael Wray, Tony Wray | 3:33 |
3. | "Genesis 18" | Tony Wray | 2:42 |
4. | "Brace Yourself" | Tony Wray, Michael Wray | 3:23 |
5. | "Shamayim of Gold" | Michael Wray, Tony Wray | 5:14 |
6. | "Salvation Plan" (featuring Stephen the Levite) | Michael Wray, Darrell Bell, Tony Wray | 3:57 |
7. | "Theophanies Interlude" (featuring Dr. Michael Brown) | 1:22 | |
8. | "Genesis 32" | Michael Wray | 3:23 |
9. | "Mercy" (featuring MuzeOne) | Tony Wray, Gabriel Padilla | 4:13 |
10. | "Eighties Mix" | Mahlodi Wray, Michael Wray | 2:09 |
11. | "Heavy Laden" (featuring Dwayne O'dell) | Michael Wray | 5:14 |
12. | "Uncut & Raw" | Tony Wray | 3:26 |
13. | "Exodus 3" | Tony Wray | 2:08 |
14. | "Passover Lamb" | Michael Wray, Tony Wray | 5:11 |
15. | "Crucifixion Description" | Michael Wray, Tony Wray | 5:20 |
16. | "Risen" (featuring Shai Linne) | Michael Wray, Tony Wray, Shai Linne | 3:57 |
17. | "Judges 13" | Michael Wray | 2:12 |
18. | "Only Hope" | Michael Wray, Tony Wray | 4:49 |
19. | "Kadosh (Conclusion)" | Tony Wray | 4:06 |
20. | "Summary of the Evidence W/ Dr. Michael Brown" (featuring Dr. Michael Brown) | 1:59 | |
21. | "Outro" | Tony Wray, Mahlodi Wray | 2:02 |
Total length: | 72:25 |
In Christianity, Christology is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would be in the freeing of the Jewish people from foreign rulers or in the prophesied Kingdom of God, and in the salvation from what would otherwise be the consequences of sin.
The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creation and guidance. In Nicene Christianity, this conception expanded in meaning to represent the third person of the Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith, the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and "the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation".
The Trinity is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons (hypostases) sharing one essence/substance/nature (homoousion).
Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
Theophany is an encounter with a deity that manifests in an observable and tangible form. It is often confused with other types of encounters with a deity, but these interactions are not considered theophanies unless the deity reveals itself in a visible form. Traditionally, the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions. While the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity, the first description appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes. After the crucifixion of Jesus the early Church did not simply repeat his messages, but focused on him, proclaimed him, and tried to understand and explain his message. One element of the process of understanding and proclaiming Jesus was the attribution of titles to him. Some of the titles that were gradually used in the early Church and then appeared in the New Testament were adopted from the Jewish context of the age, while others were selected to refer to, and underscore the message, mission and teachings of Jesus. In time, some of these titles gathered significant Christological significance.
A Christophany is an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ. Traditionally the term refers to visions of Christ after his ascension, such as the bright light of the conversion of Paul the Apostle.
The Angel of the Lord is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible on behalf of the God of Israel.
Lecrae Devaughn Moore is an American Christian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor. To date, he has released ten studio albums and three mixtapes as a solo artist, and has released three studio albums, a remix album, one EP, and numerous singles as the leader of the hip hop group 116 Clique.
The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ prior to his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is John 1 where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos. There are nontrinitarian views that question the aspect of personal pre-existence, the aspect of divinity, or both.
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