Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ"
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thoughts on Angels
The Holy Angels: Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy
Angels. http://bit.ly/3dGMHH
Angels. http://bit.ly/3dGMHH
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Monday, September 28, 2009
The 'Fullness of Time' concept expressed her I have often preached
The Mystery of Time http://bit.ly/W1VNb
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Not by might, not by power...
Bishop Will Willimon - A Church Formed by the Power of the Word - Day1
Blog - Day1.org http://ow.ly/rqT8
Blog - Day1.org http://ow.ly/rqT8
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Sunday, September 27, 2009
Get back to God...
The Hapsburgs were smiling from Heaven today http://bit.ly/lF5Px
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The Rev. Dr. Ken Carter - To Make the Wounded Whole - Day1.org
The Rev. Dr. Ken Carter - To Make the Wounded Whole - Day1.org
"Especially liked this line: "Healing is not magic...It does not replace medicine or psychotherapy...It is not the same as curing...It is a mystery. It is relational: the relation of mind, body, and spirit. Our relationship to each other. Our relationship with God.
Authentic healing is the work of Christ, who is the great physician. "
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"Especially liked this line: "Healing is not magic...It does not replace medicine or psychotherapy...It is not the same as curing...It is a mystery. It is relational: the relation of mind, body, and spirit. Our relationship to each other. Our relationship with God.
Authentic healing is the work of Christ, who is the great physician. "
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Report of the Committee on Paedocommunion
Report of the Committee on Paedocommunion
Here's the Background.. Been struggling with this one as we have people from different traditions here - saved for me to read later as much as anything!
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Here's the Background.. Been struggling with this one as we have people from different traditions here - saved for me to read later as much as anything!
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Facebook | Called to Communion: Is Paedocommunion a Step Towards Heresy or Orthodoxy?
Facebook | Called to Communion: Is Paedocommunion a Step Towards Heresy or Orthodoxy?
Been struggling with this one as we have people from different traditions here - saved for me to read later as much as anything!
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Been struggling with this one as we have people from different traditions here - saved for me to read later as much as anything!
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
: Refiner's Fire
I was sent this - it's not the usual kind of theology I repost - but a challenge:
Refiner’s Fire
The story is told of a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying in the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study. The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy - when I see my image in it."
Contributed by: Tim Harrison
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Antioch Abouna : Booo!
Robin Brookes has sent you a link to a blog:
Thought was pertinent
Blog: Antioch Abouna
Post: Booo!
Link: http://antiochabouna.blogspot.com/2009/08/booo.html
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Thought was pertinent
Blog: Antioch Abouna
Post: Booo!
Link: http://antiochabouna.blogspot.com/2009/08/booo.html
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: The Historic Episcopate | Reformed Evangelical Synod of America
I liked the logic of this and the balance at the end.
The Historic Episcopate | Reformed Evangelical Synod of America
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The Historic Episcopate | Reformed Evangelical Synod of America
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Saturday, September 19, 2009
Happy Catholic : "God doesn't exist" versus "Isn't God a lovely idea?" Both s...
Robin Brookes has sent you a link to a blog:
I suspect Christians of all persuasions would go along with this article
Blog: Happy Catholic
Post: "God doesn't exist" versus "Isn't God a lovely idea?" Both sides of that debate lost.
Link: http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2009/09/god-doesnt-exist-versus-isnt-god-lovely.html
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I suspect Christians of all persuasions would go along with this article
Blog: Happy Catholic
Post: "God doesn't exist" versus "Isn't God a lovely idea?" Both sides of that debate lost.
Link: http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2009/09/god-doesnt-exist-versus-isnt-god-lovely.html
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Friday, September 18, 2009
News Release: FOLLOW THE BIBLE, 21 Sept - not my usual kind of post but thought it would get seen
To pastors and Christian leaders in Cyprus
Dear friends in ministry
I write to inform you of the unique ‘Follow the Bible’ project as detailed in the news release below. As stated, the special Bible prepared for this project will be in Cyprus on Monday 21st September. The main event of the day will be the public reading of the Bible in Eleftheria Square, Nicosia, from 11.00 am till 12.00 noon, in which the Lord Mayor of Nicosia will participate.
I apologise that this information comes to you at short notice, but I would be grateful if you would mention the event in your church gatherings this weekend, and generally pass the word around to anyone you think would be interested. Anyone who would like to do so is welcome to participate in the public reading of the Bible on this occasion, either from the special Bible on display, or from their own Bible, in the language of their choice. It would be much appreciated if you are able to attend.
This is strictly not a denominational promotion event, but an attempt to draw attention to the Bible and encourage as many as possible to personally ‘follow the Bible’ – it’s wisdom and its teachings – more closely, for their own benefit, and the benefit of society.
Yours in His service
David Cox
(Seventh-day Adventist Pastor for Cyprus)
‘Follow the Bible’
Introduction
A unique “travelling Bible” written in 66 languages (one language for each book of the Bible) will be in Cyprus for one day only on 21 September 2009. This 7kg leather-bound Bible, measuring 46cm x 30cm, is also likely to be the most widely travelled Bible in the world, visiting some 150 countries during its 2-year global itinerary.
Cyprus Itinerary, Monday 21 September
The Bible will be touring various schools and public locations in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos.
NICOSIA: At 11.00 am, the Mayor of Nicosia, Mrs Eleni Mavrou, will be present for the public display at the square leading to Ledra Street. Members of the public will be invited to participate in the reading of the Bible in the language of their choice.
Purpose
To encourage people worldwide, through a variety of public events, to recognize the importance of the Bible, and to make its wisdom and values a greater part of their lives, both for their individual benefit and the benefit of society.
Objective: to have the Bible read publicly by as many people as possible, in as many languages as possible, during its brief visit to the island.
Organiser
“Follow the Bible” is an initiative from the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church to encourage people to recommit to the study of God’s word.
The local church congregation in Cyprus meets every Saturday at St Paul’s Cathedral Hall, Nicosia, with other groups in Limassol and Larnaca.
For further information:
Pastor David Cox – 96440962
Alex Elmadjian - 96562755
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Fw: Anglican Prayer Network sent you a message on Facebook...
| David Valentini sent a message to the members of Anglican Prayer Network. -------------------- Subject: some thoughts on the 15th Sunday after Trinity This upcoming Sunday passage comes from the Gospel of Matthew. In this synoptic gospel, Jesus states that you cannot serve two masters. He says you will love one master and hate the other. Our Lord also goes onto to say that one should not worry about anything at all. We don't have to worry about what we wear, what we eat, or what will happen on the next day; all of that will be taken care of by God. The passage ends with our Lord telling us to have faith, and to seek his kingdom, and that if we do, all things will be added unto us. What a powerful passage this is. Our Lord tell us not to worry about anything. How opposite this is in a world that is laced with worry. The secular media reports natural disaster, and forever speculates if and when we will go into another depression. Often times in coffee houses, people have conversations that reflect worry and anxiety. This problem has become so prevalent that large pharmaceutical firms are now producing drugs to reduce worry and anxiety. Bishop Marshall, a noted Anglican bishop of the last century stated that when we worry so much about everything, that we are seeking the kingdom of the world, and not the kingdom of God. He went further to say that at the center of the kingdom is the Trinity and the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. On that cross are all the worries of the world that Christ took upon himself to bear. Bishop Marshall exhorts us to seek the kingdom of God, and cast our worries on the Cross; and what a wonderful cross and kingdom that is. The passage in Matthew's gospel also states that if we seek His kingdom all things shall added unto us. What is also powerful that when our Lord describes God's grace, he describes it as overflowing and pressed down. II. The second thing I wanted to comment on was 9-11. May people comment and rightly remember the horrific deaths that happened that day. A few days ago, I was listening to Dr. David Jeremiah who commented on the presence of God on that awful day. When fire fighters were going through the wreckage, they actually found two metal beams, between two walls, making the shape of a cross. Also near the blast sight, an Anglican church, where George Washington once worshiped at was unscathed, and was used as a shelter to treat the injured. This is all a testimony that God is with us, even in the worst of times as the book Isiah, and Psalms remind us. Let us remain centered in prayer, and build His everlasting Kingdom. Deacon David -------------------- To reply to this message, follow the link below: | ||
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Killing Enemies & Bashing Babies on Rocks: Reading the Difficult Psalms, Pt. 1
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Layers of Meaning
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Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Thoughts on the 14th Sunday after Trinity. St. Luke xvii.11 To members of Anglican Prayer Network
David Valentini 09 September at 06:47
Of all the Gospel writers, Luke stands out. He is the physician. Luke’s account of our Lord’s birth is the most detailed account in the New Testament. In today’s Gospel passage, our Lord is heading towards Jerusalem. Jesus passes through Samaria and Galilee. He encounters ten lepers. The lepers ask our Lord to have mercy on them.Jesus cleanses them and tells them to show themselves to the local priests. Nine of lepers after they were cleansed continued on their way. One leper, a Samaritan, fell down at the feet of Christ and glorified God the Father. The passage concludes with Jesus telling the leper to arise, and to go his way. Our Lord tells the man that his faith has made him whole.
This passage is very rich with information. The ten men were affected with leprosy.The disease was recorded for the first time nine thousand years go. Leprosy afflicted people in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Many individuals were disfigured and disabled. In time of our Lord’s life, there was no known cure for leprosy. Of the ten lepers, nine were Jews, and one was a Samaritan. Samaritans and Jews did not get along.
Jews ascribed to the whole Torah. Samaritans to the first five books commonly called the Book of Moses They also had a series of books known as the Tolidah. The central place of worship for Jews was Mount of Olives. The central place of worship for the Samaritans was Mount Gerizim, near Shechem, the first capital of the kingdom of Israel. The Jews told the Samaritans that they were incomplete of their worship of God, as they did not hold to the entire Torah. The Samaritans told the Jews their worship of God was corrupted by their exile in Babylon that began in 586 BC and ended in 538 BC. The Samaritan Chronicles hint that it was the sinfulness of the people of Israel that led to the Babylonian exile. Thus in a nutshell, the Jews viewed the Samaritans as a sect of the Jewish faith, and The Samaritans saw the Jews as having corrupted the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.
Unfortunately, this schism between the Jews and the Samaritans has influenced Christianity. In the New Testament, Paul writes to a divided Church in Corinth of which Fr. Carder spoke about two weeks ago; each side following a leader and dividing the body of Christ. In the fifth century, the Coptic Christians split from the Undivided church. In 1054, the Latin Rites Catholics of the west split from the Greek and Middle Eastern Catholics in the east. In 1378, in the west, Catholicism was split into two factions: one in Rome and another in Avignon, France. The Protestant Reformation led to the further divisions in the body of Christ. Today, all one has to do is go on the internet and see a new church split.
In each every split mentioned in the sermon, both sides in each successive faction believed they had the true faith, the right leaders, the correct readings, the correct places to worship, and the genuine doctrine. In certain cases, one side did have a clearer understanding of faith and doctrine. But if we go back to the Samaritan he had the faith of child and the wisdom of an adult. He like a child simply asked for the Lord to have mercy on him and to cleanse him. One almost gets the idea that he had an expectation he would be cleansed. Perhaps he had the wisdom of an adult, and may have examined the sins that may have contributed to his disease. Then like a child with that simple faith, he glorified God the Father.
What is always also astonishing was that Samaritan was with nine Jews. There was no evidence that he criticized them at all, or fought with them. His focus throughout the passage was God. He asked for mercy, and may have examined his sin. He asked to be cleansed and he was. The Samaritan glorified God when he was cleansed of his disease.
He was not focused on whether or not the Jews or the Samaritans had the true faith. He was focused on coming before God in humility, having a child-like faith, and communing with Him. The Latin commune is to come together.
All too often Christians, become concerned with the latest dispute in the church at a congregational or regional level. Some often become hardened by it, and have a “crises of faith.” They often react with weariness about the poor relations with another denomination. During those times, we have to ask ourselves do we have the childlike of faith of the Samaritan? Do we have such a faith that no matter what we occurs, that we know that we have to do is examine our lives, as Saint Augustine and Paul urge us to do,ask for His mercy and have the expectation that God will assist. Are we prepared after that to give glory to God? If we answer yes to all those questions, will be able to simply interact with and be healed by the loving God: the Father that created the world, the Son that redeemed it, and the Holy Ghost that sanctified it.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Imitation of Christ from St. Stephen's House
The Imitation of Christ: Imitating Christ and Despising All Vanities on Earth
8 09 2009
by Thomas à Kempis
“HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness,” says the Lord (John 8:12). By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits,if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.
The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ.
What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone.
This is the greatest wisdom–to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world. It is vanity, therefore, to seek and trust in riches that perish. It is vanity also to court honor and to be puffed up with pride. It is vanity to follow the lusts of the body and to desire things for which severe punishment later must come. It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little about a well-spent life. It is vanity to be concerned with the present only and not to make provision for things to come. It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.
Often recall the proverb: “The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing.” Try, moreover, to turn your heart from the love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible. For they who follow their own evil passions stain their consciences and lose the grace of God.
Original here:- http://bit.ly/EsM0g
Sunday, September 6, 2009
On the integrity of the New Testament manuscript evidence
Saturday, September 05, 2009
On the integrity of the New Testament manuscript evidence
Let’s question the “common-sense” double-standard.
Folks, I was reading this article published today in Time Magazine online, entitled, The Burial Box of Jesus' Brother: A Case Against Fraud, because the controversy has been around for a while and of course, because of the significance of the artifact were the claims to its authenticity be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, the introductory paragraph disappointed me, although I am already used to this case of disappointment coming from the so-called mainstream experts. Check it out:
The world of biblical archaeology was stirred in 2002 by the unveiling of a limestone burial box with the Aramaic inscription Yaakov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua ("James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"). Allegedly dating to an era contemporaneous with Christ, the names were a tantalizing collation of potentially great significance: James was indeed the name of a New Testament personage known as the brother of Jesus, both ostensibly the sons of Joseph the carpenter, husband of Mary. If its dates were genuine, the burial box — or ossuary — could well be circumstantial evidence for the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, a tenet supported only by gospels and scripture written, at the earliest, a generation after his crucifixion and, of course, by the faith of hundreds of millions through 2,000 years.
What are the unspoken assumptions here? One, that the New Testament is not a reliable source to prove the objective historicity of Jesus of Nazareth and two, that all we have is that meager evidence supplemented by the ultimately insubstantial faith of millions. Hence, the need for external evidence such as this ossuary to substantiate – or not – the story.
Those who cling to these assumptions probably willfully or unwittingly ignore the fact that, if they were to apply the same standard of suspicion and doubt other documents received from antiquity and recognized as recording true history, they would not stand either. The following table illustrates and compares the antiquity and amount of New Testament manuscripts with that of other documents from antiquity commonly accepted as “historical.” Particular attention is paid to the time elapsed between the historical facts they record to the time they were set in writing (Source: The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict 
| AUTHOR | BOOK | DATE WRITTEN | EARLIEST COPIES | TIME GAP IN YEARS | NO. OF COPIES |
| Homer | The Iliad | 800 BC | c. 400 BC | c. 400 | 643 |
| Herodotus | History | 480-425 BC | c. AD 900 | c. 1,350 | 8 |
| Thucydides | History | 460-400 BC | c. AD 900 | c. 1,300 | 8 |
| Plato | Complete Works | 400 BC | c. AD 900 | c. 1,300 | 7 |
| Demosthenes | Complete Works | 300 BC | c. AD 1100 | c. 1,400 | 200 |
| Caesar | Gallic Wars | 100-44 BC | c. AD 900 | c. 1,000 | 10 |
| Livy | History of Rome | 59BC-AD 17 | 4th century (partial) mostly 10th century | c. 400-1,000 | 1 partial |
| Tacitus | Annals | AD 100 | c. AD 1100 | 1,000 | 20 |
| Pliny the Younger | Natural History | AD 61-113 | c. AD 850 | c. 750 | 7 |
| New Testament | 27 books and letters | AD 50-100 | c. 114 (fragment) | +50 | 5,366 |
You will not see any time soon Time Magazine’s “experts” denying wholesale the historicity of Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, et al and begging for some outside artifact substantiating the meager manuscript evidence and the sustained “faith” of some hundreds of classical scholars. To push it further, you won’t find any Time Magazine or for that matter, any reporter for any major publication who would dare explore the literary dependence of the Koran to ancient Syriac Christian lectionaries, it’s just not safe to do so. Nope, they hold a double standard, one for the New Testament, and one from everything else.
Folks, we don’t need the so-called James Ossuary to be “the real thing” in order to have a rational, historical basis for our faith. We already have plenty, thank you very much Mr. Kalman of Time Magazine. We have plenty of reliable literary evidence.
Original here: http://bit.ly/dCWHQ
Friday, September 4, 2009
Collect Vandalism by Bosco Peters
In my opinion, one of the great treasures of Western Christianity is the collect. We have a treasury of collects that goes back fifteen centuries and further. A collect, like a haiku or a sonnet, has a particular, tight literary structure. It is memorable, general, and regularly expresses a profound Christian truth in a short compass. Anglicans inherit Cranmer’s magnificent translations from the crisp Latin. Roman Catholics are working on new translations of the collects (opening prayers) which will make them look a lot more like their Anglican equivalents. Many will remember memorising the great collects in Sunday School. On many occasions Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and others pray the same collect. New Zealand Anglicans, with a culture of flexibility, choose a collect from any source they like. Each week this site has provided a commentary on at least one of the great collects. Recently all NZ Anglican clergy and worship leaders were sent a new resource cutting options to one collect provided for each celebration. Whilst I energetically agree with the principle of common prayer, I even more energetically protest the vandalism that this resource does to our wonderful inherited collect taonga (treasure).
Collects for Season and Sundays (PDF)
Collects for Other Feasts and Holy Days (PDF)
A collect concludes and completes the Gathering of the Community. Individuals gather, sing (one of the most unifying human experiences), and finally (1) are invited by the presider to (2) deep silent prayer which is (3) collected by the presider praying the collect which (4) is affirmed by the community’s Amen. After this we are gathered from being individuals to being a community ready together to hear what the Spirit is saying to us as the gathered church.
The collect (like haiku or sonnet) has its own particular, recognisable structure. In the five-fold structure, three parts are always present (marked *):
*You– Address
Who - Amplification (& motive)
*Do – Petition
To - Purpose (& motive)
*Through Jesus Christ…
An example of a collect that reaches back at least one and a half millennia and is prayed by Anglicans, Roman Catholics and others:
Let us pray (in silence) that we may love God in all things and above all things
pause for deep silent prayer
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding;
pour into our hearts such love towards you
that, loving you above all else,
we may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.
Now compare this with the first “collect” in this new resource:
Praise to you, Christ our Redeemer
for you were circumcised this day
and given Jesus as your name.
Praise to you, Jesus, well are you named
for you save us from our sins.
Hear this prayer for your name’s sake.
Amen
This is not a collect. In this new resource, any person of the Trinity can be addressed at random rather than the great liturgical tradition of praying to the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Spirit. It is a lovely little prayer that so easily gets lost in the re-cluttered vestibule of the gathering rite of those who do not understand the grammar of liturgy.
The “collects” of this new resource were sent with the information that “The Common Life Liturgical Commission has been working on developing replacement pages for pages 550 – 723 of our Prayerbook.” Many leaders in our church, not being clear about our processes, have taken this at face value and now think that those pages have been formally replaced. But those pages of our Prayer Book are binding formularies of our church. They can only be replaced by (1) a vote resulting in agreement in all houses and tikanga of our General Synod, (2) assent by a majority of our diocesan synods and Hui Amorangi, (3) another vote in a newly elected General Synod, followed by (4) a year’s wait before they become such a replacement. This “collect” resource has not even been presented to General Synod (step 1). If and when it reaches stage 2 I will be voting against these becoming formularies, against their replacing our current pages. Those pages of course need replacing - but not in this manner. Those of us committed to orthodoxy (which means “right worship”) currently have a choice in which collect we use and can continue to use either a classic or more recent collect (in the style and usage given above).
Furthermore, the material is presented with the claim that “the endings are now consistent throughout” - this is clearly false. Sometimes each year is presented with the same collect at the expense of our inherited, shared collect (eg. Epiphany). Sometimes, it seems there has not even been the slightest attempt to read the collect aloud, eg. “… help us to see to see…” (Lent 3 Year B).
The typos in the text indicate this is not a quick drawing from a digital version, someone has put a lot of energy into typing up this text. Apologies to the person(s) who has(/have) put such effort into this resource that I am so under-whelmed by its usefulness and appropriateness.
Further reading on collects
If you are interested, there is more on this approach to the use of the collect in Chapter 6 of Celebrating Eucharist.
Original here: http://starturl.com/bosco
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Jesus' Miracles
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Reading Too Much Into Jesus' Miracles?
Picture: A Photo of 4Q521I was recently asked a great question by Alex in one of the comment boxes which I thought I'd share in a post:
Do you think the vast majority, if not all, of Jesus' acts (non-speech acts) were primarily symbolic meant to point to himself as Messiah, redeemer, what have you? Or at the very least, did the writers of the gospels tend to take all of the stories this way? My only thought, is what if the concept of "allusions" in the gospel is nothing more than speculation, and all Jesus was really trying to do was just feed hungry people to show his power and love.To answer this question from a historical perspective, I want to turn to Matthew 11:2-6, which I think is immensley helpful here.
So which is it: a) symbolic to show messiahship, redemption, fulfillment of Exodus, etc., or b) a show of his goodness, love, and power so people would look to him for
salvation. I think a) is the way that scholarship typically interprets it, while b) is the way the lay church typically interprets it. Heck maybe both are true, but I'd be curious to hear what you think?Here is what I would say.
"Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them."In fact, most scholars recognize that Jesus' answer draws from two passages in Isaiah:
Isa 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted. . .Here it seems clear that Jesus is combining the two passages to answer the question about his identity―and the answer is in the affirmative, i.e., yes, he is the Messiah.
Isa 35:5-6: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy.
The historicity of Jesus’ answer is in fact accepted by a good number of scholars. As is well-known, in this saying Jesus conflates Isaiah 35 and 61, something that is mirrored in one very important fragment found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q521 (4QMessianicApocalypse).
The fragment is worth citing here. It begins by clearly speaking of the coming “anointed one”, i.e, the “Messiah”: “[for the heav]ens and the earth will listen to his anointed one. . .” (4Q521 II 2:1). It goes on to state in lines 7–8: “7 For he will honour the pious upon the throne of an eternal kingdom, 8 freeing prisoners, giving sight to the blind, straightening out the twis[ted]” (4Q521 II 2:7–8).) Likewise, in lines 11–12 we read: “11 And the Lord will perform marvelous acts such as have not existed, just as he sa[id] 12 [for] he will heal the badly wounded and will make the dead live, he will proclaim good news to the poor. . .” (4Q521 II 2:11–12).
The similarities with Jesus’ words are simply stunning. Strikingly, both the Qumran text and Jesus’ statement insert a statement about raising the dead prior to the reference to preaching to the poor[1]. It would seem then that Jesus’ answer involved not an original use of the Old Testament, but rather alluded to a commonly conjoined set of passages from Isaiah which were associated with the Messiah and understood as describing the Messiah’s future activities.
In fact, the case for the authenticity of the passage is strong. Davies and Allison highlight the following:
(1) John the Baptist appears to have been motivated by eschatological hopes thus it is likely he looked for to the coming of a messianic figure;
(2) the passage suggests that John was unclear about who Jesus was―a tradition we would not expect to be invented about John by the early church;
(3) the proofs provided for Jesus’ messiahship are not what we would expect from the early church.
Thus, as Davies and Allison explain, “The dominical origin of 11.5–6, which characteristically proclaims the presence of the Kingdom, is usually granted by modern scholars.”[2]
The implication here--which goes to the heart of the question asked by Alex--is that Jesus sees his miraculous actions as in general supporting his messianic mission. Thus I think it is safe to assume that even if Jesus worked a miracle simply out of compassion for someone, he clearly ALSO knew it would reinforce his larger eschatological claims.
As for other symbolic acts--e.g., cleansing the temple--I think the sayings associated with them (e.g., Isa 56:7 in the temple action) make it clear that Jesus intends to convey an eschatological message in them. Now of course one could take a radically skeptical view and insist that the sayings have all been added by the evangelists. Why on earth one would insist on accepting the authenticity of the deeds but doubt the sayings is beyond me. In general, though, I think however a good case can be made for the authenticity of both, as I have explained here and especially here.
So I think in general, yes, Jesus' miraculous acts and his symbolic deeds seem to point to his messianic mission. He certainly seemed to say so himself. Of course, that's not to say that we can over interpret a passage and possibly read too much into them in other ways!
NOTES
[1] See Lidija Novakovic, Messiah, the Healer of the Sick: A Study of Jesus as the Son of David in the Gospel of Matthew (WUNT 2.170; Tübingen: 2003), 180: “In contrast to the Jewish texts which are only thematically related to 4Q521, the Q passage preserved in Matt 11:2-6 and Luke 7:18-23 contains the closest known parallel to this document, because both texts go beyond their common scriptural basis in Isa 61:1 by adding the reference to the resurrection of the dead in front of the reference to preaching good news to the poor.”
[2] See W. D. Davies and Dale Allison, The Gospel According to St. Matthew (ICC; 3 vols.; Edinbugh: T & T Clark, 1988), Matthew, 2:244–46. See also A. E. Harvey, Jesus and the Constraints of History: The Bampton Lectures, 1980 (London: Duckworth, 1982), 140: “[Isaiah 61:1–2] has so many points of contact with the gospel tradition as a whole that it is exceedingly unlikely to be the invention of any one evangelist or even. . . of the early church as opposed to Jesus or his disciples. Indeed, it introduces us to a complex of ideas which pervade the whole gospel record and are bound up with the style of preaching and action adopted by Jesus.”
1 comments:
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Excellent post Michael, and thanks for the thorough response. I think your title captures my concern exactly. I have a tendency to think that scholars (and lay people generally) read way too much into the Old Testament stories (typology, etc.) than is necessary and wondered to what extent that concern also applied to Jesus non-speech acts.
I was likewise stunned by the similarity in the scroll you pointed out. All of these acts are under the common theme of a Jewish hope that God would, through his anointed one, one day make all things right, straight, healed, and good.
Also remarkable is the passage from Matt. 11. John seems to be asking the same exact question I have. The key point is what caused John to ask the question: Jesus DEEDS, not his words. That is huge. The messiah wouldn't prove his worth (anointedness) by apologetics. Deeds were what the Jews would recognize and so deeds it was. Since the days of Isaiah the messiah was defined by his deeds. So that raises the question of why point #3 of the Davies/Allison highlights is true, i.e. why wouldn't we have expected the same proofs from the early church as from the Jews?
Here's one thing that just struck me. Didn't John ask this question chronologically after he had baptized Jesus? If so, why didn't the whole "This is my beloved son" quote direct from the mouth of God not convince him of Jesus messiahship? Could John not hear the Father's pronouncement, or did he just not conflate the term "anointed one" with the term "beloved son" the way we might today? I'm basically addressing point #2 in the Davies/Allison highlights.
By way of personal info, I don't take a radically skeptical view so I'm not too concerned with trying to pick and choose what was authentic vs. what was added. I think it's good to be critical, but there's only so much we can know from the final "redacted" product, so I avoid speculation. Nonetheless I think Davies and Allison raise the important questions above and would be interested to hear your response.
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Offerings and Caring for the Poor
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Ministry Lesson 2 of 12 meeting 1a - Giving
Ministry – Offerings and caring for the Poor.Having sojourned along the ministry path of Thanksgiving and Justice we now begin building the Ministry of Offerings to the Lord and Caring for the Poor and Needy in the disciple.
We’re growing the disciple in two ways here, expressing love to the Lord and love towards one another. Like two wings on a plane, both must work or we fly in circles rather than grow in Ministry.
The goal is to love the Lord and others just like Jesus and the Apostles did. The plan is as follows.
* Note - each new posting builds upon the prior ones so to understand this posting FULLY you'll need to start from the first posting in March 2009 and read and study each one in chronological order.
“Ministry to the Lord” must come from a heart filled with love for God and the outward manifestation of that love includes our giving or offerings to the Lord. Jesus made this very clear:
Matthew 6:21 “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Luke 16:13 “" No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth."
The choice for the disciple is not between the Devil and God but rather between Wealth and God. It is understanding which one has gripped our heart, which one is our treasured possession - Money or God, earthly things or heavenly things, to please ourselves or to please God.
Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
It is true that the more earthly wealth and possessions we have the more our heart is attracted to and anchored to this earth, to the things of the world such as our degrees, careers, titles, positions, fashions, fads, cars, homes. gadgets, sports etc. As all these earthly things become more and more important to us, our love for the Lord grows lukewarm and then cold.
Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, " I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Revelation 3:16 “'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,”
Luke 8:14 “"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
How does the disciple know if he/she has some measure of love for money and thus lukewarm-ness to the Lord? Most of the time they don’t know so we must help them see it.
One sign is a lack of satisfaction and contentment which leads to a pursuit of worldly wealth:
Ecclesiastes 5:10 “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”
1 Timothy 6:9 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
Luke 12:15 “Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
The opposite is like two sides of a piece of paper where on one side is a short list of ones earthly possessions, not poverty mind you but not overly abundant accumulations either. On the other side is a long list of reported giving to the Lord, sharing with others and an abundant generosity. Jesus and the Apostles denied themselves, lived having only their needs met and were not consumed with money and possessions and gave all they had to others, sharing all things. To be a disciple means follow them as an example and that takes time to grow in.
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
1 Corinthians 7:31 “those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.”
Luke 9:25 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
We are helping the young disciple to recognize his/her own condition of having some measure of the love of money in his/her heart, repenting of it and then growing in loving God.
How many possessions of this world did Jesus and the Apostles have?
Did they have a luxury car – the latest greatest luxury chariot of the day?
Did they have an inexpensive cart they rode in?
Or did they walk like the common non-wealthy people did at that time?
How would they have lived in the modern world of today knowing the principles they lived by?
Did they have the latest gadget, largest house of the day?
Did they have the fashionable jewelry, clothes, hair styles, tattoos as the world did?
Did they have a closest full of clothes and sandals like the wealthy or did they have what the common people had?
Did they take vacations at the luxury resorts of the day or like the common people did?
Did they eat the finest of food as the wealthy did or was their diet the common man’s diet?
Did they have a house and garage and storage shed full of stuff they didn’t need or use?
Did they have the most expensive rugs, finest beds and furniture etc?
Were they poor and needy, or rich, or neither?
Were they always concerned about making more money or giving more money?
Did they seek & find opportunities to help themselves or to help others?
There are many ways to examine the lives of Jesus and the Apostles regarding these things and from them find our example to follow in this matter.
1 John 2:6 “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
1 Thessalonians 4:1 “ Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” NIV
Colossians 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
We should be growing in having more treasure in heaven and less possessions on earth.
Other forms of loving money are selfishness, buying more and more things for oneself, being rich towards oneself, stinginess toward God and others, a reluctant giver, giving to impress others instead of because one loves God, stealing, taking advantage of others etc..
For example some verses:
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Acts 5:3 “But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4"While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
Matthew 6:3 “"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Luke 12:18 “"Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' 21"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
We also must avoid a common practice in our day of giving to God from a greedy heart instead of from a loving heart. This is often seen when people give expecting God to give them more money back as if it were an investment in the stock market rather than a love offering to the Lord. Giving to get is not love, its selfish greed. The greedy will find a verse like Malachi 3:10 to comfort themselves and their greedy hearts.
All ministry, including giving to God and the poor, must be from love. Jesus connected the two – service and love -- as did the Apostles:
John 21:16 “He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, " Shepherd My sheep."
1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing"
1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
Hebrews 10:24 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
1 John 2:15 “ Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
Luke 16:13 “" No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth."
Pray with the young disciple asking the Lord to increase his/her love for God and increase their treasure in heaven and radically part with loving money and the world.
Encourage the disciple to judge himself and see if He/She is manifesting love for God and growing in becoming more generous and more joyful in giving.
Help the disciple develop a plan to grow in giving.
2 Corinthians 8:7 “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” NIV
The disciple should settle the starting % amount giving/offering between him/her and the Lord rather than follow a starting point of 10% tithe and the reason is that the Lord is more concerned about the heart of the giver than the gift and the giver must give JOYFULLY, not grudgingly, FREELY, not under compulsion either by a LAW of Tithe or by an appeal such as a picture of a poor child somewhere.
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Whatever % the Lord and the disciple agree on, start there and every year add more %. For example year one give 5% of total earnings to the Lord, year two give 7%, year three give 12%, year four give 15% etc. This simple plan will help the disciple maintain a growth in loving the Lord and denying self. At some point they will reach giving 51% to the Lord and living a sacrificial and blessed life on the remaining 49% of total earnings.
Acts 20:35 “"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
May the Lord anoint you to make disciples who love the Lord with all their heart!
Disciple Maker
P.S. Subsequent meetings on this Ministry topic will cover growing in self denial and compassion, growing in living on less and needing less, growing in giving to the poor and needy. Sharing all things with the brethren. Discernment and Wisdom in giving. Overcoming Cathedral building and the spirit of Babylon in our hearts. Being led by the Spirit in deciding where to Give. Overcoming insecurities, confiscations, robberies, losses of earthly things. Overcoming wrong motives in giving, Overcoming neglecting the kingdom and missions in giving, etc.
Original post here: http://disciplemakerforjesus.blogspot.com/
Hope: What happens to the unreached when they die?
Hope: What happens to the unreached when they die?
I ran across an interesting conversation at jdgreear.com about the motives for mission: particularly the question of what happens to the unreached when they die. Now, this is a difficult topic, one that we have to grapple with. I think everyone does, particularly everyone in missions. I have. It can be a stone over which we stumble and break. (And perhaps I should put out a disclaimer: these thoughts, as all my blog posts, are my own, and not—necessarily!—an official position of the organization with which I work. I am given a not inconsiderable latitude for which I am grateful.)
Here is the problem: someone never hears the Good News – they are separated for the whole of their life from Christ, Christianity and the Gospel. It can happen. Think of this woman: one of the Taimani Aimaq of Afghanistan, one of the least-reached people groups in the world. There are about half a million Taimani Aimaq, who live nomadic lives in northwest Afghanistan. They are cut off from most of the world: no radio, no newspapers, little contact with others. It’s possible for someone to grow up as an Aimaq and never know anything of the world outside where they live. What happens when they die?
There are several different possible answers depending on your theological persuasion. Let us survey a few of them.
The first possible answer: having never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, they go to hell, where they are roasted for all eternity in hellfire, tormented and tortured by dark demonic spirits. I find this a difficult answer. It seems to me to be informed by a view of God that focuses on his wrath. It says that all humanity is fallen and deserves nothing but eternal torture. It emphasis Romans 3:16: all have sinned and fallen short. And these things are true. But what about people who have never heard them? It seems difficult to me that a people who have never heard about Jesus, and thus cannot accept him as Savior, should be condemned to eternal torment.
The second possible answer: having never heard of Christ—through no fault of their own, this being the responsibility of the Church—they get a free pass. No one told them about judgment, so they get to skip the jail part and head directly to heaven. They are not judged on their sins because they did not know they were sinning. This is a difficult answer, too. It emphasizes God’s grace, and the church’s guilt in not doing its job. But the logical conclusion is that we ought to ignore the Great Commission, because if you bring the Gospel to some heathen people and they say ‘no’ they are automatically consigned to hell, whereas if we’d just left them alone they would have gotten to go to heaven. This makes it our fault all the way around.
A third possibility: those who’ve never heard get to hear at the moment of death. Jesus (or an angel appears to them), witnesses to them, and they get to choose right then and there. Now, this is an interesting possibility, but again challenges. Jesus or angels would be possibly better witnesses than us, so wouldn’t it be better to leave people in ignorance until the point of death and let the better witness handle it? And if this is what’s happening, then why did Jesus tell us to preach the Gospel to all creation? Why spend billions doing it?
A fourth possibility: that when we die we go to an intermediate stage—a sort of Purgatory. The truly rebellious go straight to hell, and the rest of us pay for our misdeeds and then get to go to Heaven. Now, this is a kind of nice option, as it deals easily with those who are “really bad” and those who are “ignorant” while giving those who are “saved” a straight pass into Heaven. The only problem with it is that it emphasizes works as opposed to grace.
The fifth (and most commonly heard by me) possibility: they are judged by how they responded to the witness of creation. Even without the Gospel, anyone can sense there is a Supreme Being out there, and how they lived their life is how they’ll be judged. Again, this seems like a remarkably good answer except that it sounds remarkably like you can earn your way to heaven, and it seems that once they hear the Gospel it is far easier to end up in hell—a simple no to a badly presented witness and you’re on your way to the roasting and the tormenting and the pitchforking.
This is not an easy conundrum, and it becomes problematic because it says a lot about your view of God and the church. Part of the reason I think it becomes so emotional is that it brings questions of eternity, horrific pictures of damnation, and questions of fairness into the issue of grace versus justice. On the one hand, we think terrible people ought to roast; but on the other hand, we think people who never had a chance somehow deserve to have one.
Greater minds than mine (of which there are many, many) have grappled with this issue and come up with all sorts of different answers. C. S. Lewis, for example, indicated in The Last Battle that he felt the young Calormene, who worshipped the demonic Tash all his life, was counted in the Great Lion Aslan’s camp because “you can’t do something bad in my name, and you can’t do something good in Tash’s name”: a sort of inclusivism that many people have found challenging. N. T. Wright in Surprised by Hope has—as far as I can understand him—a very different view of eternal life and hell in which people who reject God simply become less human, less sentient, over time. The Annihilationist view says people aren’t roasted, they simply cease to exist: and you can make a case for saying the fires of hell are eternal but that doesn’t mean being burnt to ash takes an eternity, it just means you can’t stop hell from doing its job. Then of course there is the ‘standard’ evangelical position: no Sinner’s Prayer, no eternal life.
My response, perhaps, is to cheat, or to surrender. I look at all these things and say, at least for now, that I don’t know the answer. Instead, I grapple with it:
- I know God is just. The rebelliousness and habitual sin of mankind must be dealt with. No one gets a free pass (Romans 3).
- I know God loves us. I do not believe he will not roast a soul in eternal torment because that person, through no fault of their own, never heard the Good News. We are saved by accepting the sovereignty and grace of God and a personal relationship, not through recitation of the Sinner’s Prayer as if it were a magical formula. I do not know how this works, but I know the character of God (check Genesis 18:25). (In this area I tend to fall under Answer 5 above—for those who have never had an opportunity to hear about Christ. But I acknowledge this is my human desire for mercy, and to understand God, and I certainly don’t claim that anything my brain can come up with represents reality. His ways are far higher than ours.)
- I don’t know what happens if you don’t know Christ, but I do know rejecting him leads to eternal separation from him. Rejecting the Sovereign Lord is rebellion. Sorry, that’s just how it works (check John 14:6).
- I know it can be easy to reject a gospel presentation (especially a bad one), but I also know if you’re one of those fortunate enough to be in touch with Christ, Christianity and the Gospel you’re also likely to receive more than one chance to hear. And just because some people reject a witness from a Christian because of how the Christian behaves, doesn’t mean we should be disobedient to Christ’s command.
- I know we may not know what happens to a person who never knows about Christ when they die, but we do know what happens when they live: it is very easy to fall into sin, to fall into rebellion, to fall into a lifelong habit of doing what is wrong. While I suppose it is possible—I don’t know—that an unreached person can live in such a way that they will go to be with God when they die, it is equally possible—perhaps more so—to fall into a pattern of sin that is difficult to break (perhaps impossible?) apart from the Good News. It’s always easier to live in grace.
And yet, I show you a more excellent way.
Ultimately, we must be on mission not because people are “going to Hell” (which many undoubtedly are) but because Christ commanded us to. The hell-or-heaven status of people is not the motivation: obedience is. We don’t shirk from obedience just because a Gospel presentation could make things more complicated.
However, we surely should catch the heart of God, the motivation of God, that sinners should be saved. And a lot of the arguments surveyed here have to do with what we are being saved from. That always seems to be the sticking point. Do we roast? Do we cease to exist? How do we get out of the hellfire and brimstone?
Surely this is less important than what they are being saved to?
Perhaps one of our problems is that we get our eyes on the negative so much—on our perverse enjoyment of other people suffering, on the drama of hell, ‘preaching hellfire and brimstone’—and we do not focus enough on the joys and delights of Heaven. Perhaps—just perhaps—we have a clearer view of hell than of heaven. We often think of heaven as a sort of eternal worship service: perched on a cloud learning to strum a harp. Maybe it is difficult for us to drum up enough enthusiasm for bringing people to this ideal, and so we try to motivate by saying, “well, but the alternative is so much worse.”
Perhaps if we had a better view of heaven, we would worry less about hell and more about spreading what is truly Good News: that there is a future, and a hope: that it is grander and greater than anything we can possibly imagine: that it is about ruling and reigning for all eternity: that over a thousand years from now you could still be alive, still learning, still growing, still doing great things, never hungry, never sick, never afraid. Isn’t that something to spread?
I don’t know under what conditions someone goes to hell, but I do know what Christ has called us to. He did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He did not come to judge, but to rescue the lost and to destroy the works of the devil. He did not commission us to spread a dire warning, but to spread Good News of an everlasting Kingdom that will promises resurrection and eternal life. He spoke very little of hell and mostly of the Kingdom of Heaven. Shouldn’t we be doing the same?
(Original post here:- http://bit.ly/2bIum1)
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