tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122798112024-03-08T05:17:14.353+02:00Initial ExplorationsThis blog is about the New Testament and Early Christianity. Initial thoughts are not final thoughts, and almost everything here is up for discussion...Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.comBlogger597125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-70032102646574890272014-12-14T21:38:00.000+02:002014-12-14T21:38:21.161+02:00Bibliography on 3 John: Articles and Chapters<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's a pretty comprehensive bibliography of articles and chapters relating specifically to the epistle of Third John. If I've missed anything, please let me know. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Campbell, Barth L. “Honor, hospitality and haughtiness: the
contention for leadership in 3 John.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">EQ</i>
77 (2005): 321-341.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Clark, David J. “Discourse Structure in 3 John,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BT</i> 57 (2006): 109 – 15.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Donfried, Karl P. “Ecclesiastical Authority in 2-3 John,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Évangile de Jean</i>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sources</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rédaction</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">théologie</i>. Edited by M. de Jonge. BETL44
(Gembloux: Duculot, 1977), 325-333.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Floor, Sebastiaan “A Discourse Analysis of 3 John,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Notes on Translation</i> 4.4 (1990): 1-17.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Funk, Robert W. “The Form and Structure of II and III John.”
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Biblical Literature</i> 86
(1967): 424-30.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Horvath, T. “3 Jn 11b: An Early Ecumenical Creed?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Expository Times</i> 85 (1974): 339-340.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Landrus, Heather L. “Hearing 3 John 2 in the Voices of
History,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Pentecostal Theology</i>
11.1 (2002): 70-88.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Lorencin, Igor “Hospitality versus Patronage: An
Investigation of Social Dynamics in the Third Epistle of John” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Andrews University Seminary Studies</i> 46.2
(2008): 165-174.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Malherbe, A. J. “Hospitality and Inhospitality in the
Church,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Social Aspects of Early
Christianity</i> (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), 92-112.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Malina, B. J. “The Received View and What it Cannot Do: III
John and Hospitality,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Semeia</i> ():
171-194.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Mitchell, Margaret M. “’Diotrephes Does Not Receive Us’: The
Lexicographical and Social Context of 3 John 9-10,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Biblical Literature</i> 117.2 (1998): 299-320.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Neufeld, D., ‘The socio-rhetorical force of ‘truth talk’ and
lies: The case of 1 John’, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HTS</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theological Studies</i> 67 (2011): 1-10.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">O’Donnell, M.B., and C.J. Smith, ‘A Discourse Analysis of 3
John’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Linguist as Pedagogue: Trends
in the Teaching and Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament</i>, Eds. S.E.
Porter and M.B. O’Donnell. (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Polhill, John B. “An Analysis of II and III John.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Review & Expositor</i> 67 (1970):
461-471.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Polhill, John B. “The Setting of 2 John and 3 John,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Southern Baptist Journal of Theology</i>
10.3 (2006): 28-39.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Storm, Melvin R. “Diotrephes: A Study of Rivalry in the
Apostolic Church”, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ResQ</i> 35 (1993):
193-202.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Van Oudtshoorn, A. “Every Letter Tells a Story: Mission and
Unity at Odds in the Local Church: A Socio-Narrative Analysis of 3 John,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pacifica: Journal of the Melbourne College
of Divinity</i> (2011): 267-282.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Watson, D. F. “A Rhetorical Analysis of 3 John: A Study in
Epistolary Rhetoric,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CBQ</i> 51 (1989): 479-501.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Whitman, Andrew. “Third John: Helping or Hindering with the
Spread of the Gospel?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evangel</i> 15
(1997): 37-42.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-64207625622422496342014-06-03T10:09:00.001+02:002014-06-03T10:09:39.471+02:00Bible Interpretation Without the Bible?
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I
wonder if it would be better to teach my “Bible Interpretation” class using
texts from outside the Bible. Essentially the aim of the course is to
teach methods, goals and practices of good interpretation and if I could cover
the same exercises without using the Bible, then they could take those same
methods and apply them to the bible. The assessments could still be
focussed on biblical texts but the class room analysis could be on texts
unfamiliar to the student. We could use texts from ANE, Dead Sea Scrolls
and the Apostolic Fathers in our classroom exercises, texts from similar
historical, cultural, and ideological environments in which the Bible was
written. The benefit of this approach would be that students would have
no theological/ideological investment in the specific “meaning” of these texts,
since most of them would be unfamiliar with these writings and have no vested
interest in their interpretation. There could be a sustained focus on
texts that aid our interpretation of the Bible and also this would alert
students to the various texts which provide the necessary ideological,
historical and cultural matrix within which biblical writings are to be
understood. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thoughts?
What am I missing? <o:p></o:p></div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-55160180993595532832013-08-26T00:33:00.000+02:002013-08-26T00:33:00.110+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Miscellaneous<strong>Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. </strong><br />
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<strong>Conference Papers on the Thessalonian Letters</strong><br />Harrison, James R. “‘The Ultimate Sinner’: Paul & the Antichrist in Political Context,” Delivered at the 125th SBL Annual Meeting 2005, Philadelphia, in the “Paul and Politics’ section. Available Online: <a href="http://www.thepaulpage.com/The%20Ultimate%20Sinner.pdf">www.thepaulpage.com/The%20Ultimate%20Sinner.pdf</a> <br />Johnson, E. Elisabeth. “Paul’s Reliance on Scripture in 1 Thessalonians,” Paper presented at Society of Biblical Literature, New Orleans, 2009. Accessed, 24 September, 2010-09-25: <a href="http://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/paulandscripture/Johnson-Paul's_Reliance_on_Scripture_in_1_Thessalonians.pdf">www.westmont.edu/~fisk/paulandscripture/Johnson-Paul's_Reliance_on_Scripture_in_1_Thessalonians.pdf</a> <br />
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<strong>Websites and Online Commentaries</strong><br />John Chrysostom on Thessalonians: <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf113.html">http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf113.html</a><br />John Calvin on Thessalonians: <a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc42/cc42017.htm">http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc42/cc42017.htm</a><br />
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<strong>Downloadable Commentaries at Internet Archive:</strong><br />Denney, James. The Epistles to the Thessalonians. Expositor’s Bible. Hodder & Stoughton, 1897.<br />Eadie, John. A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians. London: Macmillan, 1877.<br />Ellicott, Charles J. St. Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians. London: Longman, 1866.<br />Frame, James E. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians. ICC. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1912.<br />Jowett, Benjamin. The Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, Galatians, Romans. London: J. Murray, 1859.<br />Milligan, George. St. Paul’s Epistles to the Thessalonians. London: Macmillan, 1908.<br />Plummer, Alfred. A Commentary on St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Thessalonians. London: R. Scott, 1914.<br />
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<strong>Online Audio Sermons</strong><br />1 Thessalonians from the Gospel Coalition:<br /><a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/scripture-index/a/1+thessalonians">http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/scripture-index/a/1+thessalonians</a><br />
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2 Thessalonians from the Gospel Coalition:<br /><a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/scripture-index/a/2+thessalonians">http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/scripture-index/a/2+thessalonians</a><br />
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<strong>Other Web Resources</strong><br />
NT GATEWAY: <a href="http://www.ntgateway.com/paul-the-apostle/1-and-2-thessalonians/">http://www.ntgateway.com/paul-the-apostle/1-and-2-thessalonians/</a><br />
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<strong>Other Articles of Interest</strong><br />Barclay, John M. G. “Mirror Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 31 (1987): 73-93.<br />Funk, R. W. “The Apostolic Parousia: Form and Significance,” in Christian History and Interpretation: Studies Presented to John Knox, ed. W. R. Farmer, C. F. D. Moule, R. R. Niebuhr. Cambridge: University Press, 1967, 249-68.<br />Harding, J. K. “Decrees and Drachmas at Thessalonica: An Illegal Assembly in Jason's House (Acts 17.1–10a)” New Testament Studies 52 (2006), 29-49.<br />Hock, R.F. “The Workshop as a Social Setting for Paul's Missionary Preaching,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 41 (1979): 438-50.<br />Judge, E. A. “The Decrees of Caesar at Thessalonica” Reformed Theological Review 30 (1971), 1-7.<br />Lassen, Eva Maria. “The Use of the Father Image in Imperial Propaganda and 1 Corinthians 4:14-21,” Tyndale Bulletin 42.1 (1991), 127-136.<br />Pahl, Michael W. “The ‘Gospel’ and the ‘Word’: Exploring Some Early Christian Patterns” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29.2 (2006), 211-227. <br />Stowers, S. K. “Social Status, Public Speaking and Private Teaching: The Circumstances of Paul’s Preaching Activity.” Novum Testamentum 26 (1984), 59-82.<br />Sumney, Jerry L. “Paul’s ‘Weakness’: An Integral Part of His Conception of Apostleship,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 52 (1993), 71-91.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. “The Pauline Letter Closings: Analysis and Hermeneutical Significance,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 5 (1995), 177-198.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. “What does Aristotle Have to do with Paul? An Evaluation of Rhetorical Criticism” Calvin Theological Journal 32 (1997): 458-68.<br />
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<br />Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-51745485151317869522013-08-25T00:32:00.000+02:002013-08-25T00:32:00.188+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Foreign Language Commentaries<strong>Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. </strong><br />
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<br />Bickmann, J. Kommunikation gegen den Tod. Studien zur paulinischen Briefpragmatik am Beispiel des Ersten Thessalonicherbriefes. FzB 86; Würzburg: Echter, 1998.<br />Dewailly, L.-M. La jeune Église de Thessalonique. Les deux premières épîtres de saint Paul. LeDiv 37; Paris: Cerf, 1963.<br />Dibelius, M. An die Thessalonicher I, II, an die Philipper. HNT 11; Tübingen: Mohr, 31937.<br />Haufe, G. Der erste Brief des Paulus an die Thessalonicher. ThHK 12/1; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1999.<br />Holtz, T. Der erste Brief an die Thessalonicher. EKK 13; Zürich – Neukirchen-Vluyn: Benziger – Neukirchener, 1986.<br />Légasse, S. Les épîtres de Paul aux Tessaloniciens. LeDiv Commentaires 7; Paris: Cerf, 1999.<br />Marxsen, W. Der erste Brief an die Thessalonicher. ZBK.NT 11/1; Zürich: Theologischer Verlag, 1979; tr. it. La prima lettera ai Tessalonicesi. Guida alla lettura del primo scritto del Nuovo Testamento. Parola per l’uomo d’oggi 6; Torino: Claudiana, 1988.<br />Marxsen, W. Der zweite Brief an die Thessalonicher. ZBK.NT 11/2; Zürich: Theologischer Verlag, 1982.<br />Müller, P.-G. Der erste und zweite Brief an die Thessalonicher. RNT; Regensburg: Pustet, 2001.<br />Schürmann, H. Die erste Brief an die Thessalonicher. GSL.NT 13; Leipzig: St. Benno, 1961.<br />Staab, K. Die Thessalonicherbriefe, Die Gefangenschaftsbriefe. RNT 7/1; Regensburg: Pustet, 51969.<br />Trilling, W. Der zweite Brief an die Thessalonicher. EKK 14; Zürich: Benziger, 1980.<br />von Dobschütz, E. Die Thessalonicher-Briefe. KEK 10; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 71909, 1974.Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-50093262870840375572013-08-24T00:30:00.000+02:002013-08-24T00:30:00.345+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Chapters in Books<strong>Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. </strong><br />
<br />Donfried, Karl P. “The Imperial Cults of Thessalonica and Political Conflict in 1 Thessalonians” in Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society. Eds. R. A. Horsley. Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 1997, 215-223.<br />Fee, G. D. “Christology in the Thessalonian Correspondence” Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007, 31-83.<br />Fee, G. D. “The Thessalonian Correspondence” in God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, 39-80.<br />Furnish, V. P. “The Spirit in 2 Thessalonians” in The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honour of J. D. G. Dunn. Edited by G. N. Stanton; B. W. Longenecker & S. C. Barton. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 229-240.<br />Jervis, L. A. “1 Thessalonians” in At the Heart of the Gospel: Suffering in the Earliest Christian Message. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007, 1-36.<br />Koester, Helmut “Imperial Ideology and Paul’s Eschatology in 1 Thessalonians” in Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society Edited by R. A. Horsley. Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 1997, 158-166.<br />Manson, T. W. “The Letters to the Thessalonians” in Studies in the Gospels and Epistles. Ed. M. Black. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1962, 259-278.<br />Marshall, I Howard. “Pauline Theology in the Thessalonian Correspondence” in Paul and Paulinism: Essays In honour C.K. Barrett. Edited by M. D. Hooker, and S. G. Wilson, London: SPCK, 1982, 173-183.<br />Rosner, B. “Seven Questions for Paul’s Ethics: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 as a Case Study” in Understanding Paul’s Ethics: Twentieth-Century Approaches. Edited by B. Rosner. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995, 351-360.<br />Wiles, G. “Function of the wish-prayers in I Thessalonians” in Paul’s Intercessory Prayers: The Significance of the Intercessory Passages in the Letters of St. Paul. Cambridge: CUP, 1974 45-71.<br />
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-27932139409523428862013-08-23T00:28:00.000+02:002013-08-23T00:28:00.689+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Journal Articles<strong>Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. <br />
</strong>Adams Jr., E. Randall “Preaching from 1 and 2 Thessalonians,” South Western Journal of Theology 42 (1999), 66-78.<br />Adams, Sean A. “Evaluating 1 Thessalonians: An Outline of Holistic Approaches to 1 Thessalonians in the Last 25 Years,” Currents in Biblical Research 8:1 (2009), 51-70.<br />Ascough, Richard S. ‘The Thessalonian Christian Community as a Professional Voluntary Association,” Journal of Biblical Literature 119 (2000), 311–28. <br />Ascough, Richard S. “A Question of Death: Paul’s Community-Building Language in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,” Journal of Biblical Literature 123:3 (2004), 509-530.<br />Aus, Roger. “The Litrugical Background of the Necessity and Propriety of Giving Thanks According to 2 Thes 1:3,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (1972-3), 432-438.<br />Barclay, John M. G. “Conflict in Thessalonica,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 55 (1993), 512–30. <br />Barclay, John M. G. “Thessalonica and Corinth: Social Contrasts in Pauline Christianity,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 47 (1992), 49–74.<br />Bassler, Jouette M. “The Enigmatic Sign: 1 Thessalonians 1:5,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46 (1984), 496-510.<br />Black, David Alan. “The Literary Structure of 1 and 2 Thessalonians,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 3.3 (1994), 46-57.<br />Black, David Alan. “The Weak in Thessalonica: A Study in Pauline Lexicography” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25:3 (1982), 307-321.<br />Bockmuehl, Markus. “1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 and the Church in Jerusalem,” Tyndale Bulletin 52.1 (2001), 1-31.<br />Burke, Trevor J. “Pauline Paternity in 1 Thessalonians,” Tyndale Bulletin 51.1 (2000), 59-80.<br />Criswell, W. A. “Make it a Matter of Prayer: 1 Thessalonians 5:17,” Criswell Theological Review 1:1 (2003), 105-10.<br />Currie, Thomas W. “1 Thessalonians 5:12-24,” Interpretations (2006), 446-449.<br />DeSilva, David A. “‘Worthy of His Kingdom’: Honour Discourse and Social Engineering in 1 Thessalonians,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 64 (1997), 49-79<br />Donfried, K. P. “The Cults of Thessalonica and the Thessalonian Correspondence,” New Testament Studies 31 (1985), 336–56.<br />Edson, Charles. “Cults of Thessalonica,” Harvard Theological Review 41:3 (1948), 153-204.<br />Fowl, Stephen. “A Metaphor in Distress: A Reading of NEPIOI in 1 Thessalonians 2:7.” NTS 36 (1990), 469-473.<br />Fredrickson, David. “Passionless Sex in 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5,” Word & World 23:1 (2003), 23-30.<br />Fudge, Edward. “The Final End of the Wicked,’ Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27:3 (1984), 325-334.<br />Gieschen, Charles A.. “Christian identity in a pagan Thessalonica: the imitation of Paul's cruciform life” Concordia Theological Quarterly, 72:1 (2008), 3-18.<br />Goulder, Michael D. “Silas in Thessalonica,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 48 (1993), 87-106.<br />Gregory, Andrew. “A Theological Approach to Thessalonians,” Expository Times 117 (2006), 411-412.<br />Gundry, Robert H. “A Brief Note on “Hellenistic Formal Receptions and Paul’s Use of APANTHSIS in 1 Thessalonians 4:17,” Bulletin of Biblical Research 6 (1996), 39-41.<br />Gupta, Nijay. “An Apocalyptic Reading of Psalm 78 in 2 Thessalonians 3,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31 (2008), 179-194.<br />Harrison, James R. “Paul and the Imperial Gospel at Thessaloniki” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 25.1 (2002), 71-96.<br />Heath, Jane M. F. “Absent Presences of Paul and Christ: Enargia in 1 Thessalonians 1-3,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32:1 (2009), 3-8.<br />Hendrix, Holland “Benefactor/Patron Networks in the Urban Environment: Evidence from Thessalonica,” Semeia 56 (1991), 39-58.<br />Johnson, E. Elizabeth. “Preaching in 1 Thessalonians,” Journal for Preachers 28:3 (2005), 20-26.<br />Kaye, B. N. “Eschatology and Ethics in 1 and 2 Thessalonians” Novum Testamentum 17:1 (1975), 47-57.<br />Koester, Helmut “1 Thessalonians – Experiment in Christian Writing” in Continuity and Discontinuity in Church History: Essays presented to G. H. Williams (Leidin: Brill, 1979), 33-44.<br />Krentz, Edgar. “Evangelism and Spirit: 1 Thessalonians 1” Currents in Theology and Mission 14:1 (1987), 22-30.<br />McKinnish Bridges, Linda. “Terms of Endearment: Paul’s Words of Comfort in First Thessalonians,” Review and Expositor 96 (1999), 211-232.<br />Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers. ““No Need to Have Any One Write”?: A Structural Exegesis of 1 Thessalonians,” Semeia 26 (1983), 56-83.<br />Malherbe, A. J. “Exhortation in First Thessalonians,” Novum Testamentum 25 (1983), 238–56.<br />Malherbe, A. J. ““Gentile as a Nurse”: The Cynic Background to 1 Thess 2,” Novum Testamentum 12 (1970), 204-217.<br />Malherbe, A. J. “Paul: Hellenistic Philosopher or Christian Pastor?” Anglican Theological Review, 68:1 (1986), 3- 13.<br />Martin, M. “‘Example’ and ‘Imitation’ in the Thessalonian Correspondence,” South Western Journal of Theology 42 (1999), 39-49.<br />May, David. ““You Cannot Hide the Soul”: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22,” Review and Expositor 96 (1999), 277-85.<br />Mearns, C. L. “Early Eschatological Development in Paul: The Evidence of I and II Thessalonians,” New Testament Studies 27 (1980–1), 137–57.<br />Menken, M. J. J. “Paradise Regained or Still Lost? Eschatology and Disorderly Behaviour in 2 Thessalonians,” New Testament Studies 38 (1992), 271–89.<br />Otey, Rush. “An Invitation to 1 Thessalonians,” Pentecost (1995), 39-41.<br />Patte, Daniel. “Method for a Structural Exegesis of Didactic Discourses: Analysis of 1 Thessalonians,” Semeia 26 (1983), 85-136.<br />Polhill, John B. “Hope in the Lord: Introduction to 1-2 Thessalonians,” South Western Journal of Theology 3:3 (1999), 22-44.<br />Polythress, Vern S. “‘2 Thessalonians 1 Supports Amillenianism,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:4 (1994), 529-538.<br />Porter, Stanley, E. “Developments in German and French Thessalonians Research: A Survey and Critique,” Currents in Research 7 (1999), 309-34.<br />Powell, Charles E. “The Identity of the “Restrainer” in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7,” Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (1997), 320-32.<br />Quarles, Charles L. “The APO of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and the Nature of Eternal Punishment,” Westminster Theological Journey 59 (1997), 201-11.<br />Reinhartz, Adele. “On the Meaning of the Pauline Exhortation: ‘mimētai mou ginesthe – become imitators of me’,” Studies in Religion 16 (1987), 393-403.<br />Roose, Hanna. “‘A Letter as by Us’: Intentional Ambiguity in 2 Thessalonians 2.2,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29.1 (2006), 107-124.<br />Richards, E. Randolph. “Ministering in a Tough Place: Paul's Pattern in Thessalonica,” South Western Journal of Theology 42 (1999), 17-38.<br />Seifrid, Mark A. “Faith, Hope, and Love: Paul’s Message to the Church at Thessalonica,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 3:3 (1999), 58-64.<br />Skeen, Judy. “Not as Enemies, But Kin: Discipline in the Family of God—2 Thessalonians 3:6-10,” Review and Expositor 96 (1999), 287-294.<br />Smith, Jay E. “1 Thessalonians 4:4: Breaking the Impasse,” Bulletin of Biblical Research 11.1 (2001), 65-105.<br />Smith, Jay E. “Another Look at 4Q416 2 ii.21, a Critical Parallel to First Thessalonians 4:4,’ Catholic Biblical Quarterly 63 (2001), 499-504.<br />Stacy, R. Wayne. “Introduction to the Thessalonian Correspondences,” Review and Expositor 96 (1999), 175-194.<br />Still, Todd D. “Eschatology in the Thessalonian Letters,” Review and Expositor 96 (1999), 195-210.<br />Still, Todd D. “Interpretive Ambiguities and Scholarly Proclivities in Pauline Studies: A Treatment of Thee Texts from 1 Thessalonians 4 as a Test Case,” Currents in Biblical Research 5.2 (2007), 207-219.<br />Still, Todd D. “Paul's Thessalonian Mission,” South Western Journal of Theology 42 (1999), 4-16.<br />Vang, Preben “Sanctification in Thessalonians,” South Western Journal of Theology 42 (1999), 50-65.<br />Walton, Steve. “What has Aristotle to do with Paul? Rhetorical Criticism and 1 Thessalonians,” Tyndale Bulletin 46.2 (1995), 229-250.<br />Wanamaker, Charles. ““Like A Father Treats His Own Children”: Paul and the Conversion of the Thessalonians,” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 92 (1995), 46-56.<br />Ware, James “The Thessalonians as a Missionary Congregation: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-8” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 83 (1992): 126- 31.<br />Waternman, G. Henry. “The Sources of Paul’s Teaching on the 2nd Coming of Christ in 1 and 2 Thessalonians,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 18:2 (1975), 105-113.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. ‘An Apology for the Apologetic Function of 1 Thessalonians 2.1-12” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 68 (1998), 73-99.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. “Infants, Nursing Mother, and Father: Paul’s portrayal of a Pastor,” Calvin Theological Journal 37 (2002), 209-229.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. “The Slaying of Satan’s Superman and the Sure Salvation of the Saints: Paul’s Apocalyptic Word of Comfort (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17),” Calvin Theological Journal 41 (2006), 67-88.<br />Weima, Jeffrey A. D. “‘How You Must Walk to Please God': Holiness and Discipleship in 1 Thessalonians” in Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament (ed. Richard N. Longenecker; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 98-119.<br />Winter, Bruce W. “‘If a man does not wish to work…’ A Cultural and Historical Setting for 2 Thessalonians 3:6-16,”Tyndale Bulletin 40 (1989), 303-315.<br />Winter, Bruce W. “The Entries and Ethics of Orators and Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12),” Tyndale Bulletin 44.1 (1993), 55-74.<br />Yarbrough. Robert W. “Sexual Gratification in 1 Thess 4:1-8” Trinity Journal 20.2 (1999), 215-232.Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-62982649704752213752013-08-22T00:26:00.000+02:002013-08-22T00:26:00.243+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Monographs<strong>Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. <br />
</strong>Ascough, Richard Paul’s Macedonian Associations: The Social Context of Philippians & 1 Thessalonians. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament, 2003.<br />Beutler, J. and K. P. Donfried, The Thessalonians Debate: Methodological Discord or Methodological Synthesis? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.<br />Burke, Trevor J. Family Matters : A Socio-Historical Study of Fictive Kinship Metaphors in 1 Thessalonians. New York: T & T Clark International, 2003. <br />Collins R. F. (ed.), The Thessalonian Correspondence. BEThL 87; Leuven: Peeters, 1990. <br />Collins, R. F. Studies on the First Letter to the Thessalonians. BEThL 66; Leuven: Peeters, 1984. <br />Donfried, K. P. Paul, Thessalonica and Early Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. <br />Donfried, Karl P., and I. Howard Marshall. The Theology of the Shorter Pauline Letters. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. <br />Donfried K. P. and J. Beutler, Eds., The Thessalonians Debate: Methodological Discord or Methodological Synthesis?Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.<br />Holland, G. S. The Tradition that You Received from Us. 2 Thessalonians in the Pauline Tradition. HUTh 24; Tübingen: Mohr, 1988. <br />Huges, F. W. Early Christian Rhetoric and 2 Thessalonians. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplemant 30; Sheffield: JSOT, 1989.<br />Jewett, R. K. The Thessalonian Correspondence: Pauline Rhetoric and Millenarian Piety. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986. <br />Malherbe, A. J. Paul and the Thessalonians. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1987.<br />Nicholl, Colin R. From Hope to Despair in Thessalonica: Situating 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 126. Cambridge: CUP, 2003.<br />Pahl, Michael W. Discerning the 'Word of the Lord': The 'Word of the Lord' in 1 Thessalonians 4:15. Library of New Testament Studies 389. London: T. & T. Clark, 2009.<br />Still, Todd D. Conflict at Thessalonica: A Pauline Church and Its Neighbours. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 183. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.<br />Walton, Stephen J. Leadership and lifestyle: the portrait of Paul in the Miletus speech and I Thessalonians. Cambridge: CUP, 2000.Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-20684945258140019812013-08-21T00:25:00.002+02:002013-08-21T00:25:44.403+02:00Thessalonian Letters - Bibliography - Commentaries<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since I'm teaching a paper on the Thessalonian letters, I'd thought I'd blog the bibliography that I've compiled. Please let me know if I've missed anything. </div>
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<br />Beale, Gregory K. 1-2 Thessalonians. IVP New Testament Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010.<br />Best, Earnest. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Black's New Testament Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995. <br />Bruce, F.F. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Word Biblical Commentary vol. 45. Waco: Word Books, 1982. <br />Calvin, John. 1, 2 Thessalonians. Calvin's Commentaries. n.p.: Crossway Books, 1999. <br />Elias, Jacob W. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. n.p.: Herald Press, 1995.<br />Ellingworth, P. & Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians. UBS Handbooks Helps for Translators. United Bible Society, 1994.<br />Fee, Gordon D. The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.<br />Frame, James E. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St Paul to the Thessalonians. International Critical Commentary. London: T&T Clark, 1960. <br />Furnish, V. P. 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.<br />Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. First and Second Thessalonians. Interpretation Commentary. Louisville: John Knox, 1998.<br />Green, G. L. The Letters to the Thessalonians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.<br />Holmes, Michael. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.<br />Jensen, Irving L. 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Self-Study Guide. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999. <br />Martin, D. Michael. 1 & 2 Thessalonians, New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman/Holman, 1995. <br />Malherbe, A. J. The Letters to the Thessalonians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible Commentary 32B; New York: Doubleday, 2000. <br />Marshall, I. Howard. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. New Century Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.<br />Morris, Leon. 1 & 2 Thessalonians, New International Commentary on the New Testament. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. <br />McKinnish Bridges, L. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2008.<br />Neil, William. The Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. Moffatt Commentary. Harper and Brothers, 1950.<br />Richard, Earl J. First and Second Thessalonians. Sacra Pagina 11. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1995.<br />Stott, John R. 1 and 2 Thessalonians: Living in the End Times Downers. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998. <br />Wanamaker, Charles A. The Epistles to the Thessalonians, New International Greek Text Commentary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1994. <br />Williams, David J., and Gasque, Ward. 1 & 2 Thessalonians, New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1994. <br />Witherington, Ben. 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.<br />Woolsey, Warren. 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Wesley Press, 1997. </div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-45926633602747772782013-06-16T22:59:00.001+02:002013-06-16T23:00:37.873+02:00Worship and Theology<br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Sean du Toit ::
Alphacrucis :: 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">There is a necessary relationship to the theology that we have and the
worship to God that we give.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theology
shapes and informs our worship of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All authentic worship assumes a theology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish to go further and suggest that
theology itself is a form of worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen
to what Jesus says in John’s gospel:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">John 4:23-24<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But the hour is coming, and is now here, when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father
seeks such as these to worship him. <sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">24 </span></sup>God is Spirit, and those who
worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Every time we declare truth about God, it
is an act of worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the verbal and,
ethical, individual and communal proclamation of the truth about who God is and
what God has done for humanity, we are engaged in acts of worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John’s gospel is itself a theological
reflection on the truth about the identity of God revealed in Jesus through the
revelatory agency of the Spirit to the community gathered to worship and
encounter God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John’s gospel is thus a
declaration of worship, enticing those who hear to enter into communion with
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vivid metaphors employed
throughout are possibly strongest in the Eucharistic sections of John 6 where
hearers are instructed to feast on the very body of Jesus, a feast of intimacy
with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, that intimacy is developed
and maintained through theological reflection on the Christ event revealed
throughout John’s gospel and Jesus’ teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is therefore a dynamic interplay between theology and worship
throughout the gospel that invites those with ears to hear to come and taste
and see that the Lord is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As N. T.
Wright has perceptively noted that, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">When you begin
to glimpse the reality of God, the natural reaction is to worship him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to have that reaction is a fairly sure
sign that you haven’t yet really understood who he is or what he’s done.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">John’s explicit purpose in this gospel is
to evoke a continued relationship of trust in Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-GB">John 20:31<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">This is written so that you may <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[]</i> trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Son of God, and that through trusting you may have life in his name.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-GB">The subjunctive </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">πιστεύ</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">[</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">σ</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">]</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">ητε</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> may either suggest “come to
trust” or “continue to trust” that Jesus is who this gospel declares he
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need not quibble over the options
as it is probably both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that means
that an explicit purpose of this gospel is to feed the faithfulness, memory and
imagination of God’s people with the truth about God so that they may continue
to trust him and rely on him for life through him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worship sustains the community of God by
facilitating an encounter with God and declaring truth about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Furthermore,
lyrical theology, i.e., the words of the songs we sing, should </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">give voice to the theology that
shapes the life and practices of the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is for this reason that Karl Barth declares that, </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Theology is a particularly beautiful
discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, we can confidently say
that it is the most beautiful of all disciplines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To find academic study distasteful is the
mark of the philistine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The theologian
who labours without joy is not a theologian at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sulky faces, morose thoughts and boring ways
of speaking are intolerable in this field.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-GB">Joy and exciting thoughts must accompany
the theologian for it is upon reflection of God given in Scripture that the
theologian must wrestle with theology and construct imaginative portraits of
this encountering God that remain in sync and faithful to the revelation of God
throughout Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Vanhoozer aptly notes that “</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">To witness to the
love of God is the Christian theologian’s supreme privilege and supreme
responsibility.”</span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><sup><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Declaring truths about God which are
faithful and in sync with the Scriptural revelation, are themselves an act of
worship to the One who is worthy of our attention, affection and
allegiance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very act of theology
must be an act of worship because God is no object to be studied but rather as
humble subjects we contemplate the supreme excellency of the divine nature (to
echo Jonathan Edwards).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This God who
came for us, and revealed Himself to us in many and varied ways of love and
salvation, healing and compassion is worthy of our worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stating that God is loving, saving, healing
and compassionate is in sync with the truth of the Scriptural revelation, and
thus reaffirms the character of God which is thus an act of worship
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-GB">If we return to <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">John 4:23-24 we notice the central role of the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In John’s gospel, it is the role of the
Spirit to reveal to us the identity of God and ourselves, but it is also the
role of the Spirit to connect us to God (John 20:22).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit facilitates an encounter with God
as the revealing God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And truth about
God is a medium through which God speaks and encounters his people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Spirit thus reveals truth, declares truth
and inspires truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">There is therefore a dynamic interplay
between theology and worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theology
not only inspires worship, but is itself an act of worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This worship causes us to further reflect on
the God who is worthy of our worship, and thus inspires further theological
reflection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> N. T. Wright, <i>Simply
Christian</i>, (New York: HarperCollins, 2006), 123.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Barth, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Church Dogmatics</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> II/1, 656.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Sean/Dropbox/studies/Theology/Theology%20and%20Worship.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"> </span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin J. Vanhoozer, “The Love of God: Its Place, Meaning and Function
in Systematic Theology” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First
Theology: God, Scripture and Hermeneutics</i> (</span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Illinois: <span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">IVP, 2002), 95</span></span>.</span></span></div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-54509774594503918872013-05-14T03:45:00.002+02:002013-05-14T03:45:33.157+02:00Letter Carriers - Bibliography<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a bibliography I'm compiling on Letter Carriers, as they relate to early Christianity, early Judaism and the Graeco-Roman world. Feel free to add any items I've missed. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Botha, Pieter. “The Verbal Art of the
Pauline Letters: Rhetoric, Performance and Presence” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rhetoric and the New Testament: Essays from the 1992 Heidelberg
Conference</i>, edited by Stanley Porter and T. H. Olbricht (Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1993) 409-428.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Epp, Eldon Jay “New
Testament Papyrus Manuscripts and Letter Carrying in Greco-Roman Times,” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Future of Early Christianity: Essays in
Honor of Helmut Koester</i>, Ed. Birger A. Pearson (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1991), 35-56.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Head, Peter M. “Letter Carriers in the
Ancient Jewish Epistolary Material” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jewish
and Christian Scripture as Artifact and Canon</i> Eds. C.A. Evans & H.D.
Zacharias LNTS 70; (London: T & T Clark, 2009),
203-219.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Head, Peter.
“Named Letter Carriers among the </span><span lang="EN-GB">Oxyrhynchus </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Papyri” <i>Journal for the Study of the
New Testament</i> 31.3 (2009): 279-299.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Keyes, C. W. “The Greek Letter of
Introduction,” <i>AJP </i>56 (1935), 28-44.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Llewelyn, S. R. “The Christian Letters of
Recommendation”, <i>NewDocs, </i>8:170.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Mcquire, M. “Letters
and Letter Carriers in Christian Antiquity,” <i>CW </i>53 (1960): 148-53,
184-85.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Mitchell,
Margaret M. “New Testament Envoys in the Context of Greco-Roman Diplomatic and
Epistolary Conventions: The Example of Timothy and Titus.” <i>JBL</i> 111
(1992): 641-662.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Murphy-O’Connor,
J.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paul
the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills</i> Minnesota: The
Liturgical Press, 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Richards, E. Randolph. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and
Collection</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Illinois: IVP, 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-64721761942202355232013-05-08T05:31:00.004+02:002013-05-08T05:31:50.336+02:001 Peter Among Early Christian Writers<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lee Martin MacDonald notes the following use of 1 Peter among writers in the early Church: </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although there are several
parallel phrases in Barnabas and 1 Peter (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Barn</i>.
5.6 and 1 Pet 1:20), it is only with Polycarp that clear use of 1 Peter is
found (e.g., Pol. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phil</i>. 1.3 and 1 Pet
1:8; Pol. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phil</i>. 10:2 and 1 Pet
2:12).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author of 2 Pet 3:1 (ca.
100-125, or possibly as late as 180) refers to the existence of an earlier
letter by the Apostle Peter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eusebius
claimed that Papias (ca. 100-150) knew and used 1 Peter (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hist</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eccl</i>. 3.39.17), and
he includes it in the list of the recognised books (3.25.2 and 3.3.1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irenaeus was the first to use 1 Peter by name
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Haer</i>. 4.9.2; 4.16.5; 5.7.2), and
thereafter many references are made to the book by the early church
fathers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early witnesses validate the
use of the book in the church, and it does not appear to have been seriously questioned
in the fourth century, even though it is missing in the Muratorian Fragment.<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lee Martin MacDonald, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Biblical Canon: Its Origins, Transmission, and Authority</i> (Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 395-396.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-6430567940269629982013-05-07T21:53:00.002+02:002013-05-08T05:32:17.245+02:00Detailed Exposition<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is not in the interest of extravagant ambition that we trouble ourselves with
this detailed exposition, but we hope through such painstaking interpretation
to train you in the importance of not passing over even one slight word or
syllable in the Sacred Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
they are not ordinary utterances, but the very expression of the Holy Spirit,
and for this reason it is possible to find great treasure even in a single
syllable. – John Chrysostom<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-63511316934617162772013-04-27T03:23:00.002+02:002013-05-09T22:23:31.921+02:00The Intentional Fallacy and Authorial Intent<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is
sometimes suggested that the article of William K. Wimsatt, and Monroe C.
Beardsley, ‘The Intentional Fallacy’ <i>Sewanee Review </i>54 (1946): 468-488,
reprinted in William K. Wimsatt, <i>The Verbal Icon</i>. (Lexington: University
of Kentucky Press, 1954), 3-18, has advocated the view that authorial intention
is unknowable or irrelevant in understanding a text. However, a careful reading
of this piece notes that these authors are not suggesting that authorial
intention be dismissed in reading any kind of text, but more specifically in
reading poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, regarding the
reading of other texts, they specifically state that “poetry differs from
practical messages, which are successful if and only if we correctly infer the
intention.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They thus agree that
authorial intention is important for the understanding of texts generally, with
the noted exception of poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is thus <i>ironic</i> that some authors
have missed their communicative intent and thus misrepresented their thesis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The irony is delicious. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-63193811120175780712013-04-25T00:01:00.000+02:002013-04-25T00:01:00.801+02:00Seneca on Household Management
<br />
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Seneca, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ep</i>.
94:1-2<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">That department of
philosophy which supplies precepts appropriate to the individual case, instead
of framing them for mankind at large — which, for instance, advises how a husband
should conduct himself towards his wife, or how a father should bring up his
children, or how a master should rule his slaves — this department of
philosophy, I say, is accepted by some as the only significant part, while the
other departments are rejected on the ground that they stray beyond the sphere
of practical needs — as if any man could give advice concerning a portion of
life without having first gained a knowledge of the sum of life as a whole!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Aristo the Stoic, on the contrary,
believes the above-mentioned department to be of slight import…</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Translation by Gummere in Loeb.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-84188868177729727672013-04-24T23:43:00.000+02:002013-04-24T23:43:00.197+02:00Hecaton on Household Management<br />
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Seneca, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">De
beneficiis</i> 2.18.1-2<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Any duty involving two people makes equal demands on them both. Having
examined what a father should be like, you will know that just as much work
remains in order to make out what a son should be like. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a husband has a role to play, the wife has
no less of one. (2) The reciprocity in making demands and fulfilling them
requires a rule which applies to both alike - and that, as Hecatonn says, is a
difficult matter. Moral goodness, indeed anything approaching moral goodness,
is always uphil1. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It requires not merely action, but rational
action. Reason must be our guide throughout our life; all things, from the
smallest to the greatest, must be performed on its instructions; gifts must be
given in whatever manner reason suggests.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Seneca, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moral and Political
Essays.</i> Eds. John M. Cooper and J. F. Procop</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">é</span><span lang="EN-GB"> (Cambridge:
CUP, 1995), </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">226.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-19307709506256057242013-04-23T23:37:00.000+02:002013-04-23T23:37:00.129+02:00Aristotle on Household Management<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: small;">Aristotle <i>Pol.</i>
1.1253b.1–14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">And now that
it is clear what are the component parts of the state, we have first of all
to discuss household management; for every state is composed of households.
Household management falls into departments corresponding to the parts of
which the household in its turn is composed; and the household in its perfect
form consists of slaves and freemen. The investigation of everything should
begin with its smallest parts, and the primary and smallest parts of the
household are master and slave, husband and wife, father and children; we
ought therefore to examine the proper constitution and character of each of
these three relationships, I mean that of mastership, that of marriage (there
is no exact term denoting the relation uniting wife and husband), and thirdly
the progenitive relationship (this too has not been designated by a special
name). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us then accept these three
relationships that we have mentioned.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></sup></span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">ἐπεὶ δὲ φανερὸν
ἐξ ὧν μορίων ἡ πόλις συνέστηκεν, ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον περὶ οἰκονομίας εἰπεῖν: πᾶσα
γὰρ σύγκειται πόλις ἐξ οἰκιῶν. οἰκονομίας δὲ μέρη ἐξ ὧν πάλιν οἰκία
συνέστηκεν: οἰκία δὲ τέλειος ἐκ δούλων καὶ ἐλευθέρων. ἐπεὶ[5]δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἐλαχίστοις
πρῶτον ἕκαστον ζητητέον, πρῶτα δὲ καὶ ἐλάχιστα μέρη οἰκίας δεσπότης καὶ δοῦλος,
καὶ πόσις καὶ ἄλοχος, καὶ πατὴρ καὶ τέκνα, περὶ τριῶν ἂν τούτων σκεπτέον εἴη
τί ἕκαστον καὶ ποῖον δεῖ εἶναι. ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐστὶ δεσποτικὴ καὶ γαμική </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">(</span><span lang="EN-GB">ἀνώνυμον γὰρ ἡ γυναικὸς καὶ ἀνδρὸς[10]σύζευξις</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">)</span><span lang="EN-GB"> καὶ τρίτον τεκνοποιητική </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">(</span><span lang="EN-GB">καὶ γὰρ αὕτη
οὐκ ὠνόμασται ἰδίῳ ὀνόματι</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">)</span><span lang="EN-GB">. ἔστωσαν δὴ αὗται τρεῖς ἃς εἴπομεν. ἔστι δέ τι μέρος ὃ δοκεῖ τοῖς
μὲν εἶναι οἰκονομία, τοῖς δὲ μέγιστον μέρος αὐτῆς: ὅπως δ᾽ ἔχει, θεωρητέον:
λέγω δὲ περὶ τῆς καλουμένης χρηματιστικῆς.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span lang="EN-GB"> See also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">N. E</i>.
8.1160a.23-1161a.10; 5.1134b.9-18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
tradition was common around the inception of early Christian thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See D. L. Balch, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Neopythagorean Moralists and the New Testament</span> Household Codes.” </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;">ANRW</span></i><span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;">. II.26.1 (1992): 380–411. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> Aristotle, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aristotle's
Politica</i> Ed. W. D. Ross Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-24931821049737824792013-04-22T23:35:00.001+02:002013-04-22T23:39:36.240+02:00Philodemus, Concerning Household Management<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">XII.2–XVI.12;
XXI.28–35; XXVII.42–47, XXVIII.3–5</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">39</span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Now that the views
concerning these people [Xenophon (Socrates) and ps.-Theophrastus] have been sufficiently
indicated, one must sketch our doctrines in a concise fashion (col. XII.2–5).
Accordingly, we will discuss, not how to live nobly in a household, but how one </span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">must take a stand
regarding the acquisition and preservation of property, with which [the terms]
“household management” and “household manager,” it is agreed, are strictly
concerned, although we do not continue to dispute in any way with those who
choose to assign other [concerns] to these terms; and [how one must take a
stand] regarding acquisition [of property] that is needed by the philosopher, not
just by anybody (XII.5–17).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">A philosopher has a
[moderate] measure of wealth, a view which we have handed on in accord with our
teachers in the book <i>On Wealth</i>, so that we might explain the management of
the acquisition and preservation of this measure [of wealth]. (XII.17–25). Well
then, in Metrodorus’ book <i>On Wealth </i>this sort of thing is found on the
topic in the argument against those who say fairly that Cynic philosophers have
chosen a way of life that is much too frivolous and easy. [Cynics] as far as
possible remove everything from themselves which does not provide a simple life
that ends peacefully and especially without confusion and with the least
anxiety and trouble—precisely what the one who merely gathers for himself daily
has (XII.25–41). For this also applies to a philosopher, but more than this is
already entirely empty (XII.41–43). Therefore he [Metrodorus] has written that
it is acceptable to say that this life is the best, with which the greatest
tranquility and peace as well as the least annoying worry are associated
(XII.44–XIII.3). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">This does not seem,
however, to be the goal, if we should flee everything in relation to whose
possession we might at some time have troubles or might be distressed
(XIII.3–8). For many of these matters produce some distress when they are
possessed, but many more distresses when they are not present (XIII.8–11).
Therefore bodily health involves some care and laborious toil, terrible distress
[in body] nevertheless rather, whenever [health is] absent (XIII.11–15).
Similarly the true friend also produces distress (l[E]p[aw]) to some degree
when present, but causes more distress when absent (XIII.15–19). In this
manner, the earnest person is able to distinguish clearly many things into what
is advantageous and disadvantageous and to choose some rather than others. [The
earnest person] does this not courteously, not because he is able to live
“nobly” (against Socrates; see XII.6–7) and be in need of many things which, by
not possessing, he will live miserably and lacking some he will be distressed
(XIII.19–29).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Accordingly one must
not flee everything by whose possession it is possible at some time to have
troubles, worries and anxieties of such and such a kind, as I have said above
(XIII.29–35; cp. XIII.3–8). One must accept some things, among which also is
wealth, since one has less misery when it is present, rather for the whole of
life but not (only) for some crisis; XIII.35–39). It is not safe to use the
same rule with regard to toil. Indeed, there are toils for the one who provides
for himself daily and even the one with plenty will have some troubles at some
time (XIII.39–44). Similarly, even for the one who has acquired a moderate
amount, it is not just to reject it on account of such a [possible] change of
fortune (XIII.44–XIV.2).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">But one must consider
this for the most part as contributing to the best way of life (XIV.2–5).
Wealth does not seem to produce unprofitable annoyances by itself, but (only)
through the evil (kak.an) of those who use it (XIV.5–9). For the care and
preservation [of wealth], as is fitting for one who is customarily in charge,
sometimes produces trouble, but not more than occurs with earning a living day
by day (XIV.9–15). And even if it [wealth] [produces] more [trouble], it is not
more than the others which set free from difficulties (XIV.15–17). If someone
cannot show that natural wealth does not yield much greater revenues than the toils
which derive from a life of little . . . (XIV.17–23). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">For I consider that
wealth is rightly managed in this way: not to be grieved by what is lost nor on
account of intemperate zeal in matters of profit and loss to be involved with
“slave treadmills” by oneself (XIV.23–30). For toil in acquisition involves
both dragging oneself by force and being anxious over losses since they will
immediately lead to present and expected pain (XIV.30–37). But if someone can
remove such difficulties from himself and neither attempt to accumulate and to
gain as much property as possible by toil nor even that authority which wealth
provides, nor prepare to preserve money with difficulty or to accumulate
easily, the mode of life and readiness for acquisition would be precisely
similar to sharing [with others] through it [wealth] (XIV.37–XV.3). For administering
these things in this way follows on the fact that the wise person has acquired and
is acquiring friends (XV.3–6). Besides, if 41 these things are not disposed in
this manner, since, if these things are wasted, although others will not be
found, much ease occurs regarding household management; otherwise, for those
requiring speech more than the many agonies in war (XV.6–14).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">But if they cannot
somehow fall into this manner of life since they are unable to have a single
friend . . . (XV.14–21). For it is possible to say that such a person has
easier daily acquisition, since he is relaxed in this way about the things said
by one who has no money (XV.21–26). For we see that the property preserved by
such men is not less than the property of intense people, but if not, it is not
thus quickly destroyed and not insecure property (XV.26–31).</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Therefore a wise man
will at no time be bound by wealth in such a way that he, for the sake of
preserving it, endures great toils that are equivalent to nothing (XV.31–37).
For this must cause use [of a property] to be without pain and the delight
through this use to be unalloyed, a delight which does not add to the
acquisition of wealth an oppressive anxiety for wise men; how will it be possible
to be preserved, even when the most perilous times prevail (XV.37–45)? For a
person who is prudent and confident about the future is not distressed by a
humble and penurious mode of life, since he knows that the physical [body] is
provided for by this [mode of life]; and he inclines willingly to the more
abundant [mode of life]. Nor is what is sufficient for him to be found to be
evil, the one for whom life is moderate and ordinary, and speech is healthy and
true, even if he does not readily welcome any chance [life that happens to come
along] (XV.44–XVI.12).</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">David L. Balch,
“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Philodemus,
“On Wealth” and “On Household Management:” Naturally Wealthy Epicureans Against
Poor Cynics” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philodemus and the New
Testament World</i> Eds. John T. Fitzgerald, Dirk Obbink, and Glenn S. Holland</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (Leiden: Brill, 2004),
177-196, here, </span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">189-192.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-88588117844111283312013-03-12T19:43:00.002+02:002013-03-12T20:00:08.052+02:00Thoughts on the Widow's Offering in Luke 20:1-4<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This narrative episode begins in 19:45 and carries through to
21:38.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is thus important to hold
together the various scenes and how they are related to one another, and not
isolate them from the narrative co-text or episode in which they occur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let us take a brief look at the scenes
before our episode and establish the contextual features that may shape the way
we understand the rest of this section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> An overview of the chapter with its various narrative scenes looks something like this:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conflict with the
Jerusalem Leadership (19:45-21:4)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
The Prophetic Demonstration in the Temple (19:45-48)</span></li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Question of Jesus’ Authority (20:1-8).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See especially 20:8.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jerusalem’s Unfaithful Leadership (20:9-19).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See especially 20:19.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Question of Caesar’s Authority (and the Priority of the Temple) (20:20-26).</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Question of Moses’ Authority (20:27-40).</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Question of the Messiah’s Authority (20:41-44).</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Warning to the Disciples (20:45-21:4)</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Prophecy of Judgement on the Temple (21:5-6)</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are now ready to take a closer look at 20:45-21:6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 45<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the hearing of all the
people he said to the disciples:</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 46<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Beware of the scribes, who
like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the
marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour
at banquets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The teaching is directed specifically at the disciples
because they are not to emulate fellow teachers in certain respects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They provide a counter-example for what Jesus
is advocating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is seen in Jesus’
stringent critique of their quest for status and honour in the community at the
expense of faithfulness to the heart of Torah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Long robes,” like refers to “the outer garment by which a
person is noted for his or her status.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is in keeping with a Lukan theme where
clothes note social status (cf. 7:25; 8:26-35; 16:19).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“‘Best seats’ [<span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE;">πρωτοκαθεδρία</span>] and ‘places of honour’ [<span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">πρωτοκλισία</span>] translate parallel Greek terms, both
signifying the location of the seats reserved for the “first” among the
gathered assembly.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This teaching is echoed in other places of
Luke’s gospel (11:43; 14:7-11), suggesting an emphasis on religious leaders who
want to be treated as wealthy benefactors.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The four phrases used in 20:46 to
characterise the teachers of the law are all ways of indicating claims to
advanced social position through nonverbal behaviour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each illuminates the attempt of the teachers
of the law to lay claim to exalted social status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 47<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They devour widows’ houses and
for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater
condemnation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scribes have been shown to be inadequate interpreters of
scripture (20:41-44).</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This failure of interpretation is now
illustrated in their lives as they engage in activities that are not faithful
to the scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How exactly do they devour widows’ houses? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fitzmyer lists several options.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes accepted payment for legal aid to
widows, even though such payment was forbidden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes cheated widows of what was rightly
theirs; as lawyers, they were acting as guardians appointed by a husband’s will
to care for the widow’s estate.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes sponged on the hospitality of these
women of limited means, like the gluttons and gourmands mentioned in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ass</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mos</i>.
7:6.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes mismanaged the property of widows like
Anna who had dedicated themselves to the service of the Temple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes took large sums of money from credulous
old women as a reward for the prolonged prayer which they professed to make on
their behalf.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">f)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Scribes took the houses as pledges for debts
which could not be paid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Jesus' response to this treatment of the poor widows is a pronouncement of greater condemnation. The poor widow, a symbol of all those vulnerable in socieity, has been taken advantage of by the very system that was supposed to care for her. As Green notes, </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus has gone on the offensive
against them, and the ultimate charge he can lay against them is their
participation in behaviours and their perpetuation of a system that victimizes
widows, counted among the weakest members of society, whom both the law and
leadership were to protect.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 1<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He looked up and saw rich
people putting their gifts into the treasury; </span></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 2<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>he also saw a poor widow put
in two small copper coins. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A <span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE;">λεπτός</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> was a small copper coin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A usual day’s wages was 120 lepta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The offering was insignificant. The widow is
described as “poor” but this is not the usual word </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">πτωχοί</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> (Lk. 4:18; 6:20; 7:22; 14:13, 21; 16:20, 22; 18:22;
19:8; 21:3) but another rare word, </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE;">πενιχρός</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> (Exod. 22:24; Prov. 28:15;
29:7; Lk. 21:2).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BDAG defines the word
as “pertaining to being in need of things relating to livelihood).<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a> This women therefore has no income. She is destitute. What happens to her now that she has given all that she has? How will she support herself? Where will she get money for food, shelter and other necessities? What are her options? Slavery? Prostitution? Death? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scene deliberately contrasts the giving of the wealthy
verses the giving of the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
wealthy give with no consequence, but this poor widow has now sacrificed
everything she has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The wealthy thus give to a corrupt system, but with no real negative consequence to themselves. The poor give to a corrupt system, but at great negative cost to themselves. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 3<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He said, “Truly I tell you,
this poor widow has put in more than all of them; </span></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 4<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>for all of them have
contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all
she had to live on.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is Jesus’ offering this widow’s giving as an exemplary paradigm
to be embraced and imitated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, is
Jesus offering a decisive and lament worthy illustration of the result of
crooked scribes “devouring widows’ houses”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The inner disposition and outward
bearing of the widow are not described or hinted at in the text, and nothing is
said about divine vs. human measuring of gifts, because those are not the point
of the story. And finally there is no praise of the widow in the passage and no
invitation to imitate her, precisely because she ought not to be imitated.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Thus, it is contextually more appropriate to read this narrative as specifically related to the warning Jesus is giving to the disciples. Here, as so often in the gospels, we have a real illustration of the teaching/warning Jesus has just given concerning the scribes and those associated with the templ. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The poverty of the widow, who
gave her last pennies to the temple, illustrates what Jesus meant when he said
that the teachers devour widows’ houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The poor are robbed, and the oppressive deeds are covered up with a show
of prayer and religiosity.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 5<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And they were speaking about
the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to
God, he said<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vs. 6<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“As for these things that you
see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will
be thrown down.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If, indeed, Jesus is opposed to
the devouring of widows’ houses, how could he possibly be pleased with what he
sees here?</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the evidence that Jesus is not pleased with what has
happened to the widow, is seen here in his pronouncement of judgement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This beautiful temple, dedicated to God, has
become a symbol of oppression and abuse, and therefore does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> represent God faithfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And thus does Luke draw attention
to a system, the temple treasury itself, set up in in such a way that it feeds
off those who cannot fend for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is worse, because it is the temple treasury, it has an inherent
claim to divine legitimation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could
it be involved in injustice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is God’s
own house!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This widespread assumption
about the temple only highlights the necessity of Jesus’ criticism of the
temple, a criticism already began in 19:41-48.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because it has fallen into the hands of those who use it for injustice,
Jesus must comport himself and his message over against the temple and its
leadership in prophetic judgement.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
So this narrative episode begins with a prophetic utterance of judgement noting that the temple is filled with "robbers", it ends with a prophetic utterance of judgement, "not one stone will be left standing." Throughout the various scenes in this episode, there is conflict between Jesus and the scribes, those associated with the temple. Just before the pronouncement of judgement, Jesus offers his disciples a stark warning: The scribes are selfish and corrupt, and they are taking advantage of poor widows, and they will receive the greater condemnation. Jesus then notes a specific example of a poor widow being taken advantage of, and walks out of the temple and announces one last time that the temple, along with those associated with it, will be judged. </span></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many, including myself, have been guilty of using this text
in a manner not faithful to the context and intent of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this passage we have a stark indication
that sometimes our traditional understandings of Scripture are utterly
misguided and mistaken, and perhaps driven by pragmatic or contemporary
concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Critical exegesis is supposed to inform preaching, piety, and church
thinking; but one wonders to what extent preaching, piety, and church interests
have affected critical exegesis in the history of the interpretation of this
text.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
This is why it is so important to always examine the narrative context in which we read specific stories. The context must help us determine the intent of the author. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is the
significance of this story for Churches and Christians today?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-element: footnote;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Joel Green,
The Gospel of Luke, 726.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See E.g., Gen 41:14, 41-42; Esth
6:8; 1 Chr. 15:27; 2 Chr 5:12; 1 Macc 6:15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Green, 727.</span></span></div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Green, “Good News,” 66-67.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Green, 725.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Fitzmyer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke X-XXIV</i>, 1318.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
See J. D. M. Derrett, “‘Eating Up the Houses of Widows’: Jesus’s Comment on
Lawyers?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NovT</i> 14 (1972): 1-9.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Green, 725.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
BDAG #5776.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A.
G. Wright, “The Widow’s Mite: Praise or Lament? – A Matter of Context,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CBQ</i> 44 (1982): 256-65, here, 262-63.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Evans, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke</i>, 302.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Wright, The Widow’s Mite,” 262.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Green, 728-29.</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=12279811#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Wright, “The Widow’s Mite,” 65.</span></span></div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-62679769789189075842013-03-05T22:20:00.000+02:002013-03-06T19:22:14.465+02:00Witherington on the Audience of 1 Peter<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'll outline a few of the reasons why Ben Witherington has offered the view that the audience is predominantly Jewish.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1:17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. </div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Witherington sees these as suggesting a Jewish audience, since they would naturally refer to Jews and not to Gentiles. For when are Gentiles ever referred to as exiles in their own regions? [Witherington, 2007; 28]. Furthermore, Witherington asserts that vs. 9 "is a direct echo of the Petateuch's report of what God said to Israel." [pg. 28]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On one of the two decisive passages in 1 Peter that appear to suggest a Gentile audience, Witherington suggests, regarding 2:10 that: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First Peter 2:10 is frequently seen to be a clear proof that the audience must be Gentiles. Here we have an intertextual echo or partial quotation of Hosea 1:9-10. Could our author really have been referring to Jews by phrases like “once you were not a people” or “once you had received no mercy”? This in some ways is a very odd question when one reads the original text of Hosea in its own context, where Hosea is clearly speaking of and about Jews, and offering a prophetic critique of their behavior. The prophet is indeed talking about Israel being temporally rejected and then restored. Thus there is no good reason why the author of 1 Peter could not be using this language in the same way as some of his own Jewish contemporaries. The key perhaps is to recognize that our author, himself a Jew, reflects the view of over-Hellenized Diaspora Jews that was not uncommon among more Torah-true Jews, who had been raised and lived in a more conservative environment in the Holy Land. For instance, consider the reaction of Qumranic Jews to Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem and elsewhere. [28-29]</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Witherington's got a point. But is this enough to establish that the audience is Jewish? </div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-5343821157521201722013-03-04T21:59:00.000+02:002013-03-04T21:59:00.639+02:00Journey Motif in 1 PeterTroy Martin helpfully outlines the journey motif in 1 Peter. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Their
journey began when God called them (1.15; 2.21; 3.9; 5.10) and they were
redeemed (1.18) and born anew (1.23). Their journey’s destination is the
revelation of Jesus Christ (1.13) and his glory (4.13), when they receive their
inheritance (3.9), exaltation (5.6) and salvation (2.2), and are established by
God (5.10). In between their beginning and destination is the time of their
sojourn (1.17; 2.11; 4.2; 5.10) when they need to continue their journey. I
then comment that this general image of diaspora life sets up the rhetorical
situation of 1 Peter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, the
recipients’ need to continue their journey is the ‘controlling exigence which
functions as the organizing principle’ of the rhetorical situation in 1 Peter. Even
though suffering resulting in the recipients’ experience of dishonour rather
than honour is frequently mentioned in 1 Peter, it does not account for the
entirety of the paraenesis in the letter as well as the journey motif does. ‘Girding
up the loins’ (1.13), ‘being sober’ (1:13; 5.8), ‘being alert’ (5.8), ‘putting
of unnecessary baggage (2.1) and ‘arming oneself’ (4.1) are all prudent
considerations for a journey. The danger of encountering wild beasts (5.8) is
characteristic of a journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The term <span lang="EL" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">ἀναστροφή</span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"> (‘course of life’), used throughout the letter,
semantically relates to journey or travel ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Terms such as ‘strangers’ and ‘aliens’ were
used to refer to the transient status of Jewish wanderers in the diaspora and
also allude to the journey image in 1 Peter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The notion of Christ as a shepherd to whom the recipients have returned
(2:25) and whom they now follow (2:21) are descriptions of their journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The notion that the recipients like living
stones (2:5) are coming to the living stone (2:4) to compose a temple is
similar to the journey image in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1 Enoch</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as God’s call precipitates the return
journey from exile and dispersion, so also in 1 Peter God’s call (1:15; 2:9,
21; 3:9; 5:10) initiates the recipients’ present journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their need to continue this journey is the
controlling exigence of the rhetorical situation in 1 Peter, and the paraenesis
throughout the letter specifically addresses this need.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"> Troy W. Martin, “The
Rehabilitation of a Rhetorical Step-Child: First Peter and Classical Rhetorical
Criticism,” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reading First Peter With
New Eyes. Methodolocial Reassessments of the Letter of First Peter</i>. Eds. R.
L. Webb and B. Bauman-Martin. LNTS. (London: T & T Clark, 2007), 41-71, here,
57-58.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-53637223732282700332013-03-03T21:32:00.001+02:002013-03-03T21:32:17.329+02:00Judicial Rhetoric in 1 Peter<div style="text-align: justify;">
Troy Martin offers the following reflection judicial aspects of 1 Peter. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although
1 Peter is not designed for the courtroom, several passages mention a forensic
social location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The divine Father, whom
the recipients of the letter invoke, is the one who impartially judges every
human on the basis of deeds (1:17).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
same God is described as he who judges justly (2:23), and those who live
disobedient lives will give an account to him who is ready to judge both the
living and the dead (4:4-5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
judgment begins with the household of God and does not bode well for those
outside this household (4:17-18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
judgement occurs on the day of visitation (2:12) when Jesus Christ is revealed
(1:7, 13; 4:13; 5:4) and the faithful within the household are vindicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the mention of this divine
judgement, several passages refer to human judicial settings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Governors, send by the Lord, punish evil
doers but praise those who do good (2:14-15).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The recipients of the letter must be prepared to make a defence to those
who call them to given an account (3:15).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In both the divine and human judicial settings, the paraenesis in the
letter expresses the conduct that will enable the recipients to avoid
condemnation and to receive vindication on the basis of their righteous
deeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although 1 Peter is not a speech
designed for the courtroom, it is perhaps a pre-trial letter advising conduct
that will enable the recipients to obtain a favourable judgment in both the
divine and human judicial settings mentioned in the letter.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list; text-align: justify;">
Martin does not argue that 1 Peter conforms to the species of judicial rhetoric, but rather suggests these as elements of that rhetorical species in 1 Peter. </div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list; text-align: justify;">
<br clear="all" />
</div>
<hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Troy W. Martin, “The
Rehabilitation of a Rhetorical Step-Child: First Peter and Classical Rhetorical
Criticism,” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reading First Peter With
New Eyes. Methodolocial Reassessments of the Letter of First Peter</i>. Eds. R.
L. Webb and B. Bauman-Martin. LNTS. (London: T & T Clark, 2007), 41-71, here,
46-47.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-11006288706298500792013-03-01T21:20:00.001+02:002013-03-13T21:32:11.670+02:00Bibliography on Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2)<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm currently doing some work on Phoebe, mentioned in Romans 16:1-2. Here's the passage in Greek with my translation: </div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: currentColor; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-border-insidev: none; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
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<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="308"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 7.6pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">Συνίστημι</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">δὲ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ὑμῖν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">Φοίβην</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">τὴν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἀδελφὴν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἡμῶν</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">, </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">οὖσαν</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> [</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">καὶ</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">] </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">διάκονον</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">τῆς</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐκκλησίας</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">τῆς</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">Κεγχρεαῖς</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">,</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἵνα</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">αὐτὴν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">προσδέξησθε</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">
</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">κυρίῳ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἀξίως</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">τῶν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἁγίων</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">καὶ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">παραστῆτε</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">αὐτῇ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ᾧ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">
</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἂν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ὑμῶν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">χρῄζῃ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">πράγματι</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">· </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">καὶ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">γὰρ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">αὐτὴ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">προστάτις</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">πολλῶν</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐγενήθη</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">καὶ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">ἐμοῦ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">αὐτοῦ</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype";">.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I recommend to you Phoebe, our sister, being a minister
of the church at Cenchreae,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in order that you may receive her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and
aid her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor
of many and of myself as well.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Below you will find a list of books and articles that deal specifically with Phoebe. If I've missed out anything significant, please let me know. I'm particularly interested in published works, but if there are internet articles, I'd consider them. Enjoy! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Bibliography on Phoebe</strong> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Arichea, D. C. “Who was Phoebe? Translating <i>Diakonos </i>in Romans
16:1</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>BT </i>39 (1988),
401-409.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Bassler, J. M. “Phoebe</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, in
Carol Meyers (ed.) <i>Women in Scripture </i>(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 134-135.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Bieringer, R. “Women and Leadership in Romans 16: The Leading Roles of
Phoebe<i>, </i>Prisca, and Junia in Early Christianity: Part I</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>East Asian Pastoral Review </i>44 (2007),
221-237.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Campbell, J. C. <i>Phoebe: Patron and Emissary. </i>Paul’s Social
Network: Brothers and Sisters in Faith; Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Clarke, A. D. “Jew and Greek, Slave and Free, Male and Female: Paul’s
Theology of Ethnic, Social and Gender Inclusiveness in Romans 16,” in <i>Rome
in the Bible and the Early Church</i>, Peter Oakes (ed.) Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2002), 103-125.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Cotter, W. “Women’s Authority Roles in Paul</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">s Churches: Countercultural or Conventional” <i>NovT
</i>36 (1994), 350-372. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Croft, S. “Text Messages: The Ministry of Women and Romans 16</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>Anvil </i>21 (2004), 87-94.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Ellis, E. E. “Paul and His Co-Workers</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>NTS </i>17 (1977), 437-452.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Ellis, E. E. Paul and His Coworkers</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>DPL</i>, 183-189.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Fiorenza, E. S. “Missionaries, Apostles, Co-workers: Romans 16 and the Reconstruction
of Women’s Early Christian History, <i>WW </i>6 (1986), 420-433.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Goodspeed, E. J. “Phoebe’s Letter of Introduction,” <i>HTR </i>44
(1951), 56-57.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Jewett, R. “Paul, Phoebe, and the Spanish Mission,” in J. Neusner<i>, et
al. </i>(eds.). <i>The Social World of Formative Christianity and Judaism</i>: <i>Essays
in Tribute to Howard Clark Kee</i>. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988, 144-64.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Kearsley, R. A. “Women in the Public East: Iunia Theodora, Claudia
Metrodora and Phoebe, Benefactress of Paul,” <i>TynBul </i>50 (1999), 189-21.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">MacMullen, R. “Women in Public in the Roman Empire<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">,” <i>Historia </i></span>29 (1980), 208-218.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Mathew, Susan. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Women in the
Greetings of Rom 16.1-16:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Study of
Mutuality and Women's Ministry in the Letter to the Romans</i>. LNTS.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Ng, E. Y. “Phoebe as <i>Prostatis</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>TJ </i>25 (2004), 3-13.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Osiek, C. “<i>Diakonos </i>and <i>Prostatis</i>: Women’s Patronage in
Early Christianity,” <i>HTS </i>61 (2005), 347-370.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Romaniuk, K. “Was Phoebe in Romans 16, 1 a Deaconess?</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” </span><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">ZNW </span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">81(1990), 132-34.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Schulz, R. R. “A Case for “President</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"> Phoebe in Romans 16:2</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>LTJ
</i>24 (1990), 124-27.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Thomas, W. D. “Phoebe: A Helper of Many</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>ExpTim </i>95 (1984), 336-337.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Trebilco, P.R. “Women
as Co-workers and Leaders in Paul's Letters.” <i>Journal of the Christian
Brethren Research Fellowship</i> 122 (1990): 27-36.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Whelan, C. F. “Amica Pauli: The Role of Phoebe in the Early Church</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">, <i>JSNT </i>49 (1993), 67-85.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-85165848656573802002013-02-13T12:03:00.000+02:002013-02-13T12:03:24.906+02:00What do we call non-Christian texts in the Bible?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">What does one call the non-Christian writings which are
found in the bible?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was going to ask, “What
do we call the Jewish writings in the Bible?” But that is a mistake, because
most, if not all, of the first Christians were in fact Jewish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ergo, the New Testament writings are also Jewish
writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">“Old Testament” is a phrase never used by the early
Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul’s phrase <span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">ἡ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">παλαιὰ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">διαθήκη</span><span lang="EL"> </span>(‘the old covenant,’
2 Cor. 3:14) is not a reference to the Mosaic Law, not the Jewish canon of
Scripture found in the Christian bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
scholars favour the phrase “Hebrew Bible” but this is confusing because the early
Christians used the Greek translation of these writings, not the Hebrew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, some of the writings in the
collection are written in Aramaic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others
use the phrase “Israel’s scriptures.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But do they belong only to Israel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which Israel? (Gal. 6:16)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new
one or the old one? (1 Pet 2:9-10)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are
there two?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other scholars use the
phrase, “First Testament.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
phrase is anachronistic, as the history of Christian interpretation has never
referred to their scriptures in this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the New Testament is the continuing story of the First Testament, but
with significant changes, climaxes and plot developments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some days I have a sneaky suspicion that
those who champion “First” may have an inferiority complex with the notion of “Old.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Early Christian writers favoured the phrase, <span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">ἡ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-bidi-font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">γραφὴ</span> (‘the scriptures,’ see Lk.
4:21; Jn. 7:38, 42; 10:35; 13:18; 17:12; 19:24, 28, 36; Rom. 4:3; 9:17; 10:11;
11:2; Gal. 3:8, 22; 4:30; 1 Tim. 5:18; Jas. 2:23; 4:5; 1 Cl. 34:6; 35:7; 42:5;
2 Cl. 6:8; 14:2; Barn. 4:7, 11; 5:4; 6:12; 13:2; 16:5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this comes the complicated question, “what
scriptures?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is any writing they then
quote “Scripture”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jude cites Enoch;
does that mean it is Scripture? Are we to think in terms of a functional canon,
i.e., the Scriptures we actually use are our “Bible”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about the first Christians who used the
LXX, was that their Bible?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should those
extra writings in the LXX be considered “ours”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And by ‘ours’ I mean the Christian church universally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">As you can see, what to call the “First/Old/Hebrew/Jewish/Israel/Testament
scriptures,” is not as easy as it first appears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I am having fun with the above, there
are some serious questions here which are in desperate need of some radical and
honest thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-16641040720832337422013-01-23T21:00:00.000+02:002013-01-23T21:00:09.486+02:00Paul and the Sources of his Ethical Reflection<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm busy reading the marvellous work of Victor Paul Furnish, <em>Theology and Ethics in Paul</em>, which includes a helpful orientation essay by none other than Richard B. Hays, a celebrated New Testament ethicist. </div>
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In describing the sources for Paul's moral thinking, Furnish notes three major sources: </div>
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1) <em><strong>First Testament</strong></em>. Furnish helpfully describes Paul's indebtedness to the conceptual framework of the Hebrew scriptures, but not in a legalistic fashion, as Paul does not use the First Testament as a rule book. Clearly these writings played a formative role in his thinking, but in the form of promises fulfilled and a revelation of the character of God, not as timeless principles. </div>
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2) <strong><em>Hellenistic Philosophy</em></strong>. Paul clearly employs the format if not the content of Hellenistic Philosophy in his ethical thinking by using virtue and vice lists, and other concepts like the Household code. </div>
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3) Furnish notes that the <strong><em>Jesus traditions</em></strong> provided much guidance and help in Paul's ethical thinking, but again not as a rule book but as a narrative framework within which to deliberate. By various allusions and perhaps even citations, Paul establishes continuity with the traditions of Jesus. </div>
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However, amidst these sources, Furnish also notes the creative genius of Paul. </div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Without detracting from the importance of the insight that Paul’s concrete ethical teachings are in large measure derived from traditional sources, both Christian and non-Christian, it must also be emphasized that he has, in most cases, exercised his own critical judgement in selecting these materials and has assimilated them into significantly new contexts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has not been simply a collector and curator of miscellaneous moral advice; the impress of his own interests, perspectives, and objectives has been left upon them to a greater extent than Dibelius, for example, was inclined to acknowledge.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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We thus see Paul as a person formed and shaped by his traditions and culture, but a slave to neither in his thinking and practice. </div>
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<hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" />
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</span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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</span><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> V.
P. Furnish, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theology and Ethics in Paul.</i>
New Testament Library. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 81.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12279811.post-27449844310607788062012-12-22T21:55:00.000+02:002012-12-22T21:55:27.753+02:00μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα :: One-Woman-Man<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The phrase μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα in 1 Tim 3:2 has often been misunderstood and used in inappropriate ways. The phrase literally refers to a “one-women-man.” While some have suggested polygamy as the background, this is unlikely.[1] It is also unlikely that this refers to the requirement for an overseer to have a wife. Rather, many scholars take this as a reference to marital faithfulness, understanding this as the quality of relationships expected from those who are married.[2] </div>
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I would like to suggest that the counterpart in 1 Tim 5:9 adds to the probability of this interpretation. In 5:9 Paul refers to ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνη, literally a “one-man-women.” In the first century women were not allowed to have multiple husbands or partners. Next, the context of chapter five is a discussion of widows (χήρα). The phrase must therefore refer to the quality of relationship experienced between the widow and her now deceased husband. To be accepted as a widow on the list, the widow must have been faithful in her marital relationship. </div>
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Thus, in 3:2, where Paul is discussing the character of leaders, it does not refer to the marital status required for those who are overseers, but rather the quality of relationship expected from those who are or were married. And thus, it refers to fidelity in marriage. This fits well with the whole section which focuses more on character qualifications than on status. </div>
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Douglas Moo acknowledges that this phrase need not exclude “unmarried men or females from the office … it would be going too far to argue that the phrase clearly excludes women….”[3] Thomas Schreiner acknowledges, “The requirements for elders in 1 Tim 3:1–7 and Titus 1:6–9, including the statement that they are to be one-woman men, does not necessarily in and of itself preclude women from serving as elders….”[4] </div>
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This is consistent with the argument above which notes that the most plausible explanation is to take the phrase μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα as a reference to marital fidelity. </div>
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See further: <a href="http://thegoodbookblog.com/2011/nov/02/what-is-the-meaning-of-husband-of-one-wife-in-1-ti/" target="_blank">What is the meaning of “husband of one wife” (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα) in 1 Timothy 3:2?</a> and <a href="http://www.pbpayne.com/?p=426" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Does “One-Woman Man” in 1 Timothy 3:2 Require that All Overseers be Male?"><span style="font-size: small;">Does “One-Woman Man” in 1 Timothy 3:2 Require that All Overseers be Male?</span></a> </div>
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<strong><u>NOTES</u></strong>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[1] Although, S. M. Baugh, “Titus,” in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary ed. C. E. Arnold (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 3:501-2, suggests that this may be a directive prohibiting men from having concubines, and thus committing adultery, which amounts to polygamy. </span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">[2] Sydney Page, “Marital Expectations of Church Leaders in the Pastoral Epistles,” JSNT 50 (1993): 105-20 and Towner 250-51 n. 42. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">[3] Douglas J. Moo, “The Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11–15: A Rejoinder,” Trinity Journal 2 NS (1981): 198–222, 211.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">[4] Thomas R. Schreiner’s “Philip Payne on Familiar Ground: A Review of Philip B. Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters.” JBMW (Spring 2010): 33–46, 35.</span></div>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15155789202261126090noreply@blogger.com0