Category Archives: Christianity

Romans, the Sword, and the Bane of Memory Verse Theology

“Romans 13”-Quoting-Christians do so oblivious to the key context of the that text: it is addressed to Christians who are called to fear the sword of God-instituted government.

“But if you do wrong, [Christians], be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.”

Paul has just asked these Roman Christians:

“Would you have no fear of the one in authority? Then do what is good…”

The key backdrop, standing behind these verses, involves the Zealots, the 1st Century insurrectionists who picked up the sword against Roman soldiers whenever they found an opportune moment. They sought to overthrow their occupiers, their Roman enemy, and they would bring down the house with the Jewish War which would begin in A.D. 66.*

Paul writes to the Roman Christians in the Year of Our Lord 57, three years after the Jews began their return to Rome following the death of Claudius, who had expelled the Jews from Rome c. A.D. 49, following the insurrections of A.D. 46-48, and the execution of the sons of Judas the Galilean.

Judas had led an insurrection (Acts 5:37) in A.D. 6 when Judea became a Roman Province. Varus crushed that revolt with the sword, and crucified 2,000 Jews around Jerusalem (see Josephus).

In this pain-filled milieu, Paul writes to the Roman Christians, Jew and Gentile:

“Do not be conformed to this world…Bless those who persecute you…Do not repay anyone evil for evil…Do not take revenge…If your enemy is hungry, feed him…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities…”

*A fuller , annotated timeline and text, here.

Amen! I Want to Be Left Behind

I want to be Left Behind

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  Matthew 24

[Text highlighted to show the parallels: came…coming…took…taken…]

The flood ‘came’ and ‘took’ them.  “So also” The Son of Man comes and one will be ‘taken’…clear parallels. 

[The other clear parallel between the days of Noah and the days of the coming of the Son of Man: people will be going about their normal business.]

Scholars see the “taken” as being “to judgment.”  Robert H. Mounce (New International Biblical Commentary), sees this “taken” as parallel with the ‘”taken away” by the flood’ (v. 39). Others think it is ‘left for judgment (e.g. NICNT) [But this seems to be based on some presupposition rather than on the context which seems to be blatantly ignored]. Context makes clear the parallels.  But here is the key point–“The coming of Jesus marks a complete and permanent division” (Leon Morris) “. . . the decisive moment.”

“The sayings emphasize the completely unexpected nature of the Man’s coming” (AB).

THIS is the Parousia, “the coming of the Son of Man,” the Second Advent, the final judgment, (vv. 27, 29-31, 44), not some secret “beam me up Scotty!” fiction. This context leaves “Left Behind” out in the cold. [The enigmatic saying about the vultures receives a variety of educated guesses.  HERE is the best exposition that I have read.] And the context of the primary passage (which is distorted to fit the modern “Rapture” doctrine) also leaves the fiction behind. See the clear context of 1 Thessalonians– https://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/second-coming-rapture-vs-scripture-christian/

Revelation 4. No Rapture of the Church

Revelation

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

Three Faithful Witnesses, Called teachers of the Church

A Commentary on the Book of Revelation, by George Eldon Ladd:

After the first vision of the exalted Christ caring for and protecting his churches, the revelation of “what must take place after this,“ i.e the coming of God’s Kingdom, begins. This revelation will include the destruction of the powers of evil, of Satan, and death, but before these evil powers are destroyed, they will break forth in a final desperate effort to frustrate the purposes of God by destroying the people of God. However, the terrible conflict that takes place on earth, between the church and the demonic powers embodied in an apostate civilization…are in reality expressions in historical form of a fearful conflict in the spiritual world between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

John is caught up in a vision to heaven at 4:1…

Verse 2. John heard the voice which had already spoken to him (1:10), summoning him to come up hither to receive further revelations of future events. At once he was in the Spirit;…

There is no reference in 4:1 to the rapture of the church, the language is addressed exclusively to John and refers only to his reception of the revelation of this book.

“Straight way I was in the Spirit.”

The idea of prophetic rapture is widespread in Jewish literature. Micaiah told the king of Israel, “I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, and all the host of heaven…” Amos reports that God does nothing “without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). John views himself as a prophet (1:1), and being “in the Spirit”...There is no basis for discovering a rapture of the church…

—The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Book of Revelation by Robert H. Mounce

The supposed rapture of the church is to be found nowhere, here, in The New International Greek Testament Commentary, The Book of Revelation, A Commentary on the Greek Text, by G. K. Beale

This invention of the human mind about the “church” not being on earth after Revelation 4:1 is based on a false, supposed ‘exegesis’ of that verse, and on a nonsensical point about the “trumpet” and an argument from silence leaning on the fact that the word ekklesia (church) is not used again until 22:16. But the saints are there throughout (e.g. 6:1; 7:3, 14, 17; 13:7f; 14:12f).

Addendum: From The New International Greek Testament Commentary, “The tribulations of 8:6-12 are executed…at all times during the church age..”

G. E. Ladd, noted evangelical Prof. of NT and Exegesis, Revelation: “…chapter seven pictured the fate of the church in this fearful period….the two multitudes, which picture the fate of the church in the time of tribulation….the plagues of divine wrath fall upon the rebellious…but…the church, which has been sealed with the protective seal of God, is somehow spared from the sufferings of those plagues.” [Think, the blood on the doorposts in Egypt.] “But the church in the tribulation will be the victim of persecution and martyrdom as she has been throughout her entire history.”

Against today’s subjectivism (‘what this verse means to me’), we must clearly declare, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). READ (link)

We Christians need to maintain our integrity. Cast off sloth and hubris. Study and know God’s word in context: https://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/of-ponds-and-pitfalls/

“God did not appoint us to wrath”

Left Behind enthusiasts, when told that First Thessalonians does not teach their Left Behind scenario, quickly respond with half of a verse taken from its whole context which they left behind:

“God did not appoint us to wrath”–1 Thessalonians 5:9a.

But here is the context! –This is The Day of the Lord when he comes to bring his wrath on the unbeliever and salvation for his people.

Paul began this letter with the affirmation that we “await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead–Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath”–1 Thess. 1:10. This is “the second coming” (NICNT)*…”The Advent (Parousia) of Christ” (F. F. Bruce).** This is “the day of Christ’s revelation in glory, when he comes to vindicate his people and judge the world in righteousness (cf. Acts 17:31)”–Bruce. There lies the ground of our “hope.”

Matthew 24

And here is the context of 1 Thess. 5:9a, quoted at the start, above. “Paul proceeds to speak of salvation negatively and positively. God’s purpose for us is not wrath…On the contrary, he purposed that they should obtain salvation…” (NICNT)

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…

Rahab let down the red cord and her house was saved in the midst of the judgment on Jericho which fell.

God’s people in Egypt put blood on their doorposts and were saved from the judgment on their neighbors brought by the angel of death.

We have the blood of the Lamb on our doorposts.

Paul ends this section as he began it. Reassuring those Christians that:

“whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…”

He began, at 1 Thess. 4:13, by addressing a concern of those Christians at Thessalonica:

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope…”

The exposition continues here (link). https://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/second-coming-rapture-vs-scripture-christian/

*New International Commentary on the New Testament, Leon Morris, 1991.

**Word Biblical Commentary, F. F. Bruce, 1982.

The Lord’s Prayer: Forgive

“And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors” –Matthew 6:12.

All standard translations use the word “debts.” The New Living Translation has “forgive us our sins…”

Our liturgical use of the Lord’s Prayer uses “forgive us our trespasses…”

What we miss in all of these is that “forgive” and “debts” share the same root word. Forgiveness is the cancellation of our debt. What we also miss is the clear context that Jesus gives this line from the Lord’s Prayer.

Forgiveness is granted to the one who asks for it in his Parable of the Unmerciful Servant which follows Peter’s famous question,“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?…”–Matthew 18:21.

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven!

Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants….

So, a servant was brought before his master who owed a debt that was impossible to pay. (This is our state, too.) The servant’s pleas moved the master to compassion. [This was not something the master was doing for himself.] He canceled the debt. But then this servant went out and demanded payment from a fellow servant who could not pay his debt. This fellow servant, too, pleaded for compassion, but received none from the forgiven servant.

When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.

Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.

That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Today, the world sells forgiveness as some sort of self therapy, something we do for ourselves, rather than following Jesus’ teaching that began this section, Matthew 18: If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over….

AND, Matthew 5:23: So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

The focus here, too, is on the offender:

Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Be a true disciple, a learner, a student of Jesus. See Chapter Three, Forgiveness and Repentance.

The Last Days. The Days Between Christ’s Advents

Hebrews 1

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Acts 2

Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh

In the New Testament, the Last Days were inaugurated by Christ’s First Advent and will be consummated by Christ’s Second Advent. We, now, as did the early Christians, all live in these Last Days.

“The expression is found in the LXX [the Greek translation of the OT], where it not infrequently refers…to the days of the Messiah….in Jesus the new age, the Messianic Age, has appeared…”–The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

Too often, unknowing Christians relegate these to the future or think that only now have we entered them, as for example, when interpreting Paul’s words to Timothy:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good,…–2 Timothy 3

But Paul was describing his own day, as the concluding line shows:

“Have nothing to do with these people.” v.5

“I and the Father are one.”

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.–Deuteronomy

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”

The Jews again picked up stones to stone him.–John 10

Deuteronomy, Chapter Six (verses 4-9), presents the first section of the “Shema” which means simply, listen; take heed; hear and do.

Birgir Gerhardsson stated that we “can almost be sure that Jesus and his disciples started and ended the day with this” [The whole of the Shema].

This practice is “firmly rooted in his time.”

Jews of his day recited this twice a day.

The Shema was “always in Jesus’ mind throughout his whole life.”


F. F. Bruce: “The previous occasion of his enemies’ trying to stone him in the temple precincts was when he made the declaration, ‘Before Abraham was born, I am’ (John 8:58, 59). The claim implicit in that declaration was similar to that made more expressly in the words, ‘I and the Father are one.’”

Baptism for the Dead?

29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

—1 Corinthians 15

Paul begins (Ch. 15, read it) by reminding those in Corinth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of the testimony of many witnesses to the Resurrection. The primary context of verse 29 (above) begins at 15:12.

“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

The Apostle proceeds to expose the fallacy of such a belief and the consequences of it:

“If Christ is not raised your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.” v. 17

[Apparently some in Greek Corinth held unto a Greek dualistic conception of immortality that negated resurrection. Remember, in Acts 17, the men of Athens laughed at the idea of Christ’s resurrection.]

Paul concludes his appeal to their reason, and then abruptly asks the question above, in verse 29.

The theological problem with this puzzling verse has prompted a myriad of solutions. No where else in Scripture or in the Church is such a practice noted. Bromiley’s solution (ISBE) suggests, “What is the value of baptism unto death, or of the death signified in baptism, if there is no resurrection?”

Gordon Fee (NICNT) notes that were not this verse such a problem, no one would have come up with such alternative meanings. The plain sense of the text is that “they” (who?) are being baptized for those who are “dead.”

Note that Paul does not address his readers, as in verse 17, “you.” He points his Corinthian readers to, what for us is an unknown, “they.”

But in shifting gears, Paul abruptly switches from an appeal to their reason to an ad hominem argument, a la Fee.

An ad hominem can be a “strategy of using [someone’s] own beliefs…against them, while not agreeing with the validity of those beliefs…”

As for this practice of baptism for the dead, we do not know who or whom; why or how. Fee concludes, “finally we must admit that we do not know.”

What we do know is that this obscure practice “lies totally outside the NT understanding both of salvation and of baptism.”

ISBE–The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

NICNT–The New International Commentary on the New Testament

Augustine, On Genesis

hubbleU

In the beginning, God…

Augustine, Genesis, I.19.39

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, . . . and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience.

Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.

If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learned from experience and the light of reason?

Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although “they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertions” [1 Timothy 1:7]. (All emphases, mine)

John Calvin, in the 16th Century, made many wise comments on Genesis:

“He who would learn astronomy…let him go elsewhere….”

 ”Moses wrote in a popular style things which without instruction, all ordinary persons, endued with common sense, are able to understand; but astronomers investigate with great labor whatever the sagacity of the human mind can comprehend. Nevertheless, this study is not to be reprobated, nor this science to be condemned, because some frantic persons are wont boldly to reject whatever is unknown to them. For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known: it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.”

andromedawan

See, also, In The Beginning