The Church is in Trouble, Who Cares 2 min Video
Why Don’t Christians Think?
Introduction
Within Christian discipleship, scholars, theologians, and philosophers are asking, what ever happened to cultivating the intellectual life of the Christian? There have been several books written on this subject. One book that I recommend is Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul by J. P. Moreland.
It is imperative for Christians to understand the history of anti-intellectualism in the church. In this brilliant book, Dr. Moreland traces the history of what has happened in relation to the Christian mind.
Moreland discusses the history of the pilgrims arriving to the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Pilgrims along with other American believers placed a high value on the intellectual life in relation to Christian spirituality. The Puritans were highly educated people (the literacy rate for men in Massachusetts and Connecticut was between 89 and 95 percent)…
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Love…When Basics Become Heresies
Love, Prayer, and Forgiveness: When Basics Become Heresies
140 pp., Now, also in Ebook $3
For NOOK or PC, (Link) For Kindle or PC Smashwords
“…an excellent piece…one that many Christians need to hear”–R.C. Sproul, (February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017, Soli Deo Gloria)
“The book (is)…an astringent corrective of misinterpreted love.” – Vernon Grounds, late Chancellor, Denver Seminary
“Sometimes really great books are written by unknown authors; this is one of them.”—The Determined Christian
A few used copies of the Print Edition can still be found at Bookfinder .com
Be Equipped to explain the difference between God’s word and the World’s view.
Your Family and Neighbors Need Someone Who Can Explain to them the Difference.
Be a Disciple, a student of God’s word.
***
How do we harmonize the assurance that “God is love” with the assertion that “Our God is a consuming fire”? Most of us never think about such problems, and in the end our idea of love is indistinguishable from that of the world around us. –Leon Morris
Chesterton wisely did not disconnect the concept of “heresy” from moral teaching and practice.
–Robert A. J. Gagnon
***
C o n t e n t s
Introduction ……………………………………………………………..11
Chapter One:
Love and Obedience ………………………………………….21
Chapter Two:
Prayer and Exhortation ………………………………………39
Chapter Three:
Forgiveness and Repentance……………………………….63
Chapter Four:
Sin and Silence …………………………………………………91
Chapter Five:
Revival and Holiness ……………………………………….115
[These posts are excerpts from the book: Exhortaton…do right; Heart and Mind; The Love Chapter; Of Ponds and Pitfalls; Repentance and Forgiveness ]
Now, also, available in E Book format for Nook, Kindle, or from Smashwords for 3 dollars.
140 pages
[Note: You do NOT Need a Kindle or Nook. You can read on your PC or Laptop]
(Go to Amazon or B&N for free ‘look inside’/ ‘Read Sample’ features.)
[Smashwords: Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf rtf lrf pdb txt html ]
The print edition, here or Barnes&Noble ( Marketplace for UK)
Reviews @ amazon
Blogger review:
The Short Review: Buy this book!
The Long Review:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge . . .cont. at ‘Blogger review’ link
End NOTES to the Book:
Notes to Text
Introduction
1. Chuck Colson, “Promises Without Principle,” Breakpoint, December 2000,
p.12. Available from Prison Fellowship Ministries, Breakpoint Magazine Services,
P.O. Box 1550, Merrifield, VA 22116, or http://www.breakpoint.org or Phone (800) 995-8777.
2. C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: Macmillan, Paperbacks ed., 1961), pp. 115-16.
3. Barna Research Online, “The Year’s Most Intriguing Findings,” 17 December 2001.
4. Tim Weiner, “US is No. 1,” San Jose Mercury News, 13 March 1991.
5. Online see abortionfacts.com; barna.org, archives, “Church Attendance”; divorcemag.com; guttmacher.org, “Country Abortion Rates”; umich.edu, “1995-1997 World Values Survey.”
6. Pulpit Helps 27, no. 2 (February 2002):1.
7. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I, 1, 8. Quoted in Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, vol. 1, God, Authority, and Salvation (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978), p. 57.
8. Martin Luther, Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings, ed. John Dillenberger (Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Anchor Books, 1961), p. xxii.
9. Ibid., p. xxiv.
10. Ibid., p. 343.
11. Ibid.
12. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology, 1:59.
13. E. J. Carnell, The Case for Biblical Christianity, ed. Ronald H. Nash (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), p. 33.
Chapter One
1. Leon Morris, Testaments of Love: A Study of Love in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 2.
2. e.g. Erich Fromm, Carl Rogers. See Paul Brownback, The Danger of Self-Love, Chicago: Moody, 1982; Paul C. Vitz, Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994.
3. I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), p. 444.
4. Blaise Pascal, Pensees, no. 100.
5. W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew (The Anchor Bible, Garden City, N. Y.:Doubleday, 1979), p. vi.
6. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago:Moody, 1980), 1:466.
7. Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975-78), s.v. “heart.”
8. Charles C. Adams, The Specter of Individualism, “Plumbline” transcript (Sioux Center, Ia.:KDCR radio, 1 May 2000), p. 2.
9. Augustine, Confessions (trans. Pusey) 4. 1.
10. Pascal, Pensees, no. 81.
11. A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous (Camp Hill, Pa.: Christian Publications, 1986), p. 8.
12. Marilyn Hickey, “Ask Marilyn,” Charisma, June 1984, p. 17.
13. Elisabeth Elliot, “Gateway to Joy,” air date 8 February 2001. (Good News Broadcasting Assn. Tapes may be ordered at (800) 759-4569.)
14. Augustine, City of God (trans. Dods) 14. 28.
15. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, trans. John W. Doberstein (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), p. 34.
16. Ibid., p. 35.
17. Elton Trueblood, A Place to Stand (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), p. 56.
18. Morris, Testaments of Love, p. 273.
19. F. F. Bruce, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), p. 53.
20. A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Harrisburg, Pa.: Christian Publications, 1948), p. 70.
Chapter Two
1. C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: Macmillan, Paperbacks ed., 1961), p. 20.
[It is a tragic symptom of the unthinking Christians of our day that some would reject this book because of these citations from Mormon literature. These quotes were given as examples of when “Prayer becomes Heresy.”]
2. “The Plan of Our Heavenly Father,” Study Guide 1 (Corp. of the Pres. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1986), p. 5.
3. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 8 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1980), 6:305.
4. Deseret News, 14 November 1859.
5. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6:306.
6. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3d ed., 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 1:397.
7. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39 (NICOT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), pp. 97-98.
8. Chuck Colson, “Triumph of the Therapeutic,” Breakpoint, October 2000, p.17.
9. David F. Wells, Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision (Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1998), p. 4.
10. H. G. Wood, Christianity and Civilization (New York: Macmillan, 1943) p. 61. Quoted in D. Elton Trueblood, Philosophy of Religion (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973), p. 171.
11. John MacArthur, “The Discipline of God’s Children,” tape GC 2331. Available from Word of Grace Tape Library, P. O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412.
12. Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975-78), s.v. “exhort.” Henceforth cited as NIDNTT.
13. Charlotte Holt Clinebell, Counseling for Liberation, ed. Howard J. Clinebell, Jr., Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976), p. 21.
14. Ibid., p. 31.
15. NIDNTT, s.v. “exhort.”
16. Ibid.
17. Clinton Morrison, An Analytical Concordance to the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979), see index.
18. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), p. 260.
19. John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the Christian Life, trans. Henry J. Van Andel (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1952), p. 11.
20. Ibid., pp. 18-19.
21. Daily Mail, 10 May 1999.
22. Ibid.
23. F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), p. 345.
24. Ibid., p. 348.
25. Ibid.
26. John Woolman, The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, ed. Phillips P. Moulton (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 53.
27. Ibid., p. 95.
28. Ibid., p. 54.
29. Ibid., p. 35.
30. Ibid., p. 33.
31. Thomas A. Bailey, The American Pageant: A History of the Republic, 3d ed., 2 vols. (Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1966), 1:73.
32. Woolman, Journal, p. 52.
33. Charles Colson, Breakpoint Newsletter, n.d.
34. United Press International, 12 December 1995.
Chapter Three
1. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen. ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979-88), s.v. “forgiveness.” Henceforth cited as ISBE.
2. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, rev. ed. (NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), p. 70.
Chapter Three (cont.)
3. J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs
(Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1993), p. 245.
4. On this verse, F. F. Bruce writes, “Table-fellowship included the Eucharist . . . but was by no means confined to it; it constituted one of the most solemn bonds of brotherhood. Within the Christian community an unwarranted breach of table-fellowship was almost tantamount to a denial of the gospel truth (Gal. 2.11ff.); where it was warranted . . . it was bound to be taken seriously and was calculated to be one of the surest ways of bringing a delinquent church member to acknowledge the error of his ways.” See 1 and 2 Corinthians, NCBC, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; London: Marshall, Morgan, & Scott, 1980.
5. Frank E. Gaebelein, gen. ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 12:275.
6. Martin Luther, Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings, ed. John Dillenberger (Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Anchor Books, 1961), p. 72.
7. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago: Moody, 1980), 2:909.
8. Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975-78), s.v. “reconciliation.” Henceforth cited as NIDNTT.
9. ISBE, s.v. “repent.”
10. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), p. 149.
11. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, trans. Rev. Dr. Alfred
Chapter Three (cont.)
Marshall (Great Britain: Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1958), p. iii.
12. I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), p. 867.
13. Christianity Today 45, no.6 (23 April 2001): 28.
14. Victor Parachin, “Letting Go: Ten Guidelines to Help You Forgive,” Journey, March/April 2000, p. 7.
15. Ibid.
16. Becky Beane, “Forgiveness” tract, p. 14. Article originally published by Prison Fellowship Ministries in Jubilee, Spring 1998. Please Note: To be fair to the writer, she does say that “reconciliation . . . requires repentance.” She just does not see the biblical condition of repentance as preceding forgiveness. Like so many, she uses forgiveness more broadly than the Bible does, using it synonymously for fruits like love and mercy.
17. ISBE, s.v. “forgiveness.”
18. C. E. B. Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols. (ICC, Endinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1975), 1:256-57.
19. Ibid., 1:267.
20. Ibid., 1:258.
21. Ibid.
22. NIDNTT, s.v. “conversion.”
23. Ibid., s.v. “forgiveness.”
24. Ibid., s.v. “reconciliation.”
25. ISBE, s.v. “reconcile.”
26. Morris, Matthew, p. 116.
27. A. Noordtzij, Leviticus, trans. Raymond Togtman (BSC, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), p. 199.
28. Marshall, Luke, p. 642.
29. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), p. 432.
30. NIDNTT, s.v. “conversion.”
31. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3d ed., 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 5:149.
32. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, rev. and unabridged ed. (New York: Macmillan, Paperbacks ed., 1963), p. 47.
33. Marshall, Luke, p. 641.
34. Ibid., p. 642.
35. Ibid., p. 643.
36. C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair (New York: Macmillan Co., 1953), pp. 142-43.
Chapter Four
1. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), p. 402.
2. Ibid., p. 403.
3. I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), p. 867.
4. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3d ed., 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 3:12.
5. Martin Luther, Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings, ed. John Dillenberger (Garden City: N. Y.: Doubleday, Anchor Books, 1961), p. 371.
6. Ibid., p. 293.
7. Ibid.
8. John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the Christian Life, trans. Henry J. Van Andel (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1952), p. 11.
9. Ibid., pp. 16-17.
10. J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs
(Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1993), p. 180.
11. John Calvin, A Harmony of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke, trans. T. H. L. Parker, eds. Torrance & Torrance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972) 2:71-72.
12. F. F. Bruce, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), p. 69.
13. Packer, Concise Theology, pp. 242-43.
14. Ibid., p. 242.
15. Ibid., p. 163.
16. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, rev. and unabridged ed. (New York: Macmillan, Paperbacks ed., 1963), p. 47.
17. Ibid., p. 55.
18. I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1969), pp. 212-13.
19. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (trans. Beveridge) 3. 3. 1.
20. Anonymous, “Don’t Blame Divorce’s Victims,” Christianity Today
21. Tim Stafford, “The Church’s Walking Wounded, “ Christianity Today 47, no. 3 (March 2003): 68.
22. Editorial, “The Christian Divorce Culture,” Christianity Today 44, no. 10 (4 September 2000): 47.
23. Christianity Today
24. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3d ed., 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 6:303.
Chapter Five
1. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3d ed., 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 2:133.
2. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, rev. ed. (NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), pp. 348-9.
3. Wesley, Works, 3:212-13.
4. John Calvin, The Epistle of Paul The Apostle to the Hebrews and The First and Second Epistles of ST Peter, trans. Wm. B. Johnston, eds. Torrance & Torrance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989) 12:195.
5 John Piper, World 18, no. 48 (13 December 2003): 51.
6. Wesley, Works, 3:212.
7. Ibid., 3:144.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., p. 198.
10. Ibid., p. 205.
11. Ibid., p. 224.
12. Ibid., p. 206.
13. William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, ed. and abr. John W. Meister, for. D. Elton Trueblood (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955), p. 7.
Covers
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“Happiness is not to be found by dancing after any heathen god of love. Happiness is found by looking up to where a more terrible but a more tender God of love hangs, not on Olympus but on Calvary.”–G.K. Chesterton
Exodus 20:11 Misused by Ken Ham and Young Earth Creationists
For in six days the Lord made [‘asa*] heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:11 ESV
YHWH…rested the seventh day. Because He sanctified the seventh day, we are to remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. That is the purpose of this verse.
We are reminded of God’s work in words that parallel those of the six days in Genesis. In Gen.1:8, “God called the expanse heaven.” This has the limited sense of our ‘sky’ as some versions render it. In Gen.1:10, “God called the dry land earth [not the planet], and the gathering of the waters he called seas.”
Those first three days conclude what has been called the Days of Preparation, and the next three, Days of Filling. In that second set, God filled the sky, the dry land, and the seas with “all that is in them.” In Genesis we are told of birds for the sky, fish for the sea, animals for the land, and, finally, man. Thus, this one sentence in Exodus gives us a quick synopsis of the “six days” of Genesis.
That sentence cannot undo the sound exegesis of Genesis 1:1, 2 which precede day one which is in verse 3, “And God said…” [Note the structure: each day begins with “And God said…”] Thus, there is no basis in Scripture for dating the age of the earth.
[But there is a basis for dating in God’s natural revelation. SeeR.C. Sproul, 5 min. video Learn and love the LORD your God with all your mind. ]
See In The Beginning. As is shown there, in Gen. 1:1, God “created” [bara’] the universe. In this synopsis from Exodus, YHWH “made” [‘asa] that is, he set in order (starting on day one which begins in verse 3) the empty, dark earth that existed in verse 2 which was created in verse 1.
*Notes from Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Moody, 1980) on ‘asa, “make”
The word bara’ “create” [Gen. 1:1] carries the thought of the initiation of the object involved. It always connotes what only God can do and frequently emphasizes the absolute newness of the object created. The word ‘asa [Ex. 20:11] is much broader in scope, connoting primarily the fashioning of the object with little concern for special nuances.
The use of bara’ in the opening statement of the account of creation seems to carry the implication that the physical phenonmena came into existence at that time and had no previous existence. [creatio ex nihilo]
Notes from Genesis, G. Ch. Aalders
“In the beginning God created…”…verse 1 forms an independent sentence, and verses 2 and 3 follow as independent sentences….let it be stated without equivocation that the words “in the beginning’ must be taken in their absolute sense. First of all, this is the most natural and obvious interpretation. Furthermore, this is the rendition that is found in every ancient translation, without exception….
…Genesis 1:1, it is argued, is a kind of a heading…This cannot be the case, however, because of the way verse 2 starts. The words “and the earth,” which refer back to verse 1, clearly indicate that this is not the beginning of the creation narrative and therefore verse 1 cannot be considered to be a formal heading for what is to follow.
Since verse 1 is not just a heading, it is likewise true beyond doubt that “the heavens and the earth” do not there refer to the present, organized universe as it appeared after the creative work described in Genesis 1 was completed….in verses 3-31
For in six days the Lord made [and named] heaven [sky] and earth [dry land], the sea, and all that is in them, . . . Exodus 20:11
Immanuel, God With Us
Counting Down the Twelve Days of Christmas until Epiphany
Share the Light with Others. “You shall be my witnesses.”
A great video of Charles Spurgeon’s words on God With Us
[I should have noted that it is only 3+ minutes long.]
LINK FIXED
Luke 2: The Shepherds’ Faithfulness
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
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Thanksgiving: A Christian Holiday, Squelched in The U.S.A.
Psalm 50–“Offer to God thanksgiving,…”
Psalm 92–“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;…”
1 Thessalonians 5–“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Thanksgiving Day has lost its biblical context in American society. That word “to” has been censored from our lexicon. During Thanksgiving week, for millions of Americans, there will be little or no mention of God. Most people will talk of this Thanksgiving holy day with little knowledge of its meaning.
Thanksgiving is “the act of giving thanks” and Thanksgiving Day is “a day appointed for giving thanks for divine goodness” (Webster). Giving thanks is an action which has an object. In this case, it is giving thanks to God for his gracious goodness to us.
For millions, this will be reduced to “for what are you thankful?” The key point of to Whom we give thanks will be squelched by illiterate educators and others.
In the beginning, the scene focused on God. For the Pilgrim’s first thanksgiving feast in 1621, “Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer to God.”
Again in 1623, Governor Bradford proclaimed, “Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn… on Thursday, November ye 29th…listen to ye Pastor and render Thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all his blessings.”
George Washington’s proclamation for a day of thanksgiving in 1789 began, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…”
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation marked the beginning of Thanksgiving Day as an annual, federal holiday. It begins: The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God….”
May our insensible hearts be revived. Psalm 50 concludes:
“Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
The Publican: Only Half a Surprise
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”–Luke 18, ESV
The Publican: Only Half a Surprise
Tax collectors may well be universal objects of man’s acrimony. But we miss the full surprise in this parable if we have little knowledge about the culture of Palestine in Jesus’ day. The Pharisee’s contempt of the tax collector, in addition to him being a sinner like the rest in his list, is “perhaps as one who even dares to say prayers in his unclean state” (NIGTC).
To the devout Jew, the Jewish tax collector was a traitor, being hated as one who worked for the occupation force of a pagan power, Rome. In rabbinic literature “hatred was to be extended even to the family of the tax collector” (ISBE).
[This also gives us insight into the trap the Pharisees laid for Jesus in asking him whether or not to pay tribute (taxes) to Caesar. Read more about the times and context of taxes a la Romans 13.]
Also, because of their work with Gentiles, they were ritually unclean.
Hence, in the above text, we read what the ISBE calls the “superlative parable of grace.” And in Luke 19, we meet a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus (whose Jewish name means pure, righteous) in a real-life story of “surprising grace” for those in need of the Physician Jesus.
ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary
Parables: Surprise and the American Mind
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager [‘steward of unrighteousness’] for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth [‘mammon of unrighteousness’], so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Luke 16, ESV
Sometimes, we miss the surprise in a parable simply because we do not know the Bible well–take the example of The Good Samaritan. See the previous post (below).
Other times, we let the surprise distract us from the point,
…As in the passage above. For decades I have heard Christians exclaim, ‘What?! The master praised this servant???”
(Perhaps our American focus on our own possessions contributes to missing the point. Another factor can be a technical mindset that insists on deciphering every detail, cf parable of the mustard seed)
Often, a parable has a single point and Jesus drives it home in verse 9. We may miss the word play in our modern versions–“mammon (wealth) of unrighteousness” plays off the “steward of unrighteousness” in verse 8.
In the light of God’s eternal realm, we are to share passing wealth to aid those in need, now.*
“It [worldly wealth] is to be used to win friends, no doubt by almsgiving….the giving of alms is a testimony to the reality of discipleship and self-denial…” I. Howard Marshall, NIGTC
*Another irony–while the unrighteous steward made friends with those who had wealth for this life, we are to “make friends” of the poor with eternal life in mind.
The Scandal of the Samaritan
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he [Jesus] said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Luke 10 (ESV)
The shock of Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan no longer makes its true impact on many Christians. In our day of biblical illiteracy, we often have little or no idea about the setting. And the fitting title, by which this parable is well-known, obscures the fact that this would have been scandalous to the ears of the listeners.
If we remember the woman at the well (John 4) we have a clue about a Samaritan’s standing in that day when she asks Jesus, “How is that you, being a Jew, ask me a drink since I am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)” [v.9]
And we are given a key detail by this woman about one of the factors of this division in verse 20: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
‘This mountain’ was Mt. Gerizim where a temple to Yahweh was built in the 4th century B.C. by the Samaritans. For the Jew, the only true temple of worship was in Jerusalem.
The key factor in their division was ancestry. The Samaritans viewed themselves as descendents of the Northern Tribes of Israel. We hear this in the woman’s words, “our father Jacob” (v. 12).
But the Jews viewed them as unclean foreigners. This went back in history to Assyria’s conquest of the Northern Kingdom. When one nation conquered another, it was often the policy to re-settle the conquered land with other peoples (see 2 Kings 17:24 re: Samaria). This also resulted in inter-marriage with any remaining tribes of the original people.
Thus, when Jesus spoke of the priest and Levite and Samaritan, and asked which did the will of God, it was a real shocker. These two Jews, called by God for service to him, a priest and a Levite, disobeyed God’s command.
Like the injured man, the priest was coming down from Jerusalem, the center of worship. “He would be returning from a period of duty in the temple to his home in the country (cf. 1:23), for Jericho was one of the principal country residences for priests.” [NIGTC, Marshall]
But it was the despised Samaritan who loved this injured man as himself, thus fulfilling the command of God. And it was the loving acts of this Samaritan of which Jesus spoke when he told the devout Jewish questioner, “You go, and do likewise.”
[Go and do as this Samaritan did, not as the Priest and Levite did.]
TextsInContext 