‘Texts of terror’: eight interpretative options

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Following Roger Olson, Matthew Lynch has outlined eight ways in which we might seek to understand the violence of the Old Testament.

I summarise.

1. Rejection.  Marcion and his followers rejected the Old Testament in its entirety.  Its wicked and violent God has been replaced by the kind and loving God of Jesus and the New Testament.

Objection: Fatal for this view is the fact that it rejects much of the New Testament as well.  For, (a) the New Testament endorses the Old Testament in its entirety; (b) the New Testament has its own share of problematic teaching. …

John 14:16 – ‘Another Advocate’

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Jn 14:16 – “Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—14:17 the Spirit of truth.”

Summary

There are two Greek words for ‘another’.  In classical Greek, ‘allos’ meant ‘another of the same kind’, whereas ‘heteros’ meant ‘another of a different kind’.  By NT times, however, the distinction had become less pronounced.  In the present passage, there are contextual reasons for concluding that the Holy Spirit is an Advocate of the same kind as Jesus.…

1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chron 4:2 – the dimensions of ‘The Sea’

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1 Kings 7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

2 Chron 4:2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

How precise are the dimensions given in these passages for the bronze basin (15 feet in diameter, 45 feet in circumference)?…

Jn 20:18 – “I have seen the Lord!”

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Recently, this Easter message was published in the Eastern Daily Press.

It is based on the account of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene on that very first Easter morning (John 20:1-18).

Here are the main points.

It was dark (v1) – ‘Easter itself begins in darkness. Not only the dim light before dawn, but the deeper darkness of grief, confusion, and fear. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it is still dark because that is how the world felt to her.…

Jn 21:15-19 – “Do you love me?”

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21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?…

Mk 10:18 – “Why do you call me good?”

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10:17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

See also Luke 18:19

At first sight, this appears to be a denial of ‘goodness’ on Jesus’ part, to undermine the doctrine of his sinlessness, and therefore to call into question his divinity.…

Prov 23:7 – ‘As a man thinketh, so is he’

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23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person,
do not crave his delicacies;
23:7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
23:8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words.

We might well agree that the meaning of this proverb is accurately summarised by the Faithlife Study Bible:

‘This proverb warns against eating with a stingy person.

…

Christian views of Islam

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In what different ways have Christians viewed Islam?

What follows is a precis of ‘Christian views of Islam’, by Hugh Goddard, in St Andrews Encyclopedia of Christianity.  Online.

1. Initial Christian reactions to the coming of Islam

(a) Islam as a fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham concerning the Ishmaelites

See Gen 21:12f, 17f.

‘The Armenian bishop Sebeos, writing in the period before 661, thus describes Muhammad’s mission in terms of teaching the Arabs to know the God of Abraham, and telling them that God was going to realize in them the promise made to Abraham and his successors.’

…

Gen 2:18 – ‘A suitable (same-sex) helper?’

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Gen 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”

Some advocates of same-sex sexual partnerships appeal to this text.

For example, Matthew Vines (author of God and the Gay Christian) says:

‘In Genesis 2:18, God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” And yes, the suitable helper or partner that God makes for Adam is Eve, a woman.

…

Whose Promised Land? – Realities and Possibilities Today (Part 1)

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Whose Promised Land? (5th edition), by Colin Chapman.

Synopsis of chapter 7a – Realities and Possibilities Today

‘The Things That Make for Peace’

7.1 Zionism

Is there something fundamentally flawed about Zionism, in at least some of its various forms?

‘Zionists have generally found it difficult to come to terms with the Palestinians’.

From the outset, there was an element of deception, along with an unwillingness to understand the Palestinian position, in the Zionist project.

David Ben-Gurion: for 20 years denied the existence of conflict. …