Spiritual Blessings: Are they that important?

Well, I've returned to the classroom and opened the Bible again. I've spent several weeks on Paul prepping the class before we turn to Ephesians and Philippians. But this week we got to Ephesians chapter 1. It is interesting as I have looked at the outlines the students provided. Some have no structure, thus their reading of the letter has no structure. Words and ideas flow from words and ideas one after another, just like the skulls coming down in the Path of the Dead in LOTR 3. Others had structure, but it seemed artificially or imported from another source. But some actually struggled with the idea and incorporated an outline that was informative to me the outside reader. All that to say that where you start does determine where you end up!!!

But back to blessings. Ephesians 1:3-14 is the passage in question at the moment. It was frequently called a EULOGY from the Greek term to speak a good word. Later, when scholars started to realize Paul may have actually maintained some Jewishness started to call it a BERAKAH, from the Hebrew term to speak a good word. WOW!!! But what are the blessings???

Well the topic of discussion is either GOD as the acting subject or IN HIM where God is the place of the blessing. The whole passage serves to act as a starting point for the discussion of Ephesians. The starting place is God and God's actions to provide and bless humanity.

The blessings?

v. 4 We are "Holy and Blameless" in other words, Clean

v. 5 We are now Sons and Daughters, in other words, Family

v. 7 We are redeemed in His Grace, in other words, set free

v. 9-10 We are provided understanding of God's plan, in other words Christ in and over all

v. 11 We have an inheritance, in other words, we are trusted by God

v. 13 We possess the seal, in other words, we are marked by God as his own through the Spirit

The reason?

v. 6 to the praise of his Glory

v. 12 to the praise of his Glory

v. 14 to the praise of his Glory

So the question remains, is Ephesians about us or about God? That is the question!

Take a Survey on the Bible

My professional organization, the Society for Biblical Literature, is conducting a survey as part of a Grant to start a Website. Please encourage your friends to take a moment and complete it.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NH3V5ZZ

Thanks,

More posts coming soon as I start a class on Paul, Ephesians, and Philippians!!!

Interpretation

What goes into the process of interpretation? Today as I got out of the car I almost uttered the words "Thanks for waiting for me!" Fortunately I did not. As some of you might know, those words by themselves do not indicate whether my companions waited for me or not. They could easily indicate that they had already headed for the store and the bargains waiting inside. They could just as easily express my genuine satisfaction at seeing them waiting for me to get out of the car to walk inside together. Interpretation is not merely a series of words, but a series of words within a greater context of words.

What does this have to do with the Bible? Well as I begin to prepare for a message on January 3, 2010 I am convinced that the context is incredibly important. What is the passage? It is the Haustafeln or Household Code found in Ephesians 5.22-6:9. Historically it has been looked at as a unit that is derived from other ancient instructions on how a household should run, specifically in this case a Christian household. So what is the problem?

The problem is that the section seems out of place. It follows a segment that discusses "evil days", "drunkenness", "foolishness", and singing songs of thankfulness. Either "Paul" is able to spin his audience's heads on a dime or there is some connection. But how often is this passage, especially "wives to your own men" interpreted outside of a context, usually modern, that limits its understanding to behavior within a household???

As I have been studying Paul in other writings, I am more impressed with the rhetorical method used than the actual words. It is common to find a general statement (sometimes called a principle) followed by specific statements (referred to as applications). I find it more helpful to think of it in terms of a point and an example or series of examples. If this is the case, then the passage becomes exceedingly clear.

Ephesians 5.21 states "Submit yourselves to each other in the fear of Christ." While the verb "submit" is technically a participle (a verbal noun) and not an imperative (verbal command) it is generally translated as a command. The problem follows because 5.22 quoted above as "wives to your own men" doesn't possess a verb.

What if Paul is using the household code as the example for how to actually submit to one another? It would be simple to explain to the members of society accustomed to submission: wives, children, slaves. But how would one explain this Christian (in the fear of Christ) submission to those accustomed to lording it over others: husband, father, master?

What if Paul's language of love is actually the example of how a husband submits to a wife? What if it is in dying that submission is actually seen? Is it really possible that a Christian husband, father, master could actually demonstrate his life in Christ by imitating Christ? Is Christ's death submission to the will of God? Is our male death submission to the will of God?

Would an appropriate interpretation of this passage within the context of Ephesians matter to the world in which we live today? It gives one room to ponder.

The End of the Minor Prophets

After nearly a semester of discussion, lecture, and writing on the board (not me, the students) we have reached the prophet Malachi. What an amazing book it is!! The marvelous reward today was that the students paid more attention to the small, apparently insignificant themes in Malachi that were large, very significant themes in the other eleven prophets (that's why it is called the "Book of the Twelve"). That is marvelous because it means they have learned that there are themes in the OT that continue to repeat themselves over and again. That is a valuable lesson.

This blog is designed to relate the past, sometimes dusty and dry, to the future, not always that spotless and pristine. The lesson from Malachi is that the present can learn from the past. If Malachi continues to repeat themes that were introduced by Amos and Hosea 400 years previous (at least by my reckoning), then it is highly likely that those same themes may just be relevant now, a mere 24oo years later. Could that be possible?

Is it possible that the universal sovereignty of this god frequently called by the proper noun, GOD, or G_D, or YHWH, or LORD, or some other proper noun is still a reality?

Is it possible that this deity is concerned more about how we live than how we worship?

Is it possible that the divine figure reported to send prophets who prophesy prophecies is actually concerned about the treatment of the poor, the widow, the stranger and foreigner?

Is it possible that the issues that were stumbling blocks for a people living in the region on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean and their religious perspective could also be the same stumbling blocks for people living there (and elsewhere, especially in places that don't even border the Mediterranean Sea) in this century that is so "modern"?

Is it possible that the result of biblical illiteracy (that's for my friend Nancy deClaisse-Walford) is not merely ignorance but blindness to the whole idea of the divine?

I love the prophets. They provide so few answers and so many unanswered questions.

Have a Major (and not too minor) week.