At 11:52 PM 2/17/2009, Preston Garrison wrote:
Lynn wrote: *"I think we can hope for the best ---- but expect (and plan
for) the worst ---- from each other and from the social institutions fallen
humans devise. 'For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble
in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as
well.' .."
*
All, Jesus said "Be ye *perfect*, as your Father in Heaven is *perfect*."
The way to do that is to put love, the Spirit led love that knows what is
needed at every moment,above every other value, including the truth about
the universe and other people's sins and intellectual failings. ... [snip]
*- Preston Garrison *
<><>
Only Jesus Christ lived (or was able to live) a *perfect*
(*sinless)*life. "We all like sheep have gone astray; each of us has
turned to his own
way; *and the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (sin) of us all.*?
(Isaiah 53:6). *Christ's perfect obedience and sinlessness is imputed to
the believer by faith, whereby the believer is then reckoned as
perfectlyrighteous.
*"...a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." Romans
3:21-28 "..Since we [the elect / the ekklesia] have now been justified by
his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! .."
Romans 5:1, 8-11 "..For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man *the
many* will be made righteous." Romans 5:16-19 "God made him who had no
sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians
2:20 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might
die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
1 Peter 2:24, etc., etc.
More regarding the word "perfect":
*A skeptic scoffs: * "Asa's heart "was *perfect* with the Lord all his
days," I Kings 15:14, II Chr. 15:17. However, according to II Chr. 16, Asa
sinned by a) forming a league with Ben-Hadad of Syria, b) by throwing Hanani
the prophet of the Lord in prison, c) by oppressing the people and d)
consulting physicians rather than the Lord about his foot disease."
The above is an example of the usual misreading of *hyperbole* and *the
extreme language of the ancients*.
By no means are we expected to take the word "perfect" as meaning sinless
perfection or "all his days" as every moment.
The phrase is used proverbially: "For all his days are sorrows, and his
travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also
vanity." (Eccl. 2:23) "The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and
the number of years is hidden to the oppressor." (Job 15:20)
Skeptics never seem to stop reading the text as though it were written
yesterday and for them personally!
*Exclusive and Hyperbolic Language in the Bible
*http://www.tektonics.org/gk/hyperbole.html
Critics often attack citations in the Bible that use exclusive or hyperbolic
language. (I.e., "all", "none", "utterly") In general it is enough to note
that such language may be legitimately construed as rhetorical, whether it
be in modern times ("Everyone likes chocolate ice cream!") or ancient times
("Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons."). In the second
case, and elsewhere, the rhetorical principle of brevity accounts for many
such phrases. Emphasis is needed, but to spell out exceptions or to explain
that the exclusivity is made for the sake of emphasis would dull the point.
Thus exceptions can not be ruled out on the basis of exclusive language, and
contradictions cannot be asserted because of it.
Critics may complain, but they do so without knowledge of the ancient
principles of rhetoric (as expressed by writers like Quintillian) and
exaggeration (as is found typically on Ancient Near Eastern war inscriptions
and elsewhere; see below). But let us emphasize the absurdity that will
result if we ignore the nature and purpose of exclusive language.
The laws of our country speak in exclusive terms. A sign that says "Speed
Limit 55" is absolute. It does not specify exceptions such as ambulance
drivers or people who have passengers who become deathly sick. Yet no judge
would penalize an ambulance driver or other person who dared exempt himself
from the absolute language of the law on that sign.
And yet, we see that absurdities arise when this principle is ignored. Our
federal government, obsessed with detail, produces reams of rules in an
attempt to cover "exceptions". Not long ago two heroic laborers rescued a
co-worker from death in a situation where prompt action saved the
co-worker's life; yet the powers that be in the realm of safety regulation
attempted to force the absolute letter of the law, and imposed fines on the
rescuers for not putting on safety gear before coming to aid!
The public outrage that followed was no surprise: The man on the street
recognizes the language of exclusivity for what it is. Some critics, of
course, may work for the federal government! But for the rest of us on
earth, the language of exclusion, whether ancient or modern, should be
recognized for what it is and not used to create contradiction and
difficulty where none exists.
As a further demonstration, let us now consider an ancient example from
outside the Bible. First, here is a cite from the Scriptures that is
sometimes regarded by critics as problematic:
1 Samuel 15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and
utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. Critics find it
odd that a people here recorded as being "utterly destroyed" come back
making trouble just a few chapters later in 1 Samuel. But compare this to an
inscription offered by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III [taken from Moshe
and Trude Dothan, *Peoples of the Sea*, 27]: I slew the Denyon in their
islands, while the Tjekker and Philistines were made ashes. The Sherden and
the Washesh of the sea were made non-existent, captured all together and
brought on captivity to Egypt like the sands of the shore. Cleary when
Ramsses tells us his enemies were "made non-existent," he was not meaning
this literally, since he goes on to indicate that they were captured. In
ancient context, then, such claims as 1 Samuel 15:8 makes are not to be
taken literally either. They are no more absolute statements than those of
football fans who celebrate a team's win by shouting, "We're #1!" -- even if
the team has lost more games than it has won!
Another example cited by critics is Luke 14:26, in which Jesus tells use
that we must "hate" others for the sake of the Gospel. Critics want to read
this as literal hate; we reply by identifying such sayings as containing a
rhetorical emphasis, not referring to literal hate. And in fact, such
rhetorical emphasis typifies ancient and even modern Semitic cultures. G. B.
Caird, in The Language and Imagery of the Bible [110ff], notes the frequent
use of hyperbole among Semitic peoples, and notes that "its frequent use
arises out of a habitual cast of mind" which tends to view matters in
extremes, or as we would say, "black and white."
The Semitic mindset is dogmatic, and despises doubt; things are either one
way or another, and there is no room for introspection. (If I may venture a
social comment, it is not hard to see this sort of mindset emerging from all
of the monotheistic faiths, including Islam in particular.) As a result,
statements like Luke 14:26 are simply typical of this mindset that
encourages extreme forms of expression. (For more on Luke 14:26, see
here<http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesussayshate.html>.)
More examples may be found from Rihbany's The Syrian Christ [108ff]. I think
this quote from Rihbany are sufficient: A case may be overstated or
understated, not necessarily for the purpose of deceiving, but to impress
the hearer with the significance or insignificance of it. If a sleeper who
has been expected to rise at sunrise should oversleep and need to be
awakened, say half an hour or an hour later than the appointed time, he is
then aroused with the call, 'Arise, it is noon already...' Of a strong and
brave man it is said, 'He can split the earth.' The Syrians suffer from no
misunderstanding in such cases. They discern each other's meaning. Rihbany
offers other examples of such sayings from daily life. Here is a welcome he
received from an old friend when he came to his home: "You have extremely
honored me by coming into my abode. I am not worthy of it. This house is
yours; you may burn it if you wish. My children are also at your disposal; I
would sacrifice them all for your pleasure." The Westerner who hears this
might well be shocked and offended, but what is being said behind the
verbiage is no more than "I am delighted to see you; please make yourself at
home." Jesus' pledge of faith moving mountains is of the same order (and
Rihbany for one takes Ingersoll mildly to task for reading the passage
literally -- noting that we have no evidence that Jesus or his disciples
ever took up on such a literal offer).
Pilch and Malina in the Handbook of Biblical Social Values concur [52]. They
note that in modern Western society, culture is tied to precision; time is a
commodity, and dramatic orientation wastes time by not getting to the point.
Unlike *in the ancient world*, when *dramatic speech and eloquence were held
in high esteem*, "Creativity, imagination, and boasting are activities that
waste precious time" and "have no place in a society driven by productivity:
machines will tolerate no exaggeration, imprecision, or tardiness."
Critics who therefore accuse the Bible of exaggeration need to realize that
they haven't signed on the same semantic contract. For more on Biblical
hyperbole and excessive language, see
here<http://www.tektonics.org/tsr/jerry722.html>.
"
- Lynn
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Received on Thu Feb 19 07:43:35 2009
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