“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)
The luncheon plate, which is about 8-9.5 inches in diameter, has a history dating from the 18th century when it first was called nunchin (nuncheon). A nunchin was a light snack for the cooks, which was to tide them over between their breakfast and dinner meal. Because the cooks got up so early to start the meals for the day it was a small amount of food for them to get through the day.
In the writing Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin, Austin called the noon meal “nuncheon.” At a later time, the snack in the midday was named “lunch” from the word luncheon. Luncheon means a lump or maybe a hunk of bread about the size one hand can hold. Nowadays, the midday meal is called lunch or luncheon. The luncheon plate is smaller and lighter than a dinner plate.
Let’s look at the idea of a luncheon plate so as to give us a little strength through the day. Sometimes we need something to get us through a difficult time or situation. We might need a pick-me-up or a bit of encouragement.
How are we going to get this encouragement? We can be encouraged by someone who we can talk with. Maybe a close friend, the minister, or an elder. Sharing your thoughts or concerns with someone will help us get through. Saying a quick prayer or reading a Bible verse will help also.
As said here:
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 4:10)
Singing a favorite song or hymn to praise our God is always a pick-me-up:
"The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." (Psalm 118:14)
Let’s turn this around as one who is to serve or provide a luncheon. Be the encourager, be the one to lift someone up, and be that helper through someone’s day.
"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." (Proverbs 16:24)
Lifting someone else’s spirits gives us a lift of encouragement too.
The following question comes up once and a while in various forms:
Is it permissible for a baptized boy to be taught by a woman in the church’s Bible School program?
Questions like this often emerge from the heart of a concerned Christian parent whose heart wishes to honor the Lord. I pray and hope that the following guide will be helpful to those seeking an answer to this question.
The question has several elements which much be addressed. They will form the headings of this brief response in the following order: (1) what is the prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12?, and (2) does baptism make a person an adult?
The Prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12
Paul writes to Timothy,
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (English Standard Version)
If left alone an argument may be made to the effect that a woman can never instruct nor be in a position of authority over a man —never. This would, however, be stripping the passage from its larger context and thereby generating a dangerously misleading analysis of these words.
Paul’s prohibition is built upon two lines of reasoning: (1) the order of creation, and (2) the profile of the fall. Observe:
For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Tim 2:13–14 ESV).[1]
Although some apply this passage to domestic relationships (husband and wife), or to relationships in the world, such as in business (no women bosses), Paul is specifically addressing the “places” of Christian assemblies. He is not addressing all interactions between women and men, Christian or otherwise.
In verse 8, Paul uses the phrase “in every place” (en panti topō) which is a short hand for “in every place of assembly.”[2] Thus, the focus of Paul’s prohibition has quite a limited application —the Christian assembly. This is further made clear by the mention of the males —as opposed to the women— who are to pray in the assembly (v. 8), and the emphasis on godly women as doers of good works (vv. 9-10) and as active learners in the assembly (vv. 11-15).
Perhaps a point of clarification is in order. Paul does base the “headship/respect” principle for married couples on the order of creation (Eph 5:22–33), but with a different focus. It would be inappropriate to argue —based on 1 Timothy 2:11–15 alone— that women are to be silent at home before their husbands, and contradictory to passages that assume women have administrative authority in their own home (1 Tim 5:14), which also includes martial rights and due consideration from the husband (1 Cor 7:4–5).
Thus, the prohibition in this passage addresses the particular setting of the worship assembly. This must be kept in mind.
Before we move forward. I know there are many genuine believers that would cringe at the notion that there are teaching limitations along gender lines within the church assembly. Yet, while I understand some do believe this instruction to be ad hoc—unique— and therefore, not normative, Paul’s argument is built on his apostolic application of Genesis 2:18-25 and 3:1-14 which refer to the order of creation and the order of the fall.[3]
This should never be confused with an emphasis on the superiority of men and the inferiority of women, both are equal image-bearers of God (Gen 1:27; 2:18).[4]
Is Adulthood Bestowed at Baptism?
This is the heart of the question. The New Testament, in no place that I have found, marks baptism as the transitional act which bestows not only forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38) but also adulthood upon the recipient. If adulthood is bestowed at baptism, then, what of those who are baptized in their 30s or 40s — have these people been simply children up to this point?
I have heard it said before:
If a boy is ready to make the most important decision he will ever make, then should he not be regarded as an adult? Why not?
While the argument appears to have merit, such a view can have disastrous consequences. Let me further my point. Does this also apply to young baptized girls? Are they now adults ready to marry and bear children? Should the newly baptized boy be thrust into church leadership now because he is a “man”? Why not?
This is not New Testament logic on three grounds: (1) it is nowhere mentioned in the NT, (2) baptism is about the “new creation” and forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38; 2 Cor 5:17), and (3) baptism is about a “new birth” —a sort of spiritual infancy (John 3:3). So the logic of the gospel runs in the opposite direction of the above claim. Baptism is certainly the most important decision a person can ever make, but that by default does not make a person an adult. This is not what the NT teaches. The assertion is an opinion and we must be very careful with opinions.
Still, even in the New Testament world, there were different words used to describe age groups.[5] One key point to observe is that the ancient world held very a different view of children than modern times when it comes to concepts like merit and value, property, rights, etc. Nevertheless, we will survey these words quickly:
Bréphos means “young” and “fruit of the body” and thus refers to small children/childhood (2 Tim 3:15), newborn infants (1 Pet 2:2), and those within the womb (Luke 1:41, 44).
The words país (small, little), paidíon (little child) and paidárion (little boy, John 6:9) are bit interconnected. Paidion may refer to someone not yet 7 (Matt 2:11,13–14), which covers are large span of time; whereas, a child from the ages 7-14 would be called pais (Luke 8:51, 54). The “adolescent” (14-21) was called a meirákion but the word is not used in the NT (2 Macc 7:25).
There is téknon and teknion: These terms generally reflect “origin” (descendent), the early dependent state of children, and those who are figuratively so (téknon: Luke 11:13; Mark 7:27; Phil 2:22). And teknion was a nursery term for “little child” and is often affectionately used for Christians (John 13:33; 1 John 2:12).
Even when Paul speaks to Timothy and speaks of his “youth” (1 Tim 4:12), he is speaking in relative terms. The word (neotes) itself is relative and often associated with a “youthful spirit” and being impetuous[6] and covered a period until the approximate age of 40.[7]
In no instance is there an example from Scripture that a child becomes an adult at the point of baptism, regardless of the important choice they have made.
Finally, let me add the following. Christians are often called upon to become mature or complete (teleios 1 Cor 14:20). Even the church universal is called upon to grow into “mature manhood” (teleios aner) in the Ephesian letter (4:13; cf. Col 1:28, 4:12). What is more to the flavor of NT teaching is that baptism begins a process of spiritual maturity. It is not a commentary on biological maturity (the brain is not fully mature until the mid-twenties), on legal maturity and accountability (nations and cultures differ), nor on the wisdom the church depends on from its mature leaders.
We should never crush the embers of zeal among our youngest believers and disciples. We need to encourage them and give them an environment for their faith to be nurtured and yield its fruit. I would stress, however, that we do not artificially affirm something upon them —like adulthood— that there is no biblical nor social basis to do. Furthermore, we should not sideline our teaching sisters, many of whom are mothers and grandmothers who administer their own homes with children under their authority (Tit 2:4; 1 Tim 5:14).
So Where Do We Go From Here?
I see no scriptural evidence to remove a young baptized boy from a Bible class taught by a Christian woman simply on the merit that the boy is baptized. But, this does not settle the matter in my view.
The Scriptures do not clearly define a line that distinguishes childhood from adulthood. We often use the phrase, “age of accountability.” Again, there is no general consensus. Is age twenty, based on God’s punishment upon the unbelieving Israelites at the precipice of the Land of Promise (Exod 14:29)? If so, then no youth is accountable before that age and, therefore, baptism would be inappropriate.
Yet, there are plenty of references of young people called by the Lord and brought into His service. Samuel’s call in his early teens to service (1 Sam 3). Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign as king (2 Kings 22:1). Mary was certainly “young” (11-13 years old?) when she conceived Jesus by the power of God while betrothed to Joseph (Luke 1). In her oracle, she acknowledges her inclusion in God’s plan of salvation (Luke 1:49). So, it is not a tidy situation to say young people cannot come into God’s plan.
By and large, the conversion excerpts from the Book of Acts narrate responses from believing adults: (1) the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), (2) the Samaritan converts (Acts 8), (3) the conversion of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8), (4) the conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer (Acts 8), (5) the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9, 22, 26), (6) the conversion of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10-11), (7) the conversion of Lydia (Acts 16), (8) the conversion of the Philippian jailor (Acts 16), (9) the Athenian converts (Acts 17), (10) the Corinthian converts (Acts 18), and (11) the Ephesian converts (Acts 19).
There may be some wiggle room in the reference to “household” in cases like Acts 11:14 and 16:33-34 to include younger believing members. R. C H. Lenksi, for example, viewed “household” (Grk. oikos) as a reference to Cornelius’ “family” in Acts 11:14 and 16:33-34.[8] In a study on the multi-functional social setting of the household in Luke and Acts, John Elliott notes that the term includes “family and kin,” but the term may also include “personnel and property.”[9] This may then include servants, slaves, and household managers who also responded to the gospel. At any rate, a baptized youth does not an adult member of a Greco-Roman household make.
At the heart of conversion, however, is the need for forgiveness of sin, the capacity for belief and obedience, and commitment towards discipleship. This would exclude the youthfully immature to the infantile of the house. So where do we go from here? Youths who respond to God in baptism are still youths subject to their own parents.
Concluding Thoughts
That being said, we concede that there is tremendous wisdom to maintain consistency in the church’s teaching program. Since there is no “clear-cut” age to gauge adulthood in Scripture, it would seem best for congregations and families to determine for themselves an age where the teaching program of the church exclusively selects male teachers during those transitional years from late middle school through high school. But, it should be clear that this is only a judgment call.
Endnotes
Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version of The Holy Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001).
Bruce K. Waltke, “1 Timothy 2:8-15: Unique or Normative?,” Crux 28.1 (March 1992): 22-27. Repr., CBMW News/Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 1.4 (Oct 1996): 4-7.
Bruce K. Waltke and Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 88.
Albrecht Oepke, “pais…,”TDNT 5:636–39.
H. G. Liddell, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1888; repr., Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1996), 529.
Wayne Jackson, Before I Die: Paul’s Letters to Timothy and Titus (Stockton, CA: Christian Courier Publications, 2007), 124.
“He was to tell Cornelius what would save both him and his house (family). It was a matter of saving this household.” R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 1961), 443. Later, regarding the Philippian jailor and his house: “The jailor and his family were baptized in the ordinary way by an application of water in the name of the Triune God” (Lenski, Acts of the Apostles, 683).
John H. Elliott, “Temple Versus Household in Luke-Acts: A Contrast in Social Institutions,” in The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation, ed. Jerome H. Neyrey (1991; repr., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993), 225. See also, Jovan Payes “Organizing God’s House in 1-2 Timothy and Titus.”
This was a keynote lecture based on the short letter of Jude delivered at the 2021 annual Faithbuilders of the Northwest conference held in Tacoma, Washington, at the Lakeview church of Christ as a collective work of many congregations of the Pacific Northwest. The theme of the conference: “That They May All be One” (John 17:21).
As one of the smallest documents of the whole Bible, Jude’s communique seems more known for its opening statement of contending for the faith (Jude 3). It is often been the source text for a battle cry of spiritual warfare. However, Jude provides his own exegetical application of this exhortation in verses 17–23. It has a quite different tone than how it is often applied.
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
Jude 17–23 (English Standard Version)
In this keynote lecture, I call on all Christian believers to apply this passage.
At 18 I began in earnest to expand my reading beyond the Bible and gathered literature to inform my studies of the Scriptures. Months after my conversion to the Christian faith, I began transforming my bedroom so that I could study. My main hurdle was that as a high school drop-out I had no “equipment” that I imagined other kids my age would have had at the time: a desk, a bookshelf, highlighters, paper–you get the picture–study stuff.
On top of that, I felt I had a lifetime of study to catch up on. After reading the gospels and coming to faith in Jesus, I wanted to know more. Sermons and Bible classes seemed to talk about things that just went over my head, and I had more questions than the preachers had time to sit with me. I had great teachers and they often answered my questions, but like Johnny Five–a warbot that became alive–I needed “more input.”
Back then Bible tracts were the best way to share Bible studies, essays, and mini-monographs. Today we would call these blog posts. As I collected, collated, and created a cache of these tracts I had a problem of organizing and housing them. My solution was to repurpose something from my gaming life.
I remember it well. It was an old Nintendo Entertainment System Cartridge Library. Originally, it was designed to hold 18 NES games on three columns with six slots. It was my first “bookshelf” dedicated to my training and knowledge building as a young Christian interested in biblical studies.
Above: This is not my original shelf, but someone on eBay is selling theirs if you’re in the market.
How My Library Began
My modest library began with tracts and booklets. An older preacher encouraged me to collect tracts and booklets on whatever topics I could find. Church foyers were like scavenger hunts in my quest to stockpile tracts on subjects I had not heard of before, or topics I wanted multiple studies on. The best part of it is they were free for the curious student.
Back then I used to don a moss green pullover jacket with a kangaroo pouch from Abercombie and Fitch. I would always find a way to “smuggle” some tracts out of every church service I attended. The outcome: a pile of tracts began to collect upon my desk.
There came a point when I did not know where to place my cache of tracts and booklets. So what was an eighteen-year-old, new convert, who had not grown up on Bible lessons and sermons to do? I needed to find a better way to organize my pile. Remember, the internet was still a hit-and-miss resource, and pretty much the wild, wild West when it came to content. Google would not be born, so no real search engines. If I wanted a digital encyclopedia I needed a computer and a CD-ROM. AOL reigned supreme. Amazon wouldn’t be consequential for years.
Amid the chaos of my childhood relics came the NES cartridge library case. It had served me well in the past to house my games. Now it would be my “little library” bookshelf to fuel my newest interest of reading a variety of theological topics.
And so it was; I began to organize my little volumes in alphabetical order. The tracts that would fit I kept organized within the NES Library, and as my library expanded the more I became resourceful to contain it (the larger ones when into my drawers). Not only would I be able to house and organize them, but I began to strengthen my reading muscles that had atrophied.
Today, I have a couple thousand volumes in my library. At times, I am surprised to think that it started with this little box about a foot long by 10 inches tall. Now I have books on shelves and in boxes, journals, and magazines in filing cabinets, the near-limitless possibilities of software and the internet allow for e-books and audiobooks.
In the process I have learned that some books are worth keeping, others reading and passing on, and still others worth discarding. Books are much like selecting fruit: the joy is all in picking and savoring. But the rotten ones need to be tossed away!
Everyone Needs a Biblical Library
I firmly believe that God intends for His people to be readers, thinkers, and meditators:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV)[1]
Simply looking at the word “heart” (lēbāb) should cause us to consider that it is “the totality of man’s inner or immaterial nature” by which God’s people must love God.[2] Its root lēb refers to three elements of this inner world: emotion, thought, and will.[3] Much like its counterpart in the Greek Old Testament and New Testament, the metaphoric use of kardía points to the center of “the whole inner life.”[4] The heart controls the spiritual culture of one’s inner world, and love for God leverages such control.
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
It is then important to inform the heart, guide the heart, and supply the heart with the meditations which will strengthen our faith. Reading is an essential aspect of our faith. There is no way around that. The content of the faith reaches the heart through the mind. To do that God gave us a collection of sixty-six volumes mediated through a wide range of literary genres and styles, each with different rules of engagement.
To be ignorant of God’s word is to be in a dangerous position. Hosea lamented saying that his people are destroyed due to a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). To be ignorant of how to approach scripture may equally be disastrous.
Moreover, the maintenance of our faith and impact upon our salvation is also to be accomplished through the “public reading” of the Scriptures. Paul makes this abundantly clear to Timothy (1 Tim 4:13; Col 4:16). And while the Bible is a book that can be understood by the average person, any astute reader of this small library will acknowledge that sometimes we need help to guide us through the text (Acts 8:30–31).
To be a diligent student of God’s word requires us to explore other areas of knowledge. From Geography to regional political backgrounds; or from linguistics to religious thematic studies, etc., – good resources are essential to illuminate the text to promote an accurate understanding. Helpful resources prevent us–readers separated by thousands of years–from making uninformed conclusions.
This principle has been well stated:
[I]t is the epitome of folly to ignore the labors of countless Bible scholars across the centuries who have made available, by means of the printed page, the results of their research.[5]
Wayne Jackson, A Study Guide to Greater Bible Knowledge (1986)
There seems to be a connection, then, between being “people of the book” and being “book people.” It is one of the tragic currents of contemporary Christianity that it has become of religion that embraces being “people of emotion” rather than God’s written word–the subjective over the objective.
Every Christian and Christian home should have a budding romance with good literature which reinforces an understanding of God’s word, the Christian worldview, and engage reading that critiques our views.
Build A Library
There is a sense in which we will always be learning. In the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, the grandson of Jesus ben Sirach (c. mid-second century BC) writes about the importance of reading for spiritual growth:
Many great teachings have been given to us through the Law and the Prophets and the others that followed them, and for these we should praise Israel for instruction and wisdom. Now, those who read the scriptures must not only themselves understand them, but must also as lovers of learning be able through the spoken and written word to help the outsiders.So my grandfather Jesus, who had devoted himself especially to the reading of the Law and the Prophets and the other books of our ancestors, and had acquired considerable proficiency in them, was himself also led to write something pertaining to instruction and wisdom, so that by becoming familiar also with his book those who love learning might make even greater progress in living according to the law. (Ecclesiastes/Sirach Prologue, NRSV)[6]
Reading the scriptures and “other books” can be very helpful. They create dialogue partners. When I opened those little tracts, I would often think what can this person add to my thinking about this topic. Sometimes I learned how to best summarize an idea, other times I learned about an approach to avoid. Some tracts proved outdated in the examples, but strong in the timeless instruction. There were plenty of times, the author would address the topic so firmly and with the conviction it was of “vital importance” but I left the conversation unconvinced or worse confused. Reading is a battlefield, but that is where we learn.
I soon began to find authors who had a gift for writing and I began to single them out. There is something artistic and soul-nourishing to be found in good writing–whether I always agree with the author(s) or not in every detail.
I started going to used book stores to find books and authors referenced in my little library. I found a small paperback copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) for a few bucks. I bought that and a Bible–the shop owner gave me the Bible. I found his writing style so compelling and personal. Lewis had a knack for not just pulling you in with his preliminary words but he could hold you together disarmingly well as he made his case for Christian theism or philosophy.
At a Gospel Meeting in South San Francisco, CA, I heard a preacher–Wayne Jackson (1937–2020)–who I had only read in his articles. I purchased a copy of his A Study Guide to Greater Bible Knowledge. To this day, it is probably one of the most important books in my personal developement as a young Christian. Jackson had a crisp, no fluff, popular writing style which made reading an enjoyable experience. Whether you agreed with him or not, he never left you to wonder if you understood his conclusion.
There is little doubt in my mind that reading is an experience of the soul, and we should do what we can to have the best, brightest, and engaging soul experiences possible. Reading has been my main strategy for fulfilling Paul’s command:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)
For this reason, I encourage everyone to build their own personal library.
Some Suggestions
I offer five (5) suggestions about what types of books should be included in a personal Bible-focused library. Solomon reminds us, “of making many books there is no end” (Eccl 12:12).
(1) Choose materials that respect biblical inspiration and authority.
Moses told the Israelites not to “add” or “take from” the Lord’s word:
You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)
John closes the Revelation with the same sobering warning (22:18–19).
God’s word is to be respected and observed without any intrusion of human opinion. It is a hard task to limit our opinions but if we are vigilant we can acknowledge them or debunk them in our study. Every word within the sacred text is from God (2 Tim 3:16–17). Consequently, it is important to select literature that is in keeping with these truths.
(2) Choose materials that have ongoing usefulness.
Not one can be expected to know everything, not even the expert. One of the keys to learning is to know where to locate information.
For this reason, I highly recommended getting access to Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and Bible atlases. Most of these types of resources are available digitally.
Use them to refresh your mind, to introduce you to a topic, or expand your thinking. These resources are indispensable.
(3)Choose materials that illuminate the biblical text.
There is too much spiritual fluff peddled in the “Christian” markets. They do little to help understand the Scriptures. They may provide personal inspirational value, but they do not offer textual insight.
In his book Making Sense of the Old Testament, Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman, III, reminds us to respect the fact that the Bible we read is an ancient text, translated from an ancient language, set in an ancient world with ancient socio-economic customs. We would be wise to recognize the danger of imposing our own modern perspective when reading them.[7] This caution applies for both testaments.
It is important to include special background studies which will improve one’s knowledge of the world of the Scripture (archaeology, word studies, culture, and religion, etc.). These often contain information that is often inaccessible. Today, however, specialty blogs, background Study Bibles, and websites provide greater access to this information.
(4)Choose materials that have practical importance for a life of faith.
It is important to obtain practical and useful volumes which address marriage and the family, Christian Apologetics, how the Bible came to man, Christian history and denominationalism.
Books on doubt, the problem of pain and suffering, moral issues, or matters of personal nature are also important for faith development; issues that confront our faith daily.
In an age when we often feel our way to a conclusion, we must fight against the current and reason our way to solid ground.
(5)Choose faithful authors who are experts in their field.
An important criterion for selecting books is that they are written by those of proven worth, ability, and faithfulness. Some authors are well known for their knowledge depth on particular matters – experts.
No one would want a self-trained novice operating on them; but rather, a board-certified surgeon. So it is with those authors we invite into our minds and engage in our studies in the Scriptures.
Concluding Thoughts
As we conclude, we pray that our readers will begin to build a useful faith-building library. It does take time and money to accumulate the needed volumes, but the results of such an investment are tremendous. As Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536) once said, “When I get a little money I buy books, and if any is left I buy food and clothes“.[8] Only someone who knew the value of study and learning could make such an irrational statement.
In the shadow of Paul’s final days, he asks Timothy to have John Mark accompany him on Timothy’s visit to the imprisoned apostle in Rome (2 Tim 2:11). Among the items Paul requests is a cloak, “the books” (to biblia), and “the parchments” (tas membranas; cf. 2 Tim 2:13).
There is no telling exactly what “the books” are but evidence shows that the apostle was quite familiar with a wider world of literature (cf. Acts 17); yet, “the parchments” is a unique technical term referring to a codice (a bound volume like a book) which retains copies of letters – possibly his letters.[9]
The point we conclude with is that as Christians we have a long tradition of reading and studying. Let us not lose sight of this noble task. Let our homes be a place where we may have access to resources to better inform our faith in order that we may do the most important work ahead of us – understanding and applying Scripture.
Sources
Unless otherwise stated all quotations of The Holy Bible are from the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016).
Andrew Bowling, “lēbāb,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 466.
TWOT 466.
Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed. (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart, 2003).
Wayne Jackson, A Study Guide to Greater Bible Knowledge (Stockton, CA: Apologetics Press, 1986), 83.
New Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible (Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1989).
Tremper Longman, III, Making Sense of the Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006).
These lectures form a series on the basis of Christian unity based on Ephesians 4:1–3 delivered at the annual Faithbuilders of the Northwest conference held in Tacoma, Washington, at the Lakeview church of Christ as a collective work of many congregations of the Pacific Northwest. The theme of the conference: “That They May All Be One” (John 17:21).
I believe that Paul’s instruction beginning in Ephesians 4 lays the responsibility of maintaining the unity Jesus died for, the Holy Spirit secures, and the Father purposed on the redeemed, on us Christians. It takes people redeemed and led by the Spirit of God in order to accomplish a unity that cannot be achieved in no other way. I pray these talks will provide you with the same hope they have given me when I was preparing them.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1–3 (English Standard Version)
1 – Unity Requires a Worthy Lifestyle (Ephesians 4:1)
Watch the lecture on YouTube.com
Description: Paul places a high priority on a Christian’s lifestyle and how it must be anchored to what God is doing in Christ as a community. Christians are not to think in terms of individuality, but about what God is doing by uniting the body of Christ. We must live worthy of this work in Christ.
2 – Unity Requires Three Attitudes (Ephesians 4:2)
Watch the lecture on YouTube.com
Description: We must develop the attitudes of humility, gentleness, and patience if we are going to contribute to the greater fullness of the unity found in Christ. We must (1) realize that in Christ, our egos have gone to die, (2) learn to embrace our shared need for acceptance, and (3) learn to take the long view of God’s grace applied to all members of the body of Christ.
3 – Unity Requires Two Behaviors (Ephesians 4:3)
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Description: Actions manifest our attitudes. We speak with actions. Unity is spoken clearly felt and communicated when Christians learn to endure the challenges of life in the body. We are all prickly in our own way, we must demonstrate love for each other with our endurance. This feeds into another behavior which is to trust God’s Spirit to bind us rather than our perfection. God’s organic work of unity is our goal to bring all nations together into the family of God.
The question of whether miracles are impossible strikes at the heart of the Christian faith. Its viability hangs on one significant miracle: the resurrection of Jesus. Paul argued,
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Cor 15:14 ESV)
If the bodily resurrection never happened, because it is impossible, then the traditional Christian faith is catastrophically and irreparably compromised. In response, I will first argue there is evidence for a creator-God necessary for miracles to occur, then demonstrate that anomalies (like miracles) require intelligent causation. Finally, I will look at the resurrection as a case study.
The Creator-God
The evidence for the existence of God is cumulative in nature. This means there is a body of positive evidence combined to support the case that the universe is created by a personal Creator-God. Furthermore, God as creator is separate, or outside, of this creation. This Creator-creation relationship would allow, then, for the possibility of miracles:
if God exists then miracles are possible.[1]
Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks When Skeptics Ask, rev. ed. (Baker, 2013)
Natural theology affirms that the created world is host to evidence positively supporting God’s existence and justifying belief in him. There are four broad categories of arguments from natural theology:[2]
Cosmological (argument from causality, from effect to cause),
Teleological (argument from fine-tuned and intelligence-laden design),
Moral (argument from the objective value of morality and ethics), and
Ontological arguments (argument of a necessary uncaused Being).
These arguments represent a preponderance of the evidence that justifies belief in a personal ethical Creator-God.
A strong case can be made for the existence of God with the Kalam cosmological argument.[3] The first premise may be stated as “the universe had a beginning.” The evidence from the second law of thermodynamics affirms that the universe is experiencing entropy, a running out of useable energy. This points to the finite nature of the cosmos and points to a beginning when the universe was “fully charged.” The second premise affirms, “the universe was caused to exist.” What caused it to exist? Or had it come into being out of nothing? The evidence from nature (natural theology) points to a powerful (creation), ethical (morality), and intelligent designer (DNA) which brought these phenomena into existence. The reasonable conclusion is that a supernatural being created the universe into existence, this is God.
Not all Causes are Naturally Recurring
In response to the above supernatural claim, proponents of a naturalistic worldview argue that the existence of miracles would render the scientific method impossible to practice. This is only an assumption because there are different kinds of scientific ways of understanding causation, for not all causes are natural. A difference must be made between “operational science” which studies “regular patterns in the present from which predictions can be made,” and “forensic science” which studies “past singularities.”[4] The study of photosynthesis which takes into account how sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water, are converted into food by plants (operational science) would be conducted differently than a study of a singularity like the creation of the Mt. Rushmore monument (forensic science).
Miracles would no more disrupt operational science than would the reshaping of a naturally formed mountainside into a monument bust relief at Mt. Rushmore, or the carved-out ruins of Petra Pella. The use of intelligence and power offers a different source for causation than the naturally regular patterns in the world. The question remains how to decipher in what way miracles interact with the regular patterns of nature (disrupt, break, suspend). This difficulty of understanding anomalies like miracles or “the Big Bang” is not proof that such anomalies are incompatible with known scientific theory. It suggests we still have much to learn.
The Resurrection
A religion that is consistent with the picture of God derived from natural theology should have evidence of supernatural activity (historical reliability, fulfilled prophecy, etc.).[5] As noted already, the central figure of the New Testament, Jesus Christ, is presented in the historical setting of first-century Palestine, in which his teaching ministry is substantially interwoven with supernatural activity (healings, exorcisms, telepathic and empathic actions). The most significant miracle is his post-mortem bodily resurrection from the dead following his execution by means of crucifixion. Is this just legendary material that has been added, or are these ancient documents reliable eyewitness testimony to the most important miraculous event of human history?
The study of the historical reliability of the New Testament demonstrates that it has the strongest transmission history of any work from antiquity. It has preserved the eyewitness testimony of its authors who acknowledge the supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ. For example, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (1 Cor 15:1–11 ESV)
Their ancient words have been preserved in over 5,000 Greek manuscripts.[6] These documents contain doctrinal traditions which include the Divine Lordship of Jesus, his bodily resurrection, and his miracles, so early (within less than a decade of the actual events) that there is no room for legends to displace Christianity’s core historical truths.[7]
The question “did Jesus rise from the dead?” must then be taken seriously. The death of Jesus is one of the surest known historical facts of Christianity.[8] Despite many attempts to theorize that he successfully survived the crucifixion, the medical evaluation[9] of the historical descriptions of his wounds points out that he was a “dead man” before the spear was thrust through his side (John 19:34). The belief that Jesus appeared bodily to his disciples after his execution is another known fact of Christianity, which transformed his disciples and converted unbelievers (e.g., James). The early disciples shared their witness that Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God, many of them dying for their claim that they saw Jesus bodily raised.
Conclusion
The short version of this brief essay’s argument is, “if God exists, then the supernatural anomaly of the miraculous bodily resurrection of Jesus, as historically reported in the New Testament, is possible.” The possibility of the miraculous is, therefore, quite reasonable.
Endnotes
Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks, When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2013), 71.
Geisler and Brooks, When Skeptics Ask, 9–19.
James P. Moreland, “Transcript: Arguments for the Existence of God” (Class lecture, Defending the Faith course of Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, CA, n.d.); Geisler and Brooks, When Skeptics Ask, 10.
Geisler and Brooks, When Skeptics Ask, 74–77.
James P. Moreland, “Transcript.”
Geisler and Brooks, 101–05; Joe Hellerman, “Handout: Defending the Gospel Accounts of Jesus” (Class lecture, Defending the Faith course of Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, CA, n.d).
Lee Strobel, “Handout: The Case for Faith” (Class lecture, Defending the Faith course of Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, CA, n.d.).
Known historical facts of Christianity are taken from Craig Hazen, “Handout: Evidence for the Resurrection” (Class lecture, Defending the Faith course of Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, CA, n.d.).
William D. Edwards, Wesley J. Gabel, and Floyd E. Hosmer, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” Journal of the American Medical Association 255.11 (March 1986): 1462.
There are always those who jump at any opportunity to disparage the character of the Son of God. They pursue any apparent inconsistency and press it beyond anything resembling its biblical and original intent.
Such is the case with Jesus’s words in Luke 14:26. The passage reads:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 ESV; emph. added)
An antagonistic critic of Jesus declared that these words makes Jesus a “cult leader” bent of intimidating his followers.
At first glance, the words are troublesome and it would be disingenuous to deny that the passage is disturbing. Nevertheless, the problem is skin deep, and is part of a larger flow of thought in which the Lord emphasizes the principle of focused commitment (Luke 14:28–32).
I will unpack this in two basic steps. First, I look at the context of the passage in the Gospel of Luke to see its big picture theme. Second, I show the term translated “hate” (miséō) has a broad spectrum of meaning and reflects a cultural hyperbolic expression of preference.
A Look at Context
In order to appreciate any passage of Scripture its context must be understood. No single verse reveals everything the Bible has to say on a given subject. It is easy to misunderstand a verse when read without getting a handle of the big picture of the passage.
The “big picture” gives us a proper perspective. This saying is found in the context of a dinner party that Jesus attended at the house of “a ruler of the Pharisees” (Luke 14:1). It is part of Jesus’ pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) where he anticipates his rejection and crucifixion (Luke 9:21–22, 43b–45; 18:31–34).
It would be expected for the traveling rabbi to offer wisdom and instruction. The teaching done at dinner takes up a major part of this journey narrative (14:1–17:10) and provides some of Jesus’ strongest teaching on proper use of one’s life and material blessings for the good of others as members of God’s kingdom (search for the lost sheep, the lost coin; receive the wasteful son; live prudently; live generously, etc.).
Earlier in the dinner scene, inspired by a man with dropsy, Jesus initiated a discussion about the legality of healing on the Sabbath (14:2). Since the Bible experts (i.e., lawyers) and Pharisees “remained silent” Jesus went forward and healed the man (14:4). Jesus then pressed them with a question on compassion:
Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? (Luke 14:5)
Since there was continued silence (“they could not reply to these things”, 14:6), Jesus posed a series of parables to them.
The Parables. Jesus told the parable of honorable seats to the guests that searched for prominent seats at the dinner party to rebuke their sense of self-importance (Luke 14:7–11). He then pressed his host to welcome those who could not repay him, trusting in repayment “at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12–14). This led to the parable of “a great banquet” to which many were “invited,” but these made excuses for why they could not attend. So, “the poor and crippled and blind and lame” were invited to enjoy this banquet instead (Luke 14:15–24).
Clearly, Jesus challenged the hypocrisy of his host and fellow guests as they “dined” while surrounded by the crippled and the poor without so much of a concern for their needs. The rhetorical tool of the parable provided an image-rich narrative designed to teach a spiritual truth in an understandable and comparative way. In this way, he shows that grace of the kingdom of God is not for some future age (Luke 14:15) but an ethic to be practiced in the now.
The host’s table was supposed to be the theater of God’s kingdom. In the end, all they could do was grumble because Jesus ate with sinners (Luke 15:1–2).
The Kingdom of Commitment. The themes of the parables Jesus teaches are initially focused on a disparity between the high society of the Pharisees and scribes with those disenfranchised Jews seeking and needing the grace found in the kingdom of God. The main problem was misplaced loyalties manifested in a dereliction of responsibility.
God seeks those who will hear his invitation to relationship. This parable anticipates the rejection of God on the part of the Jews who delivered Jesus to Pilate, and the global outreach to the gentile world with the Gospel invitation. In connection with this parable, Jesus lays out four “loyalty arguments” (14:26–32):
One must “bear his own cross” and follow him. This phrase foreshadows Jesus’ commitment to God’s redemptive plan to the point of his own execution on a cross. His followers are called to the same level of commitment in the choices they make (14:27).
To build a structure one must first “count the cost” to complete the construction. This statement is parabolic, if not proverbial, illustrating thoughtfulness in commitment. What will following Jesus demand of me? What will be the tradeoffs to commit to the kingdom of God (14:28–30)?
Before entering war one must “sit down first and deliberate.” What are my strength or weakness? Should I act towards war or peace? Jesus illustrates that decisive decisions are based on the awareness of things as they are (14:31–32).
Jesus bookends his sayings with strong words of full total commitment. Jesus speaks of “hating” the closest of human connections (14:26), and “renouncing all” for him (14:33).
Jesus was rebuking the conduct of the Pharisees and scribes at the dinner. They showed no loyalty, commitment, or deliberate reflection to follow through in their service to God, only excuses and self-righteous pretensions. Jesus calls this failure out through hyperbole, an obvious and intentional exaggeration.
Hyperbolic Exaggeration
Jesus, in this setting, is speaking hyperbolically. He was using a common feature that overlaps with our own: exaggeration. Today might say to a long lost friend, “I haven’t seen you in a thousand years!” Or, we may even claim, “I’m so hungry I can eat a horse.” They are not literal statements. Hyperbole is, according to Elena Pasarello, a “grasping beyond what is necessary in order to describe a certain feeling, an experience, or response.”[1] We often forget Jesus speaks with similar conventions and this failure affects how we read Jesus’ words.
Clearly “to hate” is a verb with strong overtones. But whose overtones should we be concerned about? Ours, or that of the ancient setting in which Jesus spoke?
First, the hostile environment provides the right background for the use of hyperbole. Our expectations of hate includes with it ideas of “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury” or “to feel extreme enmity toward: to regard with active hostility” affect our reading of this text (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This is not what Jesus had in mind.
In Luke 14:26, the verb miséō is translated “hate” in nearly every major English Bible translation. Greek dictionaries also agree that it corresponds to a spectrum of meaning such as hate, despise, disregard and “be indifferent to” (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13).[2] Context, however, determines how the term should be translated. In the hostile dinner setting Jesus seeking to awaken the dinner party to their hypocrisy, their indifference to the poor and the outsider. God’s people must be woken up.
Second, Jesus is on record elsewhere in Luke that God’s people should treat their enemies with love. Earlier in Luke 6 Jesus teaches the following:
I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you... 32 If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them... 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27–28, 32, 35–36)
Jesus teaches that God’s people should show a love that is kind toward those who hate them. Whatever miséō means in Luke 14:26 it must be read consistently with Jesus’ other teachings.
Third, Jesus knew, observed and defended the command to “honor your mother and father.” In one of his final encounters on his journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–19:44), Jesus reminds the rich young ruler of this command (Luke 18:20; cf. Matt 19:19: Mark 7:10, 10:19). In Matthew 15:1–20, Jesus defends this command against the subversive traditions and tactics of the Pharisees and scribes:
“And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. (Matt 15:3–6)
Jesus is calling out the hypocrisy of the traditions of Pharisees and scribes, the very same guild of biblical scholars he is addressing in Luke 14. The non-exaggerated teaching of Jesus legitimately forces us to read Luke 14:26 in a different way. Jesus honored the commandments.
Fourth, parallel sayings of Jesus provide additional clarification evidence. In Matthew 10:37 Jesus provides another lens to understand “hate” in terms of “preference” or deep loyalty:
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37)
To the Jew this was a very common way to express that one’s loyalty to God was to surpass any human bonds of loyalty.
Another example is found in Matthew 6:24, which highlights a cultural way of expressing ideas of “preference” or “indifference”:
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despite the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24 ESV)
This probably explains why the Good News Translation (1992) renders Luke 14:26:
Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. (emph. added)
While this is certainly the meaning of Jesus words, the softening of the language robs us of a significant fact. Jesus found value in targeted exaggerations to make a point.
Fifth, the ides of love and preference, or hatred and indifference are also seen in the Old Testament. For example, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah (Gen 29:30), yet this preference is also stated as “Leah was hated” (Gen. 29.31).
Paul illustrates his affirmation of the justness of God to elect whom he wishes by his election of Jacob over Esau. Jacob elected/preferred over Esau based upon God’s sovereignty (Mal 1:2–3; Rom 9:10–13).
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Finally, in the culture of Jesus notions such as interest, disregard, and indifference are often expressed in terms of “love” and “hate” which do have very limited translations.[3]
On this point, consider the following observation:
[T]he Orientals [Eastern culture], in accordance with their greater excitability, are wont both to feel and to profess love and hate where we Occidentals [Westerners], with our cooler temperament, feel and express nothing more than interest in, or disregard and indifference to a thing.
Joseph H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1896)[4]
Scholar G. B. Caird observed similarly:
To hate father and mother did not mean on the lips of Jesus what it conveys to the Western reader (cf. Mark 7:9–13). The semitic mind is comfortable only with extremes –light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate– primary colours [sic] with no half-shades of compromise in between.
G. B. Caird, The Gospel of Saint Luke (1963)[5]
Jesus is speaking in an exaggerated hyperbolic fashion to give some shock value to illustrate the kind of deep preferential conviction God’s people must have.
Conclusion
The big picture context of Luke 14:26 demonstrates that Jesus is in the middle of a series of instructive parables focused on proper discipleship in the kingdom of God. They are directed to the host, the guests, and the crowds that joined them. When Jesus speaks to the crowds he outlines the deliberative nature of would-be disciples and should be disciples. These are non-negotiable matters.
The idea of “hate” (miséō) as a cultural hyperbolic expression provides a proper understanding to Jesus’ meaning. Jesus did not violate the mosaic law to honor one’s parents, but he lived it and defended against any corruption by false piety. Instead, Jesus spoke in his own cultural semitic vernacular.
In the final analysis, misguided assaults on the character of Jesus backfire. This should also remind God’s people to take the time to examine the passage adequately.
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