We have stressed before, and I would stress again that the speech was a far more widespread and influential phenomenon than the letter in the Mediterranean world in which our authors wrote. This is so not just because only 10-15% of the populus was literate (i.e. could read and write), but also because rhetoric, Greco-Roman rhetoric and its various forms and modifications (Attic, Asiatic, Jewish) had a much longer and more influential history than letter writing. When letter writing comes... Read more
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BEN: One of the more critical insights in the following chapter is as follows—” the truth—the tragedy—is that the Holy Spirit will not give believers words of successful self-defense. The Spirit is not an escape clause or a defense attorney.” (p. 122), but the Spirit does give the speaker words to witness by to the authorities. This comports well with the theology of faithful witness even unto death stressed in Revelation. And it is so very alien to modern escapist... Read more
BEN: I appreciate your emphasis on how the church from time to time has domesticated the Spirit, making it rather like Mr. Rogers, rather than a dangerous dynamo. Hard sayings like Mk. 3.29 and par. Warn us against such a misreading. Of course. the BIG question is what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? What counts as that terrible eternal sin that won’t be forgiven? JACK: My mentor, Jerry Hawthorne, once gave this simple definition: attributing to Satan what is... Read more
BEN: I think in chapter six you’ve pointed some excellent points about the issue of lying to the Holy Spirit and blasphemy. In regard to the story of Ananias and Sapphira however their main sin was not economic, it was the lies they told about their sale of the property. This very clear on several counts. Peter says to them ‘was the money not yours even after you sold the property’, and the answer to the question he raises is... Read more
BEN: The prayer life of Jesus (p. 91) is important, not least because it reminds us Jesus is living his life as a genuine human being. He needs to pray to communicate with the Father, even Jesus needs to pray. This I would call another example of his true humanity, and of divine condescension—a refusal to draw on the omnis, in this case omniscience, in order to fully identify with humanity. Does this make sense to you? JACK: My German... Read more
BEN: You are right that Luke’s story of the 70 missionaries owes something to the story of the 70 elders in Numbers. It would appear to me that in both cases we are talking about the spirit of Yahweh which was on Moses, being distributed to the 70 elders as well to help Moses out. Likewise, the 70 Jesus sends out are empowered by the spirit of God the Father, because they do not yet have the Holy Spirit in... Read more
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