At least Thiselton gets James Barr right. Asked about the meaning of ekklesia in the New Testament, “we might say (a) ‘the Church is the Body of Christ’ (b) ‘the Church is the first installment of the Kingdom of God’ (c) ‘the Church is the Bride of Christ, and other such statements. In one sense Barr concedes, this is the ‘meaning of “church.”’ But it is certainly not ‘the meaning of ‘church’ in Matt. 16.18 .” Exactly: Totality transfer is... Read more
Much biblical interpretation today is minimalist. Deliberately so. Anthony Thiselton approvingly quotes this from Eugene Nida: “The correct meaning of any term is that which contributes least to the total context.” Thiselton expounds: “we might define the semantic values of ‘green’ in several ways: as a colour, as meaning inexperienced, as meaning unripe, and so on. Similarly, we might define ‘house’ as a dwelling, lineage, and a business establishment. But as soon as we place ‘green’ and ‘house’ in syntagmatic... Read more
Context determines the meaning of a word, right? But “context” refers, in the first instance, to other words. But their meaning must also be determined by context? When you take all the words away, what’s left of the “context” that’s supposed to determine the word’s meaning? Mustn’t individual words and context be (perichoretically) co-determinative? Read more
In a characteristically fascinating article in the August/September edition of First Things , Jody Bottum argues that, given the informal Protestant establishment that has existed since America’s founding, “the death of the Mainline is the central historical fact of our time: the event that distinguishes the past several decades from every other period in American history. Almost every one of our current political and cultural oddities, our contradictions and obscurities, derives from this fact: the Mainline has lost the capacity... Read more
Mara Hvistendahl writes in the July 9 issue of TNR that increased violence is one likely result of China’s abortion policy: “After almost 30 years of the policy, China now has the largest gender imbalance in the world, with 37 million more men than women and almost 20 percent more newborn boys that girls nationwide.” She cites historical and sociological studies that link violence to absence of females. According to David Courtwright, “the immigrants and westward immigrants who shaped early... Read more
The first 12 chapters of John are commonly seen as John’s “book of signs.” There are seven signs, which may suggest a connection with the creation week. Some starting thoughts: 1. Water to wine, ch 2: Jesus’ manifests His glory, His light in the darkness of Israel. 2. Child raised from deathbed, ch 4: second sign (4:54; again in Cana) 3. Paralytic in Jerusalem, ch 5: Water plays a prominent role in the story. 4. Feeding of 5000, ch 6:... Read more
Wayne Brouwer offers this chiastic analysis of John 13-17: A. Gathering, 13:1-35: unity with Jesus in mutual love B. Disciples’ denial, 13:36-38 C. Jesus departure and Father’s power, 14:1-14 D. Promise of Paraklete, 14:15-26 E. Troubling encounter with the world, 14:27-31 F. Vine and Branches, 15:1-17 E’. Troubling encounter with world, 15:18-16:4a D’. Promise of Paraklete, 164b-15 C’. Jesus’ departure and father’s power, 16:16-28 B’. Prediction of disciples’ denial, 16:29-33 A’. Departing prayer, 17:1-26 Read more
Reflecting on Thomas’s discussion of Jesus’ statement, “Without me you can do nothing,” Stephen A. Long writes, “If one denies that the human will receives not only its being, but also its natural motion and application to action from God, one makes the will a demiurgically unmoved first cause. Divine providence extends only so far as the divine causality. It follows that if the human will is not subject to divine power then naturally it is not subject to divine... Read more
Cotterell and Turner spend many pages affirming Barr’s notions of meaning, in the process of which they distinguish between the lexical sense of a word and the “discourse concept,” that is, the particular connotations that might become part of the definition of a word in a particular context: “In the light of the distinction just made between lexical senses and discourse concepts, it is not unlikely that many interpreters will conclude that it is actually the broader discourse concepts ,... Read more
Peter Cotterell and Max Turner summarize James Barr’s case against etymology, dismissing TF Torrance’s claims about the links between ekklesia and kaleo , qahal and qol : “Even if qahal derives from qol , ‘voice’, (which is no more than merely possible ) it remains highly questionable whether anyone would have been aware of this etymological connection at the time of the writing of the Old Testament, and even less probable that it would be assumed that the voices which... Read more
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