Friday, January 28, 2005

5. Gospels: Saved from what?

It is clear that “salvation” is a big theme in the New Testament. So it seems reasonable to investigate what we are saved from. In the Old Testament, the standard use of “saved” is probably to indicate Israel being saved from invading nations. That is clearly not an obvious meaning in the New Testament, so let us investigate the occurrences of the word “salvation” (and related words) and see what concepts it crops up in conjunction with. The following is an exhaustive list of Gospel passages that directly connect the word “salvation” or similar to something that people are “saved” from.

Mat 1:21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Mat 6:13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

Mat 19:23-26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible."

Mark 8:34-38 (same as Luke 9:23-25) He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Luke 1:68-79 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Luke 13:16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"

Luke 19:8-10 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “look, half of my possession, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 8:33-36 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, "You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

John 12:46-47 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Acts 2:40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."

Acts 5:31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 13:36-39 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; 37 but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; 39 by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Acts 16:26-31 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.... 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Acts 26:17-18 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Comments

We can divide the verses up into categories:

Salvation from...
Sins: Mat 1:21, Luke 1:77, John 1:29, John 8:33-36, Acts 5:31, Acts 13:36-39, Acts 26:18
Satan: Mat 6:13, Luke 13:16, Acts 26:18
Sickness: Luke 13:16
Into the Kingdom: Mat 19:23-26
“Save their life”: Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-25, John 3:16
“from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us”: Luke 1:71, 1:74
“darkness and in the shadow of death”: Luke 1:79, John 12:46, Acts 26:18
War: Luke 1:79
Money: Luke 19:8-10
“this corrupt generation”: Acts 2:40
God's judgement (an earthquake): Acts 16:26-31
Gentiles: Acts 26:17

That is quite a lot of different things. Firstly of note is the fact that “sin” is easily the single most common thing that people are saved from, however it is clearly far from the only thing mentioned and itself occurs in less than half the references.

Let us therefore concentrate on the most lengthy descriptions of salvation:

Luke 1:68-79 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

John 8:33-36 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, "You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Acts 26:17-18 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

The main idea expressed here is freedom:
from enemy nations (Luke 1:71,74)
from “darkness” (Luke 1:79; Acts 26:18)
from the power of Satan (Acts 26:18)
from the sin that was enslaving them (John 8:33)
forgiveness of sin (Luke 1:77; Acts 26:18)
for sanctification through faith (Acts 26:18)
in accordance with the covenant (Luke 1:72)
resulting in a change the lifestyle of Israel for the better (Luke 1:74-75, 79)

The main thrust of the thinking seems to be clear. Israel will be rescued from the threats and powers that enslave her by God acting through Christ according to his promises and leading Israel into a new time of prosperity. The Exodus from Egypt comes to mind as a parallel here and similar language is used in the Old Testament regarding that. This in turn leads to the possibility that what is being thought of here is the idea of Jewish liberation from Roman rule, tying into the political activism in Judea at the time and the Gospel's proclamation of the Kingdom.

However the ideas represented in the Gospels cannot all be fitted into a merely political agenda as they focus too on an internal healing of Israel (healing the sick, casting out demons) and not a merely political one. Rather than trying to pack the diverse gospel statements into the theme of political liberation, it would be better to place the political part of the renewal of Israel under the idea of the renewal of Israel as a whole. That is, Israel is going to be saved from its present situation into a time of renewal which will inevitably involve a political change too. This would all sound very nationalistic, very much Israel-only focused if not for the statements of Acts 26 that applies all the language of salvation to the Gentiles.

The language in the gospels seems very slavery-freedom oriented in theme. We have seen the words “slave” (John 8:33-36), “redeemed” (Luke 1:68), “set free” (Luke 13:16; Acts 13:39), “rescue” (Mat 6:13; Luke 1:74). And of course in other verses not listed above there is “ransom” (Mat 20:28; Mark 10:45) and “release [for] the captives” (Luke 4:18). This strongly suggests that there is a slavery-freedom motif connected with “salvation” which ought to be examined more closely later.

Conclusion: Salvation from what?

The occurance of the word “salvation” and similar words in the gospels correlates strongly with ideas regarding the setting free of Israel as a nation from forces both physical and spiritual that rule it. The most commonly referenced enslaving force is “sin”. There is also a strong correlation between the slavery-freedom language and that of salvation.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

4. Overall New Testament: Final Judgement

My final conclusions for the three groups of books have been as follows:

Gospels:
It is quite clear that the vast majority of references to final judgement in the gospels depict a works based judgement. People will be judged on their works, on what extent they engaged in good and loving works versus the extent they engaged in evil and selfish works. It seems quite plausible to interpret this as a judgement of natures rather than of works – that God will judge each person as to whether they are good or evil in their heart, rather than merely mathematically adding up their works. The gospel of John complicates the picture by introducing also the concept of judgement by faith, but it appears that this is a secondary concept or a generalisation and that the primary concept for John is one of judgement by nature: the good people versus the evil people.

Pauline Epistles:
Whatever the case in the one exceptional verse in 2 Thessalonians, it seems clear that the primary Pauline understanding of the final judgement is of a works / nature based judgement in which God rewards good and punishes evil.

General Epistles:
Clearly the general epistles depict a works / nature based final judgement.


It seems that there is a very clear agreement throughout the different strands of the New Testament: The final judgement is a works / nature based judgement in which some sort of severe punishment happens to those who are evil / have done evil, and a very good reward is given to those who are good / have done good.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

3. General Epistles: Final Judgement

Here is an exhaustive list of passages in the General Epistles that speak directly about the concept of final judgement:

Jas 2:13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Jas 5:9 Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!

1 Pet 1:17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.

1 Pet 3:10-12 For "Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; 11 let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

2 Pet 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment

2 Pet 2:12-13 These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and when those creatures are destroyed, they also will be destroyed, 13 suffering the penalty for doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of doing wrong, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved.18 For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error.

2 Pet 3:7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.

Jude 1:14-15 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Rev 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

Comments

Well that is a lot of fairly blatant and clear statements of judgement by works.

Let us again address the question of whether, using more precise terminology, the depicted judgement is by nature or works, ie whether it is based on whether the people themselves are good or evil or whether it is based on their actual deeds. Some passages speak more of a judgement by nature (2 Pet 2:9, 2 Pet 2:12-18, 2 Pet 3:7, 1 John 4:17, Rev 21:8), whereas other passages more of a judgement based on deeds (Jas 2:13, Jas 5:9, 1 Pet 1:17, Jude 1:14-15) and one uses both concepts (1 Pet 3:10-12). The lack of any clear differentiation between the two subtly different concepts of judgement, means we cannot conclude one way or another which one these passages best support.

Clearly the general epistles depict a works / nature based final judgement.

Monday, January 24, 2005

2. Paul: Final Judgement

What can be said about Paul's theology regarding the nature of the final judgement? Here is an exhaustive list of passages that speak directly regarding this concept:

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

Rom 2:6-11 For he will repay according to each one's deeds: 7 to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Rom 2:14-16 When Gentiles, who do not posses the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, those not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them 16 on the day when, according to may gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.

Rom 8:13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

1 Cor 2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"

1 Cor 4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

1 Cor 6:9-10 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Cor 5:10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

2 Cor 11:14-15 And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.

Eph 5:3-5 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient.

2 Thes 1:5-9 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. 6 For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

1 Tim 5:24-25 The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. 25 So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

Heb 2:1-3 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him,

Comments

The primary concept appears to be one of judgement by works. The clearest verses speak directly of a judgement based on whether one does good or evil (Rom 2:6-11, Rom 2:14-16, 1 Cor 4:5, 2 Cor 5:10, 1 Tim 5:24-25). Most of the rest say clearly that God will punish evil (Rom 1:18, 1 Cor 6:9-10, 2 Cor 11:14-15, Eph 5:3-6).

Interestingly Heb 2:1-3 speaks of the failure to pay attention to the gospel as being similar in kind to other transgressions. It takes for granted that judgement is by works and then reasons from this that to neglect such a great thing as the gospel is therefore to commit a correspondingly great evil. This, perhaps, could be thought to agree with John's theology of faith as a fruit resulting from a good nature.

When we consider the question of whether Paul considers the judgement to be by works or nature (using “works” in a more precise sense here), the answer is somewhat difficult. Paul seems quite happen to speak on the one hand of “wicked deeds” and on the other of “wickedness” and wicked people. Based on the biblical references alone it seems impossible to determine precisely whether Paul regarded the judgement as based on one's deeds or nature.

The clearly unusual verse in this list is 2 Thess 1:5-9 which speaks of serious punishment for “those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (vs 8). What are we to make of this in light of the universal agreement of other verses as to a works based judgement? Perhaps “those who do not know God” is an expression meaning “evildoers”? If the gospel of Jesus calls for good behaviour then those who do not obey it will justly be condemned as evildoers? Actually, 3 John 1:11 uses the same greek words (though it gets translated slightly differently in the NRSV):
3 John 1:11 “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.”
It indeed appears to be an expression that means “evildoers”.

Conclusion

Whatever the case in the one exceptional verse in 2 Thessalonians, it seems clear that the primary Pauline understanding of the final judgement is of a works / nature based judgement in which God rewards good and punishes evil.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Notes on Origen on Romans

Since I've just finished typing up my notes of volume 1 (of 2) of Origen's Commentary on Romans (The Fathers of the Church vol 103, Trans. Thomas P Scheck), I thought I might as well post them.

Notes regarding the atonement/salvation

1.18.6 The good angels support men in their struggle against the devil, his angels, evil spirits and all evil powers and principalities.

1.18.7 Origen identifies “death” with the devil when “death” is described as “the last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26)

2.5.3 By “perseverance” (Rom 2:7) Paul is referring to the fact that to do good we must struggle against the powers and rules (Eph 6:12)

2.13.29 ““We have been redeemed not at a corruptible price of silver and gold but with the precious blood of the only begotten.” (1 Pet 1:18-19) If then we have been bought at a price, as Paul also confirms (1 Cor 7:23), undoubtedly we were bought from someone whose slaves we were, who also demanded the price he wanted so that he might release from his authority those whom he was holding. Now it was the devil who was holding us, to whom we had been dragged off by our sins. Therefore he demanded the blood of Christ as the price for us.”

3.1.9 “righteousness is rightly and deservedly hostile to and opposed to unrighteousness, just as life is hostile to and opposed to death and light to darkness...
Consequently God, who is righteousness, shall not seem unjust when he vents his anger against unrighteousness. For it would not befit him to be favourable toward it. But this wrath too reaches unto men who have offered themselves as servants of the unrighteousness with which God is angry....
righteousness is the disposition... found first of all in God and then also in those who imitate him.”

3.1.14 “By the coming of the truth of God and his wisdom and his word he has exposed and confuted every falsehood and he has undercut all the assertions of false teachings by faith in the truth.”

3.7.14 “The term “redemption” refers to that which is given to enemies for those whom they are keeping in captivity, in order that they might restore them to their original freedom. Captives conquered by sin, as if by war, were being held fast, then, by the enemies of the human race. The Son of God came... he handed himself over to thee enemies... and this is the redemption accomplished for those who believe...”

3.8 This chapter is a long and complicated discussion of “propitiation” in Rom 3:25. Origen sees an allegory between Christ and the mercy seat on the Ark. In short, Origen thinks that Christ is a propitiation because he frees us from sin and brings us to God.

4.7.7 By Rom 4:23-25 “He wanted to show that even we must abhor and reject the things on account of which Christ was handed over. For if we believe he was handed over on account of our sins, why do we not regard every sin as hostile and injurious to us, seeing that it is recorded to be on account of these sins that our redeemer was handed over to death? For if any fellowship or friendship should again occur between us and sin, we are showing that we have no regard for the death of Christ Jesus since we are embracing and following the things which he fought against and conquered.

4.8.1 On “peace” in Rom 5:1:
“So then, we who were once God's enemies by following that enemy and tyrant, the devil, now most assuredly have peace with God, if we have thrown down the devil's arms and have taken up the sign of Christ and the banner of his cross.” (cf Rom 5:10, Col 1:20)

4.11.4 Regarding “how Christ died for us and in what way he, since he is the lamb of God, would take away the sin of the world and bear our weaknesses and sufferpain on our behalf”, he says that Jesus “having taken the form of a slave, in accordance with the Father's will, he offered himself as a sacrifice for the whole world by handing over his own blood to the ruler of this world. This was in accordance with the wisdom which “none of the rulers of this world understood; for it they would have understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of majesty” (1 Cor 2:7-8); nor would that blood after which they thirsted have quenched, not so much their thirst as their power; nor would it have destroyed their kingdom; nor would what the Lord said in the Gospel have befallen them: “Behold, now the ruler of this world has been condemned” (Jn 16.11); and, “Behold, I was seeing Satan falling like lightning from heaven.” (Lk 10:18)”

5.1.31 Regarding Rom 5:12-14 he says “Therefore it seems to me that in these matters the Apostle is describing death as if the hostile entrance of some tyrant who wanted to invade the dominions of a rightful king. First he would seize the very passes and entrances into the kingdom by means of collusion with the guard. Then he would attempt to turn the hearts of everyone in the kingdom to himself and, for the most part, he would succeed. In this way he would lay claim to a kingdom not his own. Therefore, while he is ruling through tyranny a commander chosen by the rightful king is sent – Moses, who must call back the people who have been taken over by the tyrant to the laws of civilized rule and must teach them to make use of the laws.... And so it was only then that a certain part of mankind began to be liberated from the kingdom of sin and death. For that tyrant, who is called death, was exercising dominion from Adam, who was the first to give entrance to him by his own collusion, so that he could pass through to all men....

5.1.32 To people who from the beginning choose to work for goodness, sin manifests itself only as a “light infection”, whilst “in those who surrender themselves to it with their entire mind and allegiance, it seizes dominion and rules over them with complete authority.”

5.1.33 “But because his [the tyrant's] power of domination was so great, greater even than the strength of the law, prophets are sent as reinforcements to the law. But even they, realizing that the tyrant's power exceeded their strength, pray for the coming and presence of the king.... Therefore Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came and “in the law was weak through the flesh, God, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom 8:3) Indeed he also reconciled the world to God (2 Cor 5:19) and disarmed the principalities and powers of the tyrant, triumphing over them in himself. (Col 2:15)

5.1.37 If tyrant who was “keeping souls bound in the underworld, is said to exercise dominion, then we shall understand it to mean that even the saints had fallen prey to that death certainly under the law of dying, even if not under the punishment of sin. But it was on this account that Christ descended into the underworld, not only because he would not be held by death, but also in order that he might release those who were held there, as we said, not so much through the crime of transgression as much as by the condition of dying... In this as well the prophet's sayings were fulfilled, in which he said of Christ, “In ascending on high he lead captivity captive.” (Ps 68.18) Thus by his own resurrection he has already destroyed the dominions of death, which is also why it is written that the set captivity free. Listen now to when the Apostle says that the enemy and tyrant, whose dominions Christ destroyed, is going to be destroyed: He says, “The last enemy is destroyed, death.” (1 Cor 15:26) The kingdom of death has already been destroyed, then, and the captivity which was being held under its authority has been led away. But because that enemy and tyrant is still ultimately to be destroyed at the end of the age, that is why we see him even now, I do not say reigning so much as robbing.”

5.3.7 “Since we have indeed said that death had held dominion until the arrival of Christ who is life, but the Apostle says that Christ had come not only to destroy death but also him who was holding the power of death, i.e., the devil (Heb 2:14), who [then] is reigning [now, after Christ has done this]?” Since it “is [currently] before that which is written happens, “Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father” (1 Cor 15:24) For if we should say what is logical, that life reigns when death has been destroyed, it could be objected to us: Why then is sin still being committed? It is clear that death exercises dominion through sin. But if we should say that Christ, i.e., life, reigns in certain souls, and death in certain others, what persons shall we find in whom the dominion of life exists in such a way that the dominion of death has no authority in them? In other words, who is entirely free from sin? These matters seem to me to pertain instead to the future kingdom, and there those things are to be fulfilled where it is said, “That God may be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:28) For this is why we are taught to say in the Lord's prayer, “Your kingdom come!” as if it has not yet come.... The present time, however, I would say seems not so much a time of reigning as of war. Through this war the future kingdom is being striven for. Yet Christ can be said to reign even in this time of war, since the dominion of death is now broken in par and being gradually destroyed, a dominion which had previously spread itself out to all men.... Therefore the fight must be fought for a long time by those who want to reign in life through Jesus Christ, until “death, the last enemy, should be destroyed.” (1 Cor 15:26)

5.5.9 “So then Adam offered sinners a model thorough his disobedience; but Christ, in contrast, gave the righteous a model by his obedience..... It is also on this account that he “became obedient unto death,” (Phil 2:8) in order that those who follow the example of his obedience might be made righteous by righteousness itself, just as those others were made sinners by following the model of Adam's disobedience.”

5.7.5 “Therefore, suppose someone, admonished by the death of Christ, who “died for the ungodly,” (Rom 5:6) repents of all these things and he expels the one exercising dominion in his flesh like an extremely wicked king, and makes himself a stranger to his desires and commands. Then he will truly be said to have died to sin through the death of Christ. Now in this passage [Rom 6:1-2] I believe the author of sin is being called sin.”

5.7.7 “Now indeed it does occasionally happen that a person ceases to continue in sin, but after desisting from it, returns again to his own vomit (Prov 26:11) and becomes infinitely wretched so that, after having expelled from himself the kingdom of sin and death and after having received the kingdom of life and righteousness, the person surrenders himself all over again to the tyranny of sin and death. The Apostle calls this the shipwreck of one's faith (1 Tim 1:19).

5.10.11 Let us imagine an upright and noble king who wants to wage a war against some unjust tyrant, but in such a way that he should not seem to conquer by means of a violent and bloody conflict; for even the soldiers serving under the tyrant were his own men whom he was not desiring to destory but to liberate. Therefore under a better plan he assumes the dress of those who were under the tyrant, and in appearance he becomes like them in every way until, while placed under the tyrant's sphere of rule, he persuades at least those who were serving him to leave off and turn back to the rightful kingdom. Then at the opportune time he binds the strong man and despoils his powers and principalities and leads away the captives which had been seized and were being held by the tyrant.

5.10.12 “It was certainly in this way, then, that Christ also emptied himself voluntarily and took the form of a slave (Phil 2:7-8) and endured the dominion of the tyrant, having become obedient unto death. Through that death he destroyed him who was holding the power of death, i.e., the devil (Heb 2:14-15), so that he could liberate those who were being held fast by death. For when Christ had bound the strong man (Mt 12:29) and triumphed over him by means of his cross (Col 2:15), he even advanced into his house, the house of death in the underworld, and from there he plundered his possessions, that is, he led away the souls which the devil was keeping... So then, first he bound him at the cross and thus he entered his house, the underworld, and from there “ascending on high he led captivity captive,” (Ps 68:18) namely those who have been raised together with him and have entered the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22). Therefore it is right that the Apostle says in the present passage (Rom 6:8-10), “Death will no longer exercise dominion over him.” For he will no longer give himself over to the tyrant's sphere of lordship nor will he empty himself again by taking the form of a slave and by becoming obedient unto death (Phil 2:7-8). Never again will he endure the domination of the tyrant and of death in the form of a slave, even though he was put in this position voluntarily and not by compulsion.”


Miscellaneous notes

41-42. (Intro) Origen on “works of the law”: In 8.6, explaining Rom 11:6, Origen says “the works which Paul repudiates and frequently criticises are not the works of righteousness which are commanded in the law, but those in which they boast, who keep the law according to the flesh; that is to say, the circumcision of the flesh, the sacrificial rituals, and the observance of Sabbaths and new moon festivals (cf Col 2:18). These and works of a similar nature are the works by which he says no one can be saved.” Origen thinks true good works are necessary.

1.4.4 “... a person is very impious not to concede to God that what we see in the past he can see in the future.”

1.5.1 Origen insists that predetermine is different to determine because predetermination happens earlier in time.

1.5.3 In Paul's conception, the soul sits half way between the flesh (ie fleshly nature) and spirit (ie spiritual nature) and can attach itself to either one or the other.

1.16.1-2 Origen takes Rom 1:18-23 to be referring specifically to Gentile philosophers – wise men who should know about God through their wisdom yet continue to worship idols.

1.16.4 The wrath being revealed is the wrath of sin and the devil's as opposed to God's own wrath.

1.16.6 The internal nature of God is concealed from created beings, but there will be some to whom it will eventually be revealed.

1.17.1 Though Rom 1:18-23 is speaking of all created beings it primarily refers to philosophers whose job it is to know God by reason.

1.19.6 So in Rom 1 Paul dealt with
a) Those who worship idols = Pagans
b) Those knowledgeable who didn't acknowledge God = Pagan philosophers
c) Those who utter blasphemies = Heretics

2.1.2-3 “By common acknowledgement a good man ought not be punished, nor should an evil one obtain good things. Therefore, if, for instance, someone has done evil at some time, it is certain that he was evil at that time when he was doing evil things. However, suppose he, repenting of his past deeds, reforms his mind toward good things, behaves well, speaks well, thinks well, and turns his will toward the good. Is it not clear to you that he who does these things is a good man who deserves to receive good things? In like manner if someone should convert from good to evil, he shall no longer be judged as the good man he was and is no longer, but as the evil man that he is. You see, deeds pass away, whether good or evil... Accordingly it shall be unjust to punish a good mind for evils committed or to reward an evil mind for good deeds..... How will it be just to condemn a pious soul for ungodliness, or a just soul for injustice, or a soul practising moderation for excess?”

2.2.1 Rom 2:3 => If Bishops and Deacons condemn pagans for these crimes yet commit the same crimes themselves they will not escape.

2.2.2 God's judgement is beneficial => it corrects and restores and heals.

2.4.3 Lots of scriptures on the “Day of Wrath” regarding Rom 2:5-6. See: Amos 5:16-20, Joel 1:14-15, 2:1-5, 2:11, Zeph 1:7, 1:14-18, Isa 13:9,13.

2.4.6 What is currently happening to people now dead is a mystery. He mentions intercession of the saints as a possibility.

2.4.7 The fact that Rom 2 teaches judgement by works shows that faith alone is not enough. The Gentiles who do good and behave correctly are not excluded from reward.

2.6.1-2 Origen takes the unusual linguistic structure of Rom 2:8-9 to mean that wrath, fury, affliction etc are natural results of wickedness and that God is not the cause of them. Origen gives 1 Sam 2:30 and Isa 50:11 as examples of similar passages.

2.6.3 An analogy of that is a person who makes themselves more sick through disobeying the doctor's advice.

2.7.4 An example of the people who keep doing good as described in Rom 2:7 are Christian martyrs who have persevered to the end.

2.8.2 Speaking generally about all kinds of sin: “nearly all people commit sin”.

2.8.4-5 Though people have to accept Christ as Lord either now or in the next life to share eternal life, non-Christians will still be rewarded for any good deeds they do.

2.11.1-3 Rom 2:1 is not talking about everyone, only about those who condemn others for the things they do themselves. A similar idea applies for Rom 2:27.

2.11.5-8 Rom 2:21-23 are metaphorical charges against the Jews for rejecting Christianity. Eg “stealing” refers to the Jews stealing the glory of Christ by denying him.

2.13.2 Origen uses Baptism in an analogy corresponding to circumcision.

2.14.15 Origen thinks “faithfulness of God” in Rom 3.3 is either:
a) God's own faithfulness to man
b) Man's faithfulness like God's => “the faithfulness of God which is in us”.

2.14.17 Virtually everyone, even good people make an error (sin?) occasionally.

3.1.11 “... God destroys man in respect to what is human in order that afterwards he can make him into a god at that time when God shall be all in all.

3.2.28 Chrildren cannot sin until they gain a capacity for distinguishing good and evil. (Repeated in 5.1.24)

3.32 Paul's meaning in Rom 3 regarding “no one has done good” means that no one has brought goodness to completion, no one has achieved perfection.

3.6.1 Origen thinks “law” in Rom 3:20 is not natural law but Mosaic law.

3.6.7 Origen takes “no flesh is justified by works of the law” to be things done by those “in the flesh” as opposed to things that concern spiritual obedience to the law. Spiritual obedience to the law does justify.

3.8.9 Jesus can't be “predetermined” because you can only predetermine something before it exists and Jesus never didn't exist.

4.1.12 For faith to achieve “reckoned righteous” it needs to lead you to perfection. Other virtues can thus lead to righteousness too. (Translator points to Ps 106.31 where Phineas' zeal leads to righteousness)

4.1.14 Origen insists that man, no matter what he does, can never merit anything from God.

4.1.14-15 He takes the “wages” mentioned tin Rom 4:4 as punishment for works of sin as opposed to the gift for good works. (cf Rom 6:23)

4.3.1 “Precept is laid on slaves, but faith is sought by friends.” (cf John 15:15)

4.5.11 “...man was indeed made in the image of God in the beginning, but the likeness was postponed so that he might first trust in God and thus become like him and might himself hear that everyone who trusts in him becomes like him.”

4.7.6 “...righteousness cannot be reckoned to an unrighteous man” (Origen discusses this earlier too... book 1?)

4.12.1 There are degrees of righteousness and degrees of sin.

4.12.4 Rom 5:10-11 should be understood in conjunction with Eph 2:11-18

5.1.19 When Christ “became sin” (2 Cor 5:21) it means he “took flesh”

5.3.8 We can achieve increased grace by works, ie striving in good works makes grace abound to us.

5.5.3-4,7 “It is one thing to have sinned, another to be a sinner. One is called a sinner who, by committing many transgressions, has already reached the point of making sinning into a habit and, so to speak, a course of study. Just as, on the other hand, one is not called righteous who has once or twice done some righteous act, but who continually behaves justly and keeps righteousness in use and makes it habitual. For if someone is unjust in nearly all other matters but should carry out some just work one or two times, he will indeed be said to have acted justly in that work in which he practised justice' nevertheless he will not be a just man. Similarly it will indeed be said that a righteous man has sinned if he has at some time committed what is not lawful. But he will not on that account be labelled a sinner, since he does not hold fast to the practice and habit of sinning....
4. For it can happen that all people commit sin, even if they are holy... For who is there who does not sin either in deed or in word or, if one is extremely cautious, at least in thought?....
7. You may find in the Holy Scriptures many things of this sort in which you will discover both that the righteous man has committed sin and the sinner has done some righteous things. Nevertheless you will not find either the righteous man called a sinner because he sinned in some matter, or the sinner designated as a righteous man because he did something just.

5.5.8 Rom 5. We become unrighteous through the disobedience of “one man” but become righteous through the obedience of merely “one”, not “one man”. That one “is doubtless righteousness itself, as the same Apostle also says about Christ, “Who has become for us rihgteousness from God.””

5.8.2 Origen thinks Baptism itself doesn't achieve much, rather the person needs to have died to sin before they are baptised or it is of no use whatsoever.

5.9.11 The body's innate defilement (ie original sin in a vague sense) is the reason for baptism of children.

5.10.13-14 In heaven there will still be free will, but no one will fall away, because “love never falls away” (1 Cor 13:8), so when our love is perfected in heaven it will never fail.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Romans 5:12

Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned (NRSV)

The grammar behind the greek for “because” (eph w) here is a bit obscure. In the ancient Latin Vulgate translation it reads:
“…and so death spread to all men, through one man, in whom all men sinned." (Vulgate, translated into English)
Augustine, for example, famously based much of his concept of Original Sin on the Vulgate's dubious translation here.

However the reading of the ancient Greek theologians seems rather to have been:
“... thus death passed to all men, on account of which all have sinned” (Orthodox New Testament)

These readings put the causation quite differently:
One man => one sin => one death, and all likewise sinning => own deaths. (NRSV)
One man => in whom were all men => one sin, in which all men participated => all die (Latins)
One man => one sin => one death => death passed onto all => own deaths => own sins (Greeks)

The Greek theology perhaps needs clarifying further regarding how death passed to all, and how own deaths => own sins. A commonly used phrase by the greek theologians was “what is born of a moral is mortal”, ie Adam's transgression made him mortal and we who are born of Adam are mortal too. Similarly it was thought that a world in which death is present causes sin, as people fear death and act selfishly, and so death reigns in a tyranny of oppression over people and enslaves them into sin.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that I am increasingly being convinced that the third interpretation is the correct one. There are several reasons for this:
1) The apparent universal acceptance of this interpretation by the ancient greeks suggests it is the most obvious reading based on greek grammar.
2) It makes the sentence in Romans 5:12 more consistent in terms of style, ie each phrase of the sentence is a logical consequence of the previous phrase, rather than the last part of the sentence being backward.
3) Otherwise there seems to be a paradox in the verse – do all die because of Adam's sin, or because of their own?
4) It's more consistent with Paul's theology of death “reigning” and as the ultimate enemy to say that death causes sin rather than vice versa.
5) It's more consistent with Romans 5:19.
6) It's more consistent with the use of the obscure phrase (eph w) in other places in the NT (eg 2 Cor 5:4, Phil 3:12, Phil 4:10).

Thursday, January 13, 2005

1. Intro + Gospels: Final Judgement

Introduction

This is the first post of what will be a series covering the New Testament picture of Christ's works, atonement, salvation, judgement etc. Over the past month I have read through the New Testament and noted down all the verses that speak of things relevant to Christ's work and man's salvation and have collated and sorted them. Even after superfluous verses were removed the text of the relevant verses is still more than 20 pages worth. I have split these in turn up into three categories: the Gospels (incl. Acts), the Pauline Epistles (incl. Hebrews), the General Epistles (incl. Revelation). Over a series of posts I intend to study the theology of each group of books.

My primary aims are to:
* Present the final steps of my analysis in a concise and readable way.
* Give the reader an accurate idea of what the Bible says on the matter, both generally and specifically
* Construct for myself an exhaustive source which I can use for future reference (as usual, all quotes will be from the NRSV unless indicated otherwise)
* Explore the depth and variety of biblical ideas on the related subjects
* Accurately present the frequency (and by implication, importance) of the occurrences of the ideas.
* To explore any apparent differences which may become evident between the ways the different groups of books understand Jesus / atonement / judgement.

If at any stage in this series I make a claim that a list of verses is “complete”, and readers think I have fail to list a relevant verse, I strongly encourage you to point it out to me.

1. Gospels: Final Judgement

The topic of this first post of the series is the gospels' theology of the nature of what we might call “final judgement”. The following is a complete list of Gospel passages that speak directly of the Gospels' understanding of this concept.

Mat 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Mat 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' 23 Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'

Mat 12:33-37 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Mat 19:17 “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Mat 25:31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' 45 Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Luke 6:37-38 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Luke 12:47-48 That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

Luke 13:27 But he will say, "I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!'

John 3:19-21 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

John 5:28-29 Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

John 3:35-36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath.

John 12:25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 15:6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

Comments

It seems quite clear that most of what the gospels depict could be aptly described as “judgement by works”. Those who do evil will be condemned to “hell”, and those who do good will have “life”.

The exception is John who on the one hand depicts a judgement by works (3:19-21; 5:28-29) and on the other hand maintains a judgement connected with following Christ (3:35-36; 15:6). This apparent tension appears to be explained by John most clearly in John 3:19-21 – people's goodness or evilness are their reason for accepting Christ or rejecting him in the first place – those who are good accept and acknowledge Christ when they see him, those who are evil reject Christ. John therefore makes an equation between the followers of Christ and those who do good and thus variously depicts judgement by either criteria with the assumption that the criteria pick out the same groups.

However this raises the questions of to what extent they pick out the same groups, and which is the more exact grouping with regard to the final judgement. The possibilities seem to be fourfold:
1) That the final judgement is by works, and that it is generally the case that those who are good believe in Christ, thus it is an acceptable generalisation to speak of a judgement based on who followed Christ.
2) That the final judgement is by whether or not one follows Christ, and that it is generally the case that those who are good believe in Christ, thus it is an acceptable generalisation to speak of judgement by works.
3) There are two entirely separate judgements, one by works and one by faith.
4) That it is not a generalisation but rather a precise identity, that John is saying that those who are good and those who follow Christ are exactly the same people, and thus both judgement by works and judgement by faith are exactly the same concept.

Of the first two possibilities the first seems more plausible in light of John 3:19-21, which appears to give primacy to the “good vs evil” grouping and derive the Christ-following grouping from that, rather than vice versa.

However it must be admitted that the apparent certainty of the later statements depicting unqualified judgement by belief (John 12:25; 15:6) make the fourth option seemingly more likely that either of the first two, as it appears to indicate that the second grouping is not supposed to be a generalisation but rather an identity.

Regarding the third possibility I see no good reason to think that John imagines there being two judgements. Indeed John 3:19 speaks of one judgement that has to do with relating the two concepts of goodness and faith.

The fourth possibility, though it has the advantage of making the statements about the judgments identical, it raises additional difficulties. Primarily: what of people who have never heard of Christ and thus could not believe in him?

Does John perhaps believe that no one who has never heard of Christ is “good”? John 3:19-21 appears to demolish this idea as John indicates that the reason people come to believe in Christ is because they are good, and there seems no good reason to think that the large group of people who never hear of Christ in their lives contains no good people. Perhaps John's use of the word “faith” does not need the people to ever hear of Christ, perhaps anyone in the world who does good is “in Christ” or “following Christ” or “abiding in Christ”? That seems possible. Alternatively, perhaps there is no one who will not have heard of Christ before the judgement, ie everyone will meet Christ in the afterlife prior to the judgement and will, at that time have a final choice to follow him or not, and those who are good will accept the truth and those who are evil will reject it? That seems plausible too.

So it appears that the most plausible solutions of this problem revolve around the idea that judgement by “good” vs “evil” is the primary idea and that the judgement by faith is either a generalisation, a spiritual interpretation of what it means to be “good”, or a group that in the future will become identical to the “good” group. Hence it appears safe to conclude that the primary idea of judgement in John's theology is one of “good” vs “evil”, which is in good agreement with the remainder of the Gospels' very clear emphasis on a judgement by works.

Interestingly, John's idea is not quite the same thing as judgement by works. We can imagine God putting all our deeds on a giant scale and seeing if the total number and quality of our good deeds outweighed the total number and quality of our evil deeds. That would be judgement by works. But John's idea appears to be a judgement of the inner nature – whether we are “good” or “evil”. This inner nature is the thing out of which good or evil deeds flow (John 3:19-21), but it is the inner nature itself that seems to be what is judged rather than the deeds. To John, both good deeds and faith in Christ seem to be fruit that result from a good inner nature. This is reminiscent of Luke's statement:

Luke 6:43-45 "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”

So then, even though the vast majority of statements in the gospels refer to judgement by deeds, perhaps we are supposed to understand the judgement as based on whether one's inner nature is more good or evil, rather than the total sum of good or bad deeds we have done? That seems plausible.

Origen discusses this insightfully and argues that:
“By common acknowledgement a good man ought not be punished, nor should an evil one obtain good things. Therefore, if, for instance, someone has done evil at some time, it is certain that he was evil at that time when he was doing evil things. However, suppose he, repenting of his past deeds, reforms his mind toward good things, behaves well, speaks well, thinks well, and turns his will toward the good. Is it not clear to you that he who does these things is a good man who deserves to receive good things? In like manner if someone should convert from good to evil, he shall no longer be judged as the good man he was and is no longer, but as the evil man that he is. You see, deeds pass away, whether good or evil... Accordingly it shall be unjust to punish a good mind for evils committed or to reward an evil mind for good deeds..... How will it be just to condemn a pious soul for ungodliness, or a just soul for injustice, or a soul practising moderation for excess?” (Commentary on Romans 2.1.2-3)

The argument seems plausible, though I can see nothing in the Gospel texts themselves that enable us to arrive at a conclusion on purely biblical grounds.

Conclusion: The Gospels on Final Judgement

It is quite clear that the vast majority of references to final judgement in the gospels depict a works based judgement. People will be judged on their works, on what extent they engaged in good and loving works versus the extent they engaged in evil and selfish works. It seems quite plausible to interpret this as a judgement of natures rather than of works – that God will judge each person as to whether they are good or evil in their heart, rather than merely mathematically adding up their works. The gospel of John complicates the picture by introducing also the concept of judgement by faith, but it appears that this is a secondary concept or a generalisation and that the primary concept for John is one of judgement by nature: the good people versus the evil people.

Edit: Small clarifications and corrections made

Origen on the "Righteousness of God"

In the past on this blog I have explored many ways of understanding the phrase "the righteousness of God" in Romans.

I am now about two thirds of the way through the first volume (of 2) of Origen's commentary on Romans, and I have been taking notes particularly on his use of "the righteousness of God". His use of it is consistent, and his meaning for it is probably best expressed as "true righteousness" (or "true goodness" or "perfection" or "the highest possible level of goodness" or "godly righteousness" or "righteousness like God's"). This true righteousness is something God himself has (as an attribute) but also something that can be (eventually) held by humans who imitate Christ and come to have this level of righteousness through faith.

I think Origen's interpretation is very plausible in terms of accurately understanding Paul's usage and meaning. I think it is more plausible than either Wright's "God's covenant faithfulness" or the NIV's "[imputed] righteousness from God". Rather it denotes a high level of righteousness that God himself has reached that can be obtained by humans too through sanctification.

I think this agrees with my own earlier expressed thoughts, that the righteousness of God denotes a type of righteousness - as opposed to the "righteousness of the law" which is a different type of righteousness. The former is true righteousness, the latter is not. I also think there is a strong element of "what God considers righteous" and "what the law considers righteous" in the terms, though Origen doesn't seem to include this idea.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Knowledge and foreknowledge

A line of Paul that has long puzzled me is:
"Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again?" (Gal 4:9)

Previously, we can infer, God didn't know us? Isn't God supposed to be all-knowing. There is clearly something strange happening here and it wasn't clear to me what Paul is meaning. Why should he add "or rather to be known by God" as if it is a correction to the previous phrase? It's like saying "Yes, what you think has happened is that you have come to know God, and that's true, but the more important truth is that God has come to know you." But what sense does it make to speak of a God who's all-knowing, gaining knowledge?

But if we think back to Adam, we remember that "Adam knew his wife Eve" (Gen 4:1), where "knew" is used as a euphemism for sex. This reminds us that "know" has uses other than factual knowledge. In english, "knowing" people has to do with the fact that I have a relationship with them, eg I know my friends, I know my family. If I "get to know" a friend, it follows that at the same time they'll "get to know" me.

Now back to Gal 4:9... Paul's emphasis that the "know" relationship between God and man is reciprocal (if man comes to know God, then God comes to know man) shows that he's talking about the relational kind of "knowing" rather than the intellectual kind. Paul's meaning wouldn't be altered if we translated it "you have come to have a relationship with God, or rather God has come to have a relationship with you". Person-person relationships are two ended, hence why Paul can spin it around like this.

Foreknowledge and Predestination

Romans 8:29-30 (those whom God foreknew he also predestined, called, justified, and glorified) has long troubled me, mainly because none of the interpretations I have seen of it have I found particularly convincing. One obvious thing about it is that it's in the past tense. Since all intrepreters think it's talking about a future event, they are forced to say that the past tense is used to indicate the great certainty of the future event. I've read plenty of excuses in my time as an apologist and have a well developed bolax-meter and it goes "ding" everytime I read that explanation. So I was particularly intrigued last night when Reuben suggested to me that the passage is talking about the Old Testament saints, ie its an observation (based on Old Testament scriptures) of what God did in the past with the implication that a similar thing will happen to us. That seems to fit in nicely with Romans 8:28, as the observation there (that we know that through all things God works for good with those who love him whom he calls) seems to be a similar observation from scripture regarding what God has done in the past. But further to this, Reuben had an interesting idea about "foreknew" and so we sat down and pulled out the Greek dictionaries and search tools and it seems to work.

In Acts 26:4-6 Paul speaks to Agrippa:
"All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial..."

Guess what the word for "known" is in vs 5.
It's progignwskw, "foreknow" (same word as in Rom 8:29), made from "pro" = earlier, before, in front of; and "gignwskw" = know (this is the same "know" word used above in Galatians 4:9 and Gen 4:1)
Is Paul saying all the Jews had foreknowledge of him?!? I doubt it.

The conclusion Reuben and I have come to regarding what "foreknow" ususally means is this:
The "pro" prefix means "earlier" and refers to an earlier time at which something was known so in a flash-back to time X the "foreknow" refers to any knowledge held at time X. Paul speaks in Acts 26:4-5 of his youth and those who knew him at the time. Since his youth is in the past, they "foreknew" him: At that time in the past they had knowledge of him. In English we would add our word "did" for this purpose and get "did know". Hence Paul is saying "They did know me at the time of my youth".

Look at Rom 11:1-2. Paul says
"I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? "

It makes much better sense to understand the "foreknew" here as relational knowledge at a past time rather than intellectual knowledge of the future.
ie. Paul's saying "God hasn't rejected his people whom he once was in a relationship with" rather than "God hasn't rejected his people whom he could foresee would be his people due to his knowledge of the future". It makes sense to ask the question of whether God has rejected Israel whom He once loved. It doesn't make sense to ask the question of whether God's foreknowledge has gone awry.

A similar train of thought applies to "predestine" = pro-wprisdw = earlier + set apart. (It should be noted that the classical Greek philosophers were big on predestination. Most of them thought all of human life was subject to fate, that everthing was predetermined etc. This word that the Bible uses isn't their word for predestination)

So turning back to Romans 8:29-30
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified."

Let's assume this is talking about the OT saints (Abraham, Moses, David etc). It thus says that those in the past that God did know (in a relational sense of "know") during their lives, he did set apart, and called, and justified, and glorified. The implication then would be that now God has come to "know" us (Gal 4:9), we can be assured that what happened to the OT saints will happen to us. Indeed Paul follows with:
"31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?" (Romans 8:31-32)

That explanation seems to me to do a lot more justice to the text (especially the fact that 8:29-30 are in the past tense) than do any other explanations I've seen.

This is not to deny that "foreknow" can't be used in the traditional sense, as it clearly is in 2 Peter 3:17 - there's a flash-forward going on rather than a flash-back, the "earlier knowledge" they have is knowledge in the now which happens to be of the future (I think that is coincidental, as any knowledge they had in the now would be "earlier knowledge" due to it being held in the now as opposed to the future. The fact that the content of the knowledge itself is about the future probably has nothing to do with why it's called "foreknowledge" in the passage).

Edited to remove typo