Tag: Philippians 2
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Household: Paul as Father?
Paul followed in Jesus' footsteps in his use of fictive family to convey theological truths, but Paul also used fictive family metaphors to indicate his own sense of fond relationship for those he had nurtured in the faith: 1 Thessalonians 2:5-12 5 As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with…
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Household: Jesus’ Household Code (Part 2)
(Continuation from the previous post) Status – Matthew 20:1-16 Adherence to, and enforcement of, status differences was another frequent concern of the household codes. It was argued that failure to respect status differences properly would cause the social order to dissolve into chaos. Jesus tells a parable at the beginning of Chapter 20: "For the…
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Theology and Economics: Having the Mind and Heart of God. (Part 2)
Jesus gave vivid images in Matthew 25 to describe what he expects of his followers between his ascension and his return: We are to have the mind and heart of God in everything we do. We are to care passionately about the things God cares about and act on those passions. Paul wrote regularly about…
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Reflections on the Parable of the Compassionate Father
[Previous] My presentation of Kenneth E. Bailey's work on Luke 15:11-32 is woefully lacking. Still, I hope these recent posts have helped us see how rich the story is when viewed through Middle Eastern eyes. Having closely examined this parable, we now ask what to do with the parable. The temptation is to "gut" the…