On Tuesday morning (13.9.22), after one daughter and I had read the Christian Science Lesson-Sermon together, we read Romans chapter 1 aloud together (by phone). Later in the day, another daughter and I read the first 4 chapters in a similar fashion. This was in preparation for a Madelon Maupin (BibleRoads) Bible class to be held on Wednesday.
This is a fine way to bring the
sense of the message more clearly. My main impression of these chapters was
that they are so relevant in praying about present day conditions in t he
world.
I was somewhat startled at Paul’s
reference to homosexuality (hedonism). And I noted that if we see such
behaviour as abhorrent about man, we are sinning as well. If we see a sinner,
we are sinning. God does not see a sinner. She (God) says, “This is my beloved
son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). We have to see the man of God’s creating.*
(Note: I had an idea that I had
read that those verses had been added by church authorities at some future
time, and were not from Paul, but I have found no verification of that.)
Another point raised was the law and righteousness (i.e. the Ten Commandments and circumcision). In Abraham’s day. the Ten Commandments had not yet been recorded by Moses. And it this was a time when there was no circumcision. Was God’s law not in operation then? Was Abraham righteous before he was circumcised? Was Moses righteous before receiving the Commandments?
Righteousness or rightness and
self-righteousness make for a good study.
I found this helpful from BYU Religious Studies Centre
When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him
to establish a covenant with him. The Lord promised that Abraham would be “a
father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4), that the Lord would give unto him “the
land wherein [he was] a stranger” (Genesis 17:8), and that his “children
[would] be known among all nations” (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 17:9). As a token of this
covenant, the Lord commanded, “Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of
the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:10–11). Abraham was further
commanded that whenever a male child was born in his extended household, the
child should be circumcised when eight days old (Genesis 17:12). On the day he
was commanded, Abraham took all the males of his household and circumcised the
flesh of their foreskin. Abraham himself was also circumcised as a token of the
covenant that God made with him (Genesis 17:23–26).
The Old Testament was written in
Aramaic and Hebrew; the new in Greek.
A Bible Gateway blog by Andy Rau offers some background:
What parts of the Bible were
written in Aramaic?
Ancient Aramaic
originated among the Arameans in northern Syria and became widely used under
the Assyrians. A few passages in the Old Testament were written in Aramaic (Genesis 31:47; Ezra 4:8-6:18, 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11).
Some have compared
the relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic to that between modern Spanish and
Portuguese: they’re distinct languages, but sufficiently closely related that a
reader of one can understand much of the other. Aramaic was very popular in the
ancient world and was commonly spoken in Jesus’ time.
...Many people assume that the New Testament
was written in Hebrew as well, but by the time the gospels were being written,
many Jews didn’t even speak Hebrew anymore. Rome had conquered Greece, and the
influence of Greek culture had saturated the empire. What’s interesting about Biblical Greek
is that it didn’t use a high-class or complicated style; it was written
in koine (common
Greek), a language that could be understood by almost anyone, educated or not.
So Paul's letter was written in Greek.
Joyce Voysey
*Ed. See Romans
2, which begins: But if
you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at
others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself.
The Message by Eugene Petersen
No comments:
Post a Comment