[Vision2020] Ralph, Beer, Cats, Sex, Berith, & Apostle Paul

[Art Deco]

Michael writes:

"I'm working on a debate with Wilson on this matter right now." 


Warning!  



Michael, if your livelihood depends in any way upon being in the good graces of Christ Church Capon Douglas Wilson, do not win the debate. Those that disagree with Wilson are soon disgraced and departed.  



Case in point:  The imminently qualified, charming, and impressive past music master at NSA.  After he voted not to elevate dimbulb Christ Church Capon Jr Nathan Wilson to the status of Full Fellow, he was terminated.  There are other cases:  one in Canon Press was a subject of discussion previously on V 2020.


Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michael 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 9:57 AM
  Subject: [Vision 2020] Ralph, Beer, Cats, Sex, Berith, & Apostle Paul


  Ralph,

   

  Your name is Inigo Montoya, and I am prepared to die. 

   

  Here is your paragraph in full:

   

  "As to why neither appears in the New Testament, I suspect that the expectation of the imminent Second Coming of Christ was so fully in the minds many of the early Christians that they had no time to think of either beer or cats. They didn't even have time to think about sex

  (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)."

   

  Looking back on it, I can see that those who didn't have time to think of beer or cats were only "many," (although not your later interpretation as "some.") However, look at how ambiguous the second statement is; it seems to be an independent statement asserted to support the initial claim.  It is most naturally read as the following: many didn't drink beer; after all, Christians didn't even have time to think about sex according to Paul's comments about sex in 1 Corinthians. This would imply that you were referring to, generally speaking, all Christians. 

   

  So I can't say that my initial read of this was some sort of gross misrepresentation.  The average reader would need the follow up information that Corinth and the Christians there were actually a rowdy sexual and drinking bunch of people, according to external and internal textual evidence. I don't take the responses to this personally, since I know that my revealed relation to various ministries of Christ Church do not permit me to make a true assertion about the bible :-)

   

  As for the text in question, this is a very beautiful but difficult text; Paul does not clearly reference a 'second coming' here, but "this present [or impending] distress" (7:26).  Paul is more concerned with defending his own love for them, his authority, getting worship in better order, the primacy of love and unity in the church, and serious discipline issues than he is about an immanent happening.  His eschatology in this book seems different than you suggest.  For example, Paul says that Jesus "must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet," which would include liberal biblical scholarship; so he couldn't have come that early on.

   

  As a side note, if you are a local biblical scholar, I need help on OT 'berith' and new testament 'diatheke.' This is where some of my work is currently focused, and other than Leithart it is hard to find any interest around here since Joan would call me a heretic for rejecting the teaching of the Westminister Confession of Faith.  I'm working on a debate with Wilson on this matter right now.

   

  Thanks

  Michael Metzler  

   

   

   



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