Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies, Spring 2019, Volume 3

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Contents Metaphors and Metaphysics: Ontological Realism and the Church as “The Body of Christ”

by Anthony Costello....................................................................................................................1 Choosing Wrong: A Biblical Response to Pro-Choice Christians

by Thomas J. Gentry II..............................................................................................................17 John Calvin the Refugee Theologian: Reflections on Shepherding with a Graceful Hospitality

by Justin McLendon..................................................................................................................32 The Makarisms of the Apocalypse: An Index to the Heavenly Realities of the Christian Life

by William Scott Moody............................................................................................................51 The Healing Miracles as Acts of New Creation

by Steven Winiarski...................................................................................................................79 Book Reviews John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue. Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth Nathaniel Parker......................................................................................................................105 Kenneth L. Woodward, Getting Religion: Faith, Culture, and Politics from the Age of Eisenhower to the Ascent of Trump Ron Cobb………………………………………………….……………………………….…107 Submission Guidelines, Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies..............................................110 Submission Guidelines for Book Reviews..................................................................................113

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

Metaphors and Metaphysics: Ontological Realism and the Church as “The Body of Christ”

by Anthony Costello Unity in diversity, individuality in community; this dialectic reality is the wellspring of some of history’s greatest achievements (e.g. Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and some of its greatest tragedies (e.g. National Socialism). As fallen beings, if we push too hard in one direction, the hunger for unity can mutate into faceless uniformity—push too hard in the opposite, and the cacophony of individual voices drowns out the common good. In his master novel, East of Eden, John Steinbeck highlights this stark dichotomy, fearing the loss of individuality for the sake of collective: In our time mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea God. This in my time is the danger [. . . .] And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about. Here Steinbeck highlights man’s innate longing for, yet harrowing fear of, union with “the other.” It is a classic, philosophical enigma, one that haunts every generation - a vexing reality that has given rise to countless ideologies. For what, if anything, ultimately unites us? And, if united, must the self be sacrificed?

In his letters to the Romans (Rom 12:4-5), the church in Corinth (1 Cor 6:15-20; 12:1213, 27), and his general epistle to Ephesus (Eph 4:4-6), the apostle Paul offers an answer: the Holy Spirit of God, who, in His infinite wisdom and power, unites all who have believed in the  MA Christian Apologetics (2016), Biola University; MA Theology (2018), Talbot School of Theology.

 John Steinbeck, East of Eden (New York: Penguin, 1992), 131-132.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 2 Son into the very body of Christ, a single body that is the Church. This single body, however, has many unique members; it is not “uniform.” Further, other biblical voices testify to this unity of a diverse number of persons. The apostle John records Jesus himself praying for such unity, a unity that reflects the same perichoretic unity enjoyed by the distinct persons of the Trinity (Jn 17:2023). Finally, the author of Hebrews suggests that there are things in the heavenly realm, heavenly realities as such, that earthly objects merely symbolize or exemplify (Heb 9:11, 23-24; 12:2223). Thus, the body of Christ that is the church down here, may very well be an exemplification of something greater, a Body of Christ up there, just as the Mosaic tabernacle was the shadow of the celestial Tabernacle it represented.

Taking into account these rich and suggestive canonical texts and supplementing them with a robust ontological realism, this essay will argue that it is reasonable to understand the body of Christ spoken of in places like Romans 12 as more than a metaphor for how the local church should function or behave. Rather, the Body of Christ can be construed as a real, immaterial substance, created by the Holy Spirit, who, in doing so, unifies the particular mental states of all individual believers who have ever existed. Further, it will be argued that this universal Body of Christ, itself a singular, identifiable thing, does not necessarily compromise the individuality of the human person that Steinbeck and so many others so desperately cherish.

Finally, there are theological implications for seeing the Body of Christ as ontologically substantive most importantly as it pertains to our relationship to the Trinity and to our communion as saints.

The Body of Christ, the Trinity, and the “Heavenly Things”

 Frank Thielman, Ephesians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2010), 12.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Romans 12:4-5: The Body of Christ Turning first to the biblical data, Paul mentions the body of Christ qua church most explicitly in Rom 12:4-5, 1 Cor 12:12-13; 26-27, and Eph 4:4-5; 11-16. It is this corporate body of believers, in contrast to the actual body of Jesus (e.g Rom 7:4, Heb 10:10), or the more mystical eucharistic body of Christ (1 Cor 10:16), that relates directly to the present argument.

For brevity’s sake an analysis of the more concise similitude found in Rom 12:4-5, as opposed to its longer parallel in 1 Cor 12:12-27, should be satisfactory for examining this claim.

Thus, Paul states in Romans 12: “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members

one of another (NASB).

Both Jewett and Dunn agree that the body metaphor (ἐν ἐνὶ ὶ σώματὶ πολλἀ μέλη ἔχομεν) Paul uses would have been widely recognizable terminology to a Greco-Roman audience familiar with contemporary philosophical paradigms. According to Jewett, “Given the emphasis on unity in the use of this metaphor as an expression of political and cosmic solidarity in the Greco-Roman world, this may have appeared to be commonsensical to Paul’s [Roman] audience.” Dunn concurs saying, “In place of nationality and ethnic unity as the form of God’s people, Paul puts forward the image of a body. The image would have been familiar to his Roman audience: the body of a single entity made up of diverse members mutually independent was obvious and common enough in popular philosophy.”

  Robert Jewett and Roy David Kotansky, Romans: A Commentary, Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 743.  James Dunn, Romans 9-16 in Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 38B (Nashville: Thomas Nelson 1988), 733.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 4 The Greco-Roman philosophy that proffered such body language, however, was primarily centered around the concept of either the immanent state (i.e. the body politic, or Greek πολὶς), or pantheistic notions of the individual as part of the “world body.” Obviously, for Paul, this new church body does not find its identity in governments or mystical union with the creation; instead its identity is found “in Christ.” It is a Christ-like body. Although Jewett emphasizes that this “‘body of Christ’ concept” has more to do with the “horizontal unity and relationship[s]” between members, he does suggest that Paul, in contrast to the pantheism of his day, “stresses that each Christian is actually an interdependent ‘member’ along with all others,” i.e. Christians are not ontologically one with the cosmos or each other. However, Jewett goes on to say that “Christ is the larger reality within which the various congregations and individual members are to find their unity.” Unfortunately, he makes no further qualification as to what this “larger reality” might be. Therefore, the identification of the church body with Christ, as opposed to immanent objects like the physical world or the state, could plausibly refer to a transcendental reality within which these “interdependent members” coexist.

Of course, this body “metaphor” must be seen within its immediate context, and that context entails Paul’s treatment of the gifts (χαρίσματα) given to members by the Holy Spirit.

These charisms are the visible expression of the very unity enjoyed by the community, or, as Dunn points out, “for Paul the body of Christ is by definition a charismatic community….he  Jewett, Romans, 743.  Jewett, Romans, 743.  Jewett, Romans, 744.  Jewett, Romans, 744.  Jewett, Romans, 744.  Jewett, Romans, 744 emphasis added.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies identifies the functions of the body as the charisms themselves; the congregation functions as Christ’s body when its members let the grace of God come to diverse expression through them.” In this sense, then, one could be satisfied, like Jewett, in simply saying that that which unifies the church is the application of the Spirit’s power through certain charisms and the coordination of those charisms for the purpose of building up the individual members of the church. This edification of members and strengthening of “horizontal relationships” is clearly stated in Eph 4:11-16 and the more expansive 1 Corinthians 12. Thus, one could maintain that the body of Christ is no more than a metaphor for this coordination and application of spiritual gifts experienced down here amongst the individual members of the church. While it is still the grace of God that does the unifying, it is merely the this-worldly functioning and relating of individual members that the body metaphor illustrates.

At this level of analysis, then, the body of Christ just is individual believers and the spiritual charisms or gifts that they express amongst each other. These, in turn, tend to result, but not always, in peaceful and loving relationships and joyful worship of God. Still, there are reasons to think that this is a sparse view of the body of Christ. For example, regarding the term itself, Dunn, pace Jewett, argues, “the often-made point that ‘the picture of the body is more than a mere metaphor’… is sound: the body imagery is actually an expression of the consciousness of community and oneness experienced by the first Christians as they met ‘in Christ.’” Indeed it  Dunn, Romans, 734.  Robert Jewett, Paul’s Anthropological Terms (Leiden: Brill, 1971), 303-304. Jewett points out that Paul avoids calling the church “Christ’s body” in Romans, perhaps due to Hellenistic misconceptions that “indulge[d] in speculations that the pneumatic ‘I’ could be identified with Christ’s body so that it shared Christ’s divinity.” Jewett maintains, therefore, that Paul’s language “remains on the metaphorical level” (Romans, 743). However, the argument presented here is not that the church literally is Christ’s body, but a separate entity, created by the Holy Spirit, that is one Body because of Christ and in relation to Christ.  Dunn, Romans, 724.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 6 would seem that the very concept of a “consciousness of community” would require some real object that grounds the experience of its “oneness.” To not posit some ontological reality that makes the experience true would open the door to anti-realist assumptions that such language is merely instrumental, since clearly there is no such thing as a communal “consciousness.”

Further, invoking Käsemann, Dunn claims, “Käsemann is right to stress that the members do not constitute the body, but Christ constitutes them as such,” implying a transcendental agent constituting some thing. Finally, “to describe the church as the earthly sphere of his power is in danger of forgetting that the Spirit, though given to the church, is not confined within it.” In sum, the body of Christ taught in Romans 12:4-5 could certainly be more than just individual members plus their spiritual gifts living and working in harmony, and, in fact, it is probably good to see it as more than just that. There are metaphysical realities at work here as it is Christ, who constitutes the body of believers “as such,” and the Holy Spirit, who is neither confined by nor limited to the church. These realities will become clearer in light of some nonPauline passages to which we now turn.

 Dunn, Romans, 724.  Dunn, Romans, 724.  Dunn points out that “as soon as ‘in Christ’ is identified with ‘in the church’…that church is making the same mistake as Israel κατἀ σἀρκα.” 724.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

John 17: Perichoresis and the Trinity In John’s Gospel, the author recounts Jesus’ prayer for His disciples just prior to His arrest. In two places (Jn 17:11, 21-23), Jesus’ own words suggest that the perichoretic unity shared by Him and the Father is, or will be, exemplifiable by the disciples themselves. The unity first presented in verse 11 is drawn out in verses 21-23. In his substantive handling of the theme of unity in these verses, Raymond Brown shows, in spite of many scholarly musings about the nature of unity, that John regards “heavenly unity [as] both the model and source of the unity of believers.” Following the work of T.E. Pollard, Brown, therefore, establishes that any notion that the earthly unity shared by believers is the model for heavenly unity is simply flawed. He states, “John does not model heavenly unity on earthly unity but vice versa,” for indeed, “the model of unity is the mutual indwelling of Father and Son.” It is, therefore, an ontological status (the very indwelling of the two divine persons in one essential being) that is the proper analog for the unity (soon to be) found in the Church.

There are two additional points to make regarding these Johannine claims. First, this apparent analog between the nature of the Trinity and the (future) nature of the body of believers, does not deter from any functional purpose that the unity is meant to generate. It is clear that there is a “desired effect that this unity is to have on the world,” namely, the world coming to know and believe in who Jesus is and what he has been sent to do.

Second, in John’s

“introducing the Father as well as the Son into the unity” and in the fact that that “Father-Son  Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John, The Anchor Bible, vol. 29-29A, (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966-70), 769.  Brown, Romans, 769.  Brown, Romans, 778.  Brown, Romans, 776.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 8 relationship involves more than moral union,” Brown can safely say that John’s vision of unity exceeds that of Paul’s in Romans 12. This intertextual difference need not concern us here, since this is a systematic approach and not a biblical theological one. As such, we can enthusiastically supplement the Pauline understanding of the body of Christ with the teachings of Jesus found in John to formulate a more robust notion of what the nature of this unity might be. A final exposition from Hebrews will enhance this synthesis still.

Hebrews 9: The “Heavenly Things” Before advancing to a philosophical argument for an ontologically real, Holy Spirit generated, immaterial and numerically singular Body of Christ, a look at Heb 9:11, and 23-24 is in order, for here it seems explicit that there are “heavenly things” of which earthly objects are but shadow-like copies. First, with regards to the “earthly tabernacle,” in contrast to the “greater and more perfect” one in 9:11, it is important to note that the heavenly sanctuary is one “not made by hands.” Therefore, it is clear that the author “understands fundamental reality to be heavenly rather than earthly,” and that “the earthly tent [tabernacle] is a visible pointer to a heavenly reality” (cf. 10:1; 12:22). However, these heavenly realities that are superior to their physical counterparts are certainly not uncreated, since only God is a se, and, therefore, they must be created, yet non-physical, realities, or immaterial substances.

Koester continues, pointing out a fundamental notion common to the Judaism of the day, namely, that “what God makes is superior to what human beings make.” But, he further suggests  Brown, Romans, 776.  Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible, vol. 36, (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 427.  Koester, Hebrews, 414.  Koester, Hebrews, 413.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies that only transcendental things would have been seen as the proper bases for faith, “Since the Tabernacle [the Mosaic one] was ‘earthly’…it was therefore subject to decay (1:10-12). Only what is transcendent can be the basis of abiding faith.” Although disagreeing on the nature of the heavenly sanctuary’s cleansing, O’Brien concurs with Koester that the parenthesis, “that is to say, is not a part of this creation,” does “indicate that what is the opposite of ‘made with hands’ points to what is transcendent and spiritual.” In sum, it is nearly certain that the author of Hebrews holds a view of divinely created realities or “things” that exist apart from their immanent and earthly counterparts. As such, these things can only be one of two kinds of things: 1) concrete, immaterial objects like angels or minds, or 2) abstract objects like propositions or numbers.  But it is not merely that these transcendent realities exist; they are, as Koester notes, the very bases for human activity on earth.

Thus, with regards to the biblical data in view, it seems viable, taking into account Jesus’ prayer in John 17, and the author of Hebrews account of heavenly objects, that Paul’s metaphor of the church as the “body of Christ” can, with little hesitation, be understood as an actual, transcendent “Body of Christ”, i.e. as something more than metaphor.

But, what might this new entity be like? If there is a real substance, the Body of Christ, what might it consist of or what types of properties might it bear? When did it come to be, and how do we, as individuals, interact or access it?

The Body of Christ: A Philosophical Exposition  Koester, Hebrews, 413.  Peter Thomas O'Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2010), 321.  A longer discussion on the nature of abstract objects is probably warranted here; but for the sake of argument I assume the classical view of such objects as thoughts or ideas in the Mind of God, i.e. Divine Conceptualism.

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Two questions confronted us at the outset: 1) how can many individual entities be united into one being, and 2) how can this unity exist without the loss of individuated personhood? For the purposes of this essay, I will posit the historical, orthodox position regarding human nature, viz., that human persons are a psycho-somatic duality. In other words, human beings are bodies and souls, or per Swinburne, “The body is an ordinary material object, and so is that crucial part of it—the brain; but the latter is connected to a soul which is the essential part of a man, and which is the part which enjoys the mental life (i.e. which is the subject of sensation and thought and the originator of actions).” It is necessary to look more closely at what kind of thing a human soul might be, and what the soul’s structure is like. Foremost, souls can be categorized as immaterial, yet concrete substances, i.e. objects, not made of material stuff, but possessing causal powers. They are agentive in that there is a certain kind or degree of freedom they enjoy in deploying those causative powers even if the power itself ultimately derives from God.  More specifically, it can be said that these free, agentive, causally efficacious, immaterial substances possess certain mental features that make them personal, i.e. that distinguish them as selves. Features like having or generating particular thoughts, holding specific beliefs about those thoughts, and having desires about those beliefs about those thoughts are all aspects of individuation and selfhood.

Finally, there are things like feelings or emotions that attach to those beliefs and desires, and taken in concert, these thoughts, the beliefs I form about them, the emotions that attach to them, and the desires that arise out of them, can themselves all be thought about and reflected upon.  Richard Swinburne, The Evolution of the Soul (Oxford Oxfordshire: Clarendon, 1986), 2. emphasis added.  For a longer discussion on created causality see Ian A. McFarland, “Concursus and the Problem of Determinism” in From Nothing: A Theology of Creation (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 2014).

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies This second-order thinking allows me to reason about the very thought-belief-desire dynamic and develop intentions, plans, and goals aimed at satisfying my desires or acting on my beliefs. With this sketch of the human soul in mind (no pun intended), how might we conceive of this novel substance called the “Body of Christ”? While conceivability is not ultimately determinative of truth, it can be an indicator of a hypothesis worth considering. That said, it is conceivable that the Body of Christ is a kind of being created by the Holy Spirit  that encompasses the complete set of all thoughts, beliefs, emotional states, and desires of each individual soul of each person who has ever come into a salvific relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thus, if I were to see my own soul as a set of all the thoughts, beliefs, emotions, etc., particular to me, that would be one distinct set of mental states {M 1}. However, there would be as many distinct sets of such states as there are faithful souls who have persevered in faith until natural death. Each of these sets of mental states would be the ultimate, immaterial content of the Body of Christ. Thus, the Body of Christ is conceivably a meta-set {M*} of all such mental states, i.e. {M1…Mn}, of all believers in history.

There are two additional things to note about what a set like this would be like. First, this meta-set itself would not be finite or determinate since new thoughts and beliefs and emotions could be added to it as the individual sets of each soul expand as particular souls experience their own new thoughts, beliefs, desires, etc. As new thoughts or desires emerge, those would be added to the meta-set that is the Body of Christ. Thus, the meta-set would be a potential infinite since each individual will persist in having new thoughts, beliefs, emotions and desires about God and others in the eschatological future. Further, other thoughts or beliefs are gradually  For a longer discussion on belief-desire dynamics see Swinburne, Evolution of the Soul 262297.  A logical place to locate the temporal beginning of the Body of Christ would be at the moment of the Spirit’s descent on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:3)

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 12 removed from the meta-set. Sanctification itself entails that false beliefs, inappropriate thoughts, or unholy desires will gradually be removed from the structure of each individual soul. Thus, as the content of each individual center of consciousness is purified, the meta-set gradually changes over time. O’Brien suggests something very similar to this in his approach to Heb 9:23 which speaks of Jesus’ sacrifice as cleansing the heavenly things: “From the context of Hebrews 9 the referent [of the cleansing] is taken to be the consciences…of the members of the new covenant.” At this point it appears that a truly substantive, content-rich, Body of Christ is at least possible. This would simply be the Holy Spirit creating and sustaining an immaterial being that ranges over, at any given time, the full set, {M*}, of all godly thoughts, beliefs, emotions and desires of all individual souls of all believers. However, would the existence of {M*} effectively eliminate each particular set, {M}, of each particular soul? It is not obvious that it would. For clearly the set {M*} is not identical to any particular set {M}, even though each {M} persists both in the Body of Christ and separately in itself. Still, one might wonder, if the entire set of my particular mental states, i.e. the entire content of my consciousness, is assumed into the meta-set of the Body of Christ, how would I persist as a distinct entity? If all of my mental features exist in another being, is not that being just me?

Again, it is not obvious that the Body of Christ qua meta-set, {M*}, is identical to any given set {M} of a particular soul. First, {M*} has a greater number of thoughts, beliefs, desires, etc., than any particular {M}. Second, because of this, it would also have different thoughts, beliefs, etc., than any {M}. Third, since God is the creator and sustainer of both {M*} and any particular {M}, he could easily hold both {M*} and each {M} in existence co-temporaneously, without eliminating one or the other. Finally, it could be argued that the Holy Spirit could at one time, t1, allow that a given soul with a particular set of mental states {M 1}, have full access to  O’Brien, Hebrews, 337.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies {M*}, (the meta-set, {M1…Mn}), while at another time, t2, that same soul would have access only to its own {M1}. Thus, the individual soul would at times participate in and experience the entirety of all the thoughts, beliefs, desires and emotions of the Body of Christ, but at another time have access to, or experience, only its own set of thoughts, beliefs, desires and emotions.

If this is possible, then the individual soul, i.e. the personal agent, could persist in conscious awareness of its individuality since it would not have constant access to the Body of Christ, but would move in and out of the Body, sometimes communing fully and completely with it, and at other times subsisting as only its own self. Finally, this concept is not foreign to Scripture, as there are times when Jesus himself does not seem to be fully participating in knowledge and awareness of the Father, even though they are clearly ontologically one.  Thus, the key concept here is access to an ontological reality of which one is part.

It seems then that to say that the individual soul is not the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is not the individual soul is obviously true. Another way one might conceive of this is by thought experiment. Assume for the sake of argument that God will save exactly 6.2 billion souls to eternal life. Those 6.2 billion elect souls are all in the one Body of Christ. If one were, however, to give the instruction, “Count the number of saved souls and the number of Bodies of Christ,” one would not answer exactly 6.2 billion; rather one would be able to answer 6.2 billion and one, since both are distinct kinds of things, even if the one fully inheres in the other. This is not unlike Frege’s deck of playing cards, where one can count 52 cards and one deck as 53 things, even though the 52 make up the one.  That is to say the one Body of Christ is dependent  Mk 13:32, 14:35; Matt 27:46; Jn 14:28. Certainly these verses refer to Jesus’ human nature in its finitude, but the idea is analogous since the individual soul would be in many ways less than the Body of Christ but still exist in the Body of Christ in an intimate and indwelling manner.  E. J. Lowe, More Kinds of Being: a Further Study of Individuation, Identity, and the Logic of Sortal Terms, 2nd ed. (Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 48.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 14 on the existence of many individual souls, but individual souls are not dependent on the Body of Christ for their existence. Finally, it could be said that if the Body of Christ is a kind of universal, then individual souls could act as particular instantiations of that universal Body. Thus, there could be billions and billions of particular instantiations of the one Body of Christ.

Conclusion: Why does it Matter?

But why does all this abstract analysis matter? What does it give us concretely in relation to our life of faith? I conclude with three practical and important theological implications for this ontologically heavy view of the Body of Christ.

First, it honors the biblical text as a serious source of knowledge in that we are not epistemically obligated to see Scripture’s language as just metaphor or literary device. The biblical authors assumed a metaphysically rich reality, and so should we. Two centuries of scientific naturalism have taken their toll on our ability to think earnestly and robustly about the “heavenly things” that the biblical texts speak of. To water down much of the Bible to mere metaphor is an indicator of the philosophical and scientific reductionism we have become all too comfortable with.

Second, an ontological reality that unifies all of our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and desires makes our communion with each other real, as we would gain first-person awareness of the inner lives of our brothers and sisters “in Christ.” This true communion of saints is not unlike the kind of knowledge the Trinity shares within Itself and to us. As Fred Sanders points out in his brilliant work on the triune God, all “knowledge of the Trinity is inside knowledge given by insiders.” To have true insider knowledge of “the other” ensures that we do not have empathy or suffer with “the other” in some superficial way but in the most intimate way possible. In the  See James Porter Moreland and William Lane Craig, “Is Being a Genus?” in Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2003).

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Body of Christ, therefore, the mutual indwelling of the very thoughts and feelings of each member would generate a genuine first-person experience of other members’ sufferings and joys (cf. 1 Cor 12:26). Finally, John Webster has reminded us that the Trinity is a distributed doctrine, meaning that the entirety of Christian doctrine must be informed by the Trinity. The Trinity defines and determines reality and therefore “permeates theological affirmations about every matter.” All existence starts and ends with the Triune God. If the Body of Christ is as I have argued, then in actually being more like Christ, we become more like the Trinity. In conclusion, therefore, to see the Body of Christ as a real object of heavenly design, and not as mere metaphor  for the thisworldly activity and functioning of its members, is to see the Bible as a real source of knowledge, to hope for a true communion of saints, and to understand the church in its appropriately Trinitarian light.

Fred Sanders, The Triune God, New Studies in Dogmatics, eds. Michael Allen and Scott R. Swain (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 38.  Technically, I would have a first-person experience of your first-person experience. Thus, the oft made statement “I know exactly how you feel!” would be literally true.  John Webster, God Without Measure: Working Papers in Christian Theology (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2016), 117.  I realize that the actual term σομα would still be metaphorical, but it would be metaphorical for something ontologically actual rather than just the Spirit guided relating or behaving of individual believers. Perhaps what I am suggesting is akin to T. Soiron’s ‘figurative-realistic’ view of the body of Christ. Jewett states, “The third answer to the question [what is the relation between Christ and the Church] as Soiron presents it is the ‘figurative-realistic’ one in which the body of Christ is thought of as a metaphor, yet as revelatory of profound spiritual reality.”

Jewett, Anthropological Terms, 204. emphasis added. One of Soiron’s followers, A. Mitterer adds substance to this claim, “‘die heilige Kirche is ein übernatürliches Organismus, bestehend aus Menschen als seinem Wesensstoff und dem Heiligen Geist als seiner Wesensform oder Seele.” as quoted in Jewett, Terms, 204. emphasis added.

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Choosing Wrong: A Biblical Response to Pro-Choice Christians

by Thomas J. Gentry II Among pro-life advocates, the idea that one can be a Christian and pro-choice seems like a contradiction. Christians are pro-life, the thought goes, and to be pro-choice is anything but Christian. There are, however, those who profess to be Christians while holding a pro-choice view of abortion, and these pro-choice Christians do not merely dismiss the Bible in their considerations. Pro-choice Christians attempt to argue in various ways for their position from the Bible, and any full-orbed pro-life apologetic needs to know what such pro-choice Christians are saying and how to respond. In light of this, the purpose of the present research is two-fold. First, the research will present the biblical arguments for abortion advanced by pro-choice Christians followed by a prolife Christian response. Second, the research will present a summary of the pro-life position found in Scripture. The research will suggest that the arguments advanced by pro-choice Christians are biblically and otherwise flawed and that the proper assessment of the abortion issue is a pro-life position rooted in the historic Christian worldview.

 ThM in Theology, Liberty University; DMin in Pastoral Counseling, Piedmont International University.  It is beyond the purview of this research to address the validity of claims to be “Christian” that are made by the pro-choice proponents whose arguments provide the basis of this paper. The author’s use of “pro-choice Christian” should not be taken as anything more than a description of these pro-choice persons according to their own judgments.  “Argument” is used here and throughout the paper not in the technical sense of formal/informal and valid/invalid, but as a word to summarize the general position of the pro-choice Christian’s approach to articulating and defending his or her views.

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Understanding and Responding to Arguments by Pro-Choice Christians There are two types of biblical arguments advanced in favor of abortion by pro-choice Christians. The first type of pro-choice argument begins with a biblical passage where abortion, though not explicitly stated, is thought to be implied in a manner that, while not necessarily encouraged, is not condemned. The second type of argument emphasizes what pro-choice Christians consider the biblical priority given to the freedom of women to choose to bear children rather than being forced to bear them (i.e., having the freedom to abort them if so desired). These two types of arguments are considered below followed by a pro-life response to each. The primary biblical text that is alleged to allow abortion is Exod. 21:22-25: If men fight and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Pro-choice Christians prefer interpretations of the passage that view the description of “gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows” as referring to the fetus being miscarried and killed, the mother remaining unharmed, and a mere fine being levied for the offense. Such interpreters view the description that “harm follows” as referring to the mother's death rectified by capital  See Walter R. Martin, Abortion: Is It Always Murder? (Santa Ana: Vision House, 1977) and Robert N. Wennberg, Life in the Balance: Exploring the Abortion Controversy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985).  See Virginia R. Mollenkott, "Reproductive Choice: Basic to Justice for Women," Christian Scholar's Review 17 (March 1988): 289-296.  Another text sometimes referenced by pro-choice Christians is Num. 5:11-31, but it is not included here since the entire argument derives from only one translation of the text as found in the New English Bible, and its presentation is found in popular rather than scholarly literature. For a presentation of the popular argument see "A Pro-Choice Bible Study" (Seattle: Episcopalians for Religious Freedom, 1989) and its critique in Francis Beckwith, "A Critical Appraisal of Theological Arguments for Abortion Rights," Bibliotheca Sacra 148, no. 591 (July 1991): 346-348.  Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 18 punishment (i.e., lex talionis – the law of exact revenge). Thus, the pro-choice Christian argues that, according to Exod. 21:22-25, the Bible is less concerned for the death of a fetus than the death of a mother. In propositional form, the pro-choice argument is as follows: 1. In Exod. 21:22-25 a person who accidentally kills a pregnant woman is given the death penalty.

2. In Exod. 21:22-25, a person who accidentally kills an unborn human is only fined for the crime.

3. Therefore, Exod. 21:22-25 teaches both that the pregnant woman is of greater value than the unborn human she carries and that the unborn human does not have the status of a person.

4. Therefore, abortion is justified. Responding to this argument from a pro-life perspective, Francis Beckwith offers two critiques.

First, even if is granted that pro-choice Christians correctly interpret the passage, and there is a distinction made between the punishment for killing the fetus and killing the mother, there is still a punishment for either one, which implies that the Bible does place value on both the mother and the child. This point, Beckwith concludes, militates against what he describes as the “subjectively grounded value of the unborn assumed by the pro-choice movement,” and demonstrates instead that the fetus has intrinsic value separate from its mother.  Second, Beckwith argues that even when granting the pro-choice interpretation of the passage, the Bible is still not endorsing abortion-on-demand but is merely recognizing that there is a lesser crime

 This is the interpretation of such commentators as Ronald E. Clements, Exodus, in Cambridge Commentaries on the New English Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 138, and J. Phillip Hyatt, Exodus, in the New Century Bible (London: Oliphants, 1971), 233.  Beckwith offers this summary of the pro-choice Christian’s propositional argument in Beckwith, "A Critical Appraisal," 343.  Beckwith, "A Critical Appraisal," 343.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies involved when killing a fetus accidentally. Nevertheless, it is still a punishable crime due to the value of the fetus. However, as Umberto Casuto’s commentary on Exodus demonstrates, it is reasonable to conclude that the pro-choice Christian’s hermeneutic is flawed. Instead of interpreting the passage as describing in verse 22 the death of the fetus and in verse 23 the death of the mother with different punishments in both instances, Casuto argues differently. He concludes that verse 22 is speaking of premature birth that does not bring harm or death to the mother and/or the fetus, while verse 23 is speaking of harm or death to the mother and/or the fetus.  Thus, in propositional form the passage should be interpreted as follows: 1. In Exod. 21:22, the Bible states that a fight between two men that results in a woman prematurely delivering a child with no harm to the woman and/or the child requires the imposition of a fine on the two men.

2. In Exod. 21:23-25, the Bible states that a fight between two men that results in a woman prematurely delivering a child with harm or death to the woman and/or the child requires punishment according to lex talionis.

3. Thus, Exod. 21:22-25 requires equal treatment of the life of the mother and the fetus.

4. Therefore, Exod. 21:22-25 presents a condemnation of abortion, at least in its accidental form. At this point, the pro-choice Christian may object that, even if this interpretation is correct and the emphasis in the passage is upon not forcing an abortion on a mother (e.g., by two men fighting), the passage still does not condemn abortion-on-demand. Instead, the passage leaves open the possibility that elective abortion is viewed differently than an imposed abortion by the  Beckwith, "A Critical Appraisal," 343-344.  Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1967), 275. For a similar argument, see Michael A. Grisanti, "The Abortion Dilemma," The Master's Seminary Journal 11, no. 2 (September 2000): 180-185.  Although not presented in propositional form by Casuto, the interpretation is presented as such here in order to parallel the pro-choice interpretation presented in propositional form previously.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 20 Bible. This potential response from pro-choice Christians has at least two problems. First, the theme of the passage is about the punishment given those who injure or kill the fetus and/or the mother with the implicit notion that the lives of both the fetus and the mother are valuable and not to be harmed or killed. Thus the passage makes its central focus about the value of both lives, not the motivation of the ones involved in bringing harm or death to the fetus or mother. Second, as derived from the broader teaching of Scripture regarding the status of the unborn, the prochoice Christian’s attempt to validate elective abortion in Exod. 21:22-25 pits Scripture against itself. Whereas the pro-choice Christian argues that the status of the fetus in Exodus 21 is not the same as a person outside the womb (e.g., the mother), the Bible elsewhere speaks openly about the continuity of life inside and outside of the womb. Consider the following examples: 1. Gen. 4:4 describes Cain’s life as a whole from conception through birth: "Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, Ί have acquired a man from the LORD.'" 2. Job 3:3 presents in the form of Hebrew parallelism Job’s poetic lament regarding his difficulties revealing that he views his conception and birth in the same terms: "May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, 'A male child is conceived.'"

 This researcher is not aware of any particular pro-choice Christian that argues this way, but the argument seems plausible and should be anticipated in a full-orbed pro-life apologetic.  Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” 344.  Such examples are used by Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” Grisanti, “The Abortion Dilemma,” Bruce K. Waltke, "Reflections from the Old Testament on Abortion," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 19, no. 1 (1976): 3-13, and others. Only the Old Testament passages are focused on here. The New Testament’s relevance to abortion is included in the presentation below related to the pro-choice argument from Scripture.  For a more complete discussion of the relevance of the early chapters of Genesis to the abortion issue, especially the implications of the dominion mandate in Genesis 1:26-28, see William S. Kurz, "Genesis and Abortion: An Exegetical Test of a Biblical Warrant in Ethics," Theological Studies 47, no. 4 (December 1986): 668680.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 3. Ps. 139:13-16 offers David’s description of God’s knowledge of him before his birth: “For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb. . . . My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret . . . Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Regarding this passage, Ronald Allen explains that “the fetus in the mother's womb is described by the psalmist in vivid pictorial language as being shaped, fashioned, molded, and woven together by the personal activity of God. That is, as God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, so he is actively involved in fashioning the fetus in the womb.” 4. Ps. 51:5, an example of Hebrew parallelism, is David’s confession of his sinfulness; therein David acknowledges that from birth and conception (two moments he separates by time, but not by significance for his sinful personhood) that he was/is a sinner: “Behold, I was brought forth (i.e., born) in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.” Commenting on this passage, Michael Grisanti explains that “such a moral state could be ascribed only to a person.” The relevance of these and similar passages (e.g., Jer. 1:5) is that they provide a canonical context in which to interpret the somewhat vague language of Exod. 21:22-25, placing that passage within a broader whole in which the biblical understanding of life and personhood begins in the womb. These verses also carry a strong implication regarding the biblical prohibition against abortion as an extension of the biblical prohibition against murder. Beckwith explains: Concerning the Bible and abortion, the following can be concluded: Just as the Bible does not forbid murdering people with submachine guns, the Bible does not forbid abortion. But since one can infer that murdering persons with submachine  Ronald B. Allen, In Celebrating Love of Life (Portland: Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1977), 6.  Grisanti, “The Abortion Dilemma,” 179.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 22 guns is wrong from the fact that the Bible forbids murdering in general, one can also infer that the Bible teaches that abortion is not justified from the fact that the Bible refers to unborn human beings as persons and forbids the murdering of persons in general. In addition to the preceding argument from Exod. 21:22-25, pro-choice Christians also argue for the legitimacy of abortion regarding a woman’s right to freely bear children, rather than being forced to bear them. Arguing for abortion as concomitant with a woman’s reproductive freedom is the view of Virginia Mollenkott, who argues as follows: 1. God created humans as free moral agents.

2. Any public policy that limits free moral agency is against God's will.

3. A public policy forbidding abortion would limit the free moral agency of the pregnant woman.

4. Therefore forbidding abortion is against God's will. In drawing her conclusions, Mollenkott makes at least two assumptions. First, any limit of free moral agency is necessarily bad and pregnancy poses a potential limit on free moral agency if the mother cannot choose to terminate the pregnancy. Second, Mollenkott assumes that the general presentation in Scripture of pregnancy is that it is something that the mother wants and freely accepts.  Rather than presenting pregnancy regarding the “rights” of the fetus, the biblical model according to this view is that the primary concern is the mother’s choice to bear children. To deny that choice and make

 Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” 341-342.  Mollenkott, "Reproductive Choice," 289-296. Although her arguments for abortion are not identical to Mollenkott’s, Dunnett makes related appeals. See Dolores E. Dunnett, “Evangelicals and Abortion," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 33, no. 2 (June 1990): 215-225.  The four points presented above, as well as the response that follows, are based on Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” 342-343.  Mollenkott, “Reproductive Choice,” 291.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies pregnancy mandatory once it begins is to go contrary to the perceived biblical tenor of free moral choice by allowing the fetus to coerce the mother.

Consider two pro-life responses to this appeal to free moral agency as justification for abortion. First, Mollenkott’s second premise, that anything that limits free moral agency is wrong is not accurate. As Beckwith explains, there are several instances in Scripture where God limits free moral agency, such as the prohibitions against murder and adultery. Both are actions of free moral agents that the Bible explicitly forbids (see Exod. 20:13-14). What Mollenkott fails to differentiate is the legitimacy of limiting free moral agency when it is in the best interest of other free moral agents to do so, such as when it is in the best interest of one person to freely choose to live instead of being murdered. In the case of abortion, unless Mollenkott can demonstrate that the fetus is not a human, then her appeal to free moral agency begs the question in the abortion discussion: is the fetus a person or not? Only if Mollenkott assumes the fetus is not a person can she appeal to free moral agency as the justification for ending the pregnancy.

Otherwise, Mollenkott takes away with one hand what she gives with the other by insisting on moral freedom for the mother but denying the same moral freedom to the baby in the womb.

Second, Mollenkott’s claim that the Bible’s emphasis on childbearing is always something the mother celebrates as an expression of her free moral agency may be valid, but there are instances where one might argue that the pregnancy was not a free choice but the result of circumstances the mother could not avoid. For example, Hagar’s pregnancy with Ishmael in Gen. 16:1-4 does not appear to be an expression of Hagar’s free moral agency but a result of her status as a slave. Further, the fact that a mother  Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” 342. Beckwith’s example is drunk driving.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 24 celebrates her pregnancy is not a statement about the status of the fetus as much as it is a statement about the circumstances of the mother. For Mollenkott to argue this point begs the question of the status of the fetus; yes, pregnancy is celebrated (generally) in Scripture, but the focus of the celebration is on the child to be born, not on the mother’s freedom to choose to be pregnant or not. This argument is merely a red herring obfuscating the point of the broader discussion and may be presuppositionally driven by those who seek biblical justification for abortion.

Before transitioning to a discussion of the pro-life position in Scripture, the discussion thus far may be summarized as follows. First, pro-choice Christians attempt to argue for their position regarding abortion in two ways: (1) from appeals to Scripture that present abortion as, if not desirable, at least permissible; and (2) from appeals to the biblical description of pregnancy as a matter of free moral agency which, if abortion were forbidden, would be diminished. A pro-life response to these pro-choice arguments is three-fold. First, even if pro-choice Christians accurately interpret Exod. 21:22, the interpretation does not diminish the status of the fetus but simply requires a different penalty for harming or killing either the mother or the unborn child. Second, it is likely that pro-choice Christians do no correctly interpret Exod. 21:22, and that the text does require two punishments—one when the child is prematurely born but the mother and child are unharmed, and one when the child and/or mother are harmed or killed. In either case, the status of the mother and the child are equal. Third, the pro-choice argument from Exod. 21:22 contradicts the broader canonical presentation regarding the status of the fetus described in various passages with the same personal language used to describe children after birth. Thus, the broader canon highlights the conclusion that the status of  Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal,” 343.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies the fetus and the infant are the same: both are persons. Fourth, the pro-choice argument for abortion from the perspective of free moral agency fails for two reasons: 1) The prochoice argument from free moral agency begs the question of the status of the fetus by assuming rather than proving that the fetus is not a person; 2) the pro-choice argument from free moral agency fails to demonstrate that all limits on free moral agency are contrary to God’s will, especially since God limits free moral agency for instances such as the commands against murder and adultery; 3) the pro-choice argument from free moral agency does not establish that the general description of pregnancy as a celebratory event involving the mother’s free agency in any way justifies the abortion of a child.

Thus, the pro-choice argument reveals several fatal weaknesses, both biblically and philosophically. What, therefore, is the pro-life position positively conceived?

Consideration now turns to a summary of this position as found in Scripture.

A Summary of the Pro-Life Position in Scripture The pro-life position from Scripture has three parts outlined by the following questions.

What does the Bible explicitly state about the fetus? What are the theological implications for the Bible’s statements about the fetus? What are the specific implications for the incarnation of Jesus Christ relative to the biblical statements regarding the fetus?

What does the Bible explicitly state about the fetus?  Broadly, the Bible states four things about the fetus. First, the Bible speaks of the human life as a whole from conception to birth and onward. Such is the case with the description of Cain in Gen. 4:1, Job in Job 3:3, and David in  The passages discussed here are used by several pro-life authors, including John Jefferson Davis, Abortion and the Christian (Philipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1984), 35-62; Charles K. Bellinger, Jesus v.

Abortion: They Know Not What They Do (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2016); Carl Horn, III, and Andrew E. Hill, “Abortion,” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed., Walter A. Elwell, ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 16-19; Beckwith, “A Critical Appraisal”; and Grisanti, “The Abortion Dilemma.”

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 26 Ps. 51:5. This fact leads to the reasonable conclusion that the biblical views of life in the womb and outside the womb are the same. A fetus is a person just as the newborn. Second, the Bible describes God as “knowing” people before birth, meaning that God views the fetus as a person of whom he has intimate knowledge (cf. Judg. 13:3, 6-7; Ps. 139:13-16; Isa. 49:1; and Jer. 1:5).

Third, John the Baptist, while still in his mother Elizabeth’s womb, is described as giving a direct personal response to the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb when Mary visited Elizabeth (see Luke 1:44), indicating that both John and Jesus were, as fetuses, acting as persons and were, therefore, described as persons. Fourth, the Greek word brephos describes a newborn in Luke 2:12 and 16, and an older baby in Luke 18:15, and an unborn child in Luke 1:41 and 44.  This interchangeable use of the word indicates that from the womb to newborn, to an older infant the biblical view is that of a person, a “child;” this point also is a corollary to the first point above regarding the Bible’s presenting life from the womb to birth and beyond as a whole.

In addition to the specific biblical passages just discussed, the Bible raises theological implications regarding abortion: What are the theological implications for the Bible’s statements about the fetus? There are at least two such theological implications. First, the biblical teaching about human depravity depends on an understanding of the fetus as a person.  In Psalm 51, wherein David confesses his sin in the affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11), he describes himself as having been “brought forth (i.e., born) in iniquity” and having been conceived “in sin” (Ps. 51:5). David describes both his conception and his birth regarding their relationship to original sin, something that would make little sense if he did not view his conception as the beginning of his personhood. Likewise, Paul’s discussion of the imputation of Adam’s sin to all  Spiros Zodhiates, ed., The Complete Word Study New Testament with Greek Parallel (Chattanooga: AMG, 1992), 881.  Horn and Hill, “Abortion,” 17.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies humanity demonstrates that there is an assumed unity between those who are outside the womb and those inside the womb. Writing in Rom. 5:12, Paul explains that “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

By being conceived into a sinful world, all humans share a personal propensity toward sin at the point of conception that is inevitably expressed in actual sinful choices.  Whether inside or outside the womb, however, the nature of sin is inherently personal: sin relates to persons.

Second, there are theological implications for the understanding of God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge based on his “knowing” people in the womb, such as Jeremiah in Jer. 1:5, where God states “before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” In this passage both God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge are displayed in the description of Jeremiah’s calling; however, without a view that Jeremiah was a person in the womb, the passage is incomprehensible. God’s words to Jeremiah make sense only if, in his complete sovereignty and foreknowledge, he actually “knew” Jeremiah in a personal sense before his birth, which necessarily implies that Jeremiah was a person before he was born. Likewise, the doctrine of election in Eph. 1:4, where Paul describes God’s choice of the elect as “before the foundation of the world,” assumes that before birth God sees as persons those who trust him for salvation. When compared with the discussion of Adam’s sin above, Ephesians 1 and Romans 5 describe a God who sovereignly foreknows all persons, whether they are born as sinful descendants of Adam and remain as such, or whether they become believers in union with Jesus.

 Whether or not Paul’s intention in Romans 5:12 is to teach that all receive Adam’s sinful nature and his guilt for sin, or just his sinful nature is beyond the scope of this discussion; both have been argued by evangelicals, viz. Adam Harwood, Born Guilty: A Southern Baptist View of Original Sin (Carrollton: Free Church, 2013). The primary concern in citing this passage is to demonstrate the association with sin throughout the human race as originating in the physical father of humanity, Adam, and passed along to his descendants.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 28 The third and final question relative to this summary of the pro-life position in Scripture is related to the person of Jesus Christ: What are the specific implications for the incarnation of Jesus Christ relative to the biblical statements regarding the fetus? There are two implications for consideration. First, Luke’s narrative of the announcement by Gabriel to Mary that she would bear a son describes the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in a manner that implies Christ’s divine personhood from the moment of conception (Luke 1:26-38). The early church understood the importance of the moment of Christ’s conception, even declaring as heretics those claiming that Jesus became God at some time post-conception. The early church’s response was a resounding statement that Jesus, from his conception, was the incarnate Son of God.  However, if there is no personhood in the womb, then this early church doctrinal concern is meaningless.

Only by the Holy Spirit miraculously bringing about the conception of the Son of God incarnate in the womb of Mary is the doctrine of the incarnation upheld. The early church rightly concluded that the Bible teaches that Jesus was the divine Son of God—fully human and fully God—in the womb from the moment of conception.

Second, if elective abortion is acceptable in Scripture as an expression of a woman’s free moral agency (see Mollenkott’s argument above), then it is conceivable that Mary could have, as an expression of her free moral agency, aborted Jesus. While this not intended as a sacrilegious consideration, it is in keeping with the idea that the primary concern is the woman’s liberties, and that God would never want a woman to lose those liberties, especially in reproduction. Yet, in the case of Mary, the choice to bear the Christ-child was strongly suggested by Gabriel. Mary simply

 For more on this discussion, consider the Adoptionist heresy.  John Warwick Montgomery, "The Christian View of the Fetus," in Jurisprudence: A Book of Readings, John Warwick Montgomery, ed. (Strasbourg: International Scholarly Publishers, 1974), 585. For a more complete discussion of Adoptionism, see Howard F. Vos, “Adoptionism,” in Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 26.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies said “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Surely no one would attempt to argue that Mary could have later aborted Jesus without being guilty of grave sin.

The theological ramifications of such a heinous act as killing Jesus in the womb are startling. Some may respond that Jesus is a unique instance and unrelated to general reproductive considerations. If Jesus receives special treatment in the womb, but other fetuses do not, the legitimacy of Jesus’ humanity comes into question, not by making him less human, but by making his fetal humanity somehow different than every other person. One cannot kill Jesus in the womb, but killing others in the womb is somehow acceptable? Only by affirming the solidarity of Jesus in the womb with all other fetuses can his humanity be considered legitimate.

This affirmation makes the thought of killing any person in the womb, be it the Son of God or the daughter of the couple down the street, clearly not biblical.

Conclusion Some Christians claim to be pro-choice based on their interpretations of select passages of Scripture and philosophical concerns related to human freedom. Arguing from texts like Exod.

21:22-25 and from a woman’s free moral agency, these pro-choice Christians advocate that abortion is a biblical option since the Bible does not forbid it, nor does it teach that a fetus is a person. The purpose of this research has been, however, to demonstrate that such pro-choice Christian claims are unbiblical. Rather than supporting abortion in any capacity, the arguments set forth that the Bible presents a clear view of the fetus as a person and that abortion, far from being an acceptable use of free moral agency, is a destructive and sinful use of human freedom.

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31 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

John Calvin the Refugee Theologian: Reflections on Shepherding with a Graceful Hospitality

by Justin McLendon Calvin and Pastoral Awareness On March 2, 1556, John Calvin wrote a lengthy letter to Lutheran church leaders in Frankfurt, Germany. Calvin did not know the recipients of this letter, but his concern for the Church and the lingering complications between Lutheran and Reformed Protestants compelled him to intervene. Calvin offered to travel to Germany and defend his views of Communion (over and against the Lutheran view), and his letter explained his concern over a group of recently arrived refugees. For a variety of reasons, Calvin feared the German Lutherans would not welcome these refugees because their practice was to accept only those refugees that were “theologically acceptable.” This glimpse into the practical intervention of Calvin’s ministry is not surprising, for the Reformers maintained an active ministry of pastoral care and advocacy.  Calvin’s intercession in this instance sheds light on the sort of work Reformation pastors engaged in beyond their weekly pulpit responsibilities.

 Assistant professor of theology at Grand Canyon University and Grand Canyon Theological Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona  Elsie McKee, “A Week in the Life of John Calvin,” in Calvin: The Man and the Legacy, eds. Murray Rae, Peter Matheson, and Brett Knowles (Hindmarsh, AU: ATF Press, 2014), 66-67.  Ibid., 66.

 For a robust treatment of the Reformation’s renewal of pastoral theology, see Scott Manetsch, Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 145-181.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 32 While Calvin is rightly considered an academic theologian, a pastor theologian, and a missionary theologian, one must keep in view his own status as a refugee when considering the totality of his theological and pastoral work. Robert Vosloo argues that Calvin’s own status as a political refugee and his subsequent ministry on their behalf is “an aspect of Calvin’s life that needs to be rediscovered . . . one cannot evaluate Calvin’s ministry in Geneva without taking into account the crucial role played by the influx of refugees into that city.”  Calvin’s contemporary interpreters often restrict his legacy to the Institutes or his commentaries, but those timeless works developed out of his daily pastoral activities.

The reality of Calvin’s sojourning as a political refugee deeply shaped his advocacy on behalf of the refugees he encountered in Geneva. Throughout sixteenth-century Europe, persecuted Protestants fled their homelands in mass, and many of these refugees made their way to Geneva where in the 1550s the population doubled in size. The emergence of refugees brought about numerous social, economic, and political challenges. As Heiko Oberman observes, Calvin’s work within the broader Reformation should be understood as the “reformation of the Refugees.” Calvin’s proposed solutions to the refugee problem were as polarizing then as are many of the proposed solutions are today.

By the early 1550s, almost half of Geneva was composed of refugees. The city was a melting pot due in part to its historical reputation as a haven for exiles and travelers, but also due to its geographical proximity to France. Increasing persecution in Catholic France and the surrounding areas caused thousands to clamor for safety within the friendly confines of Geneva.  Robert R. Vosloo, “The Displaced Calvin: ‘Refugee Reality’ as a Lens to Re-examine Calvin’s Life, Theology and Legacy,” Religion & Theology 16 (2009): 38.  Heiko Oberman, The Two Reformations: The Journey from the Last Days to the New World (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 111-115.

33 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Calvin himself was a Frenchman living in Switzerland, having fled the persecution in France.

Calvin was an outsider, and his outsider status created significant political complications for the ministry he would undertake.

The influx of refugees streaming into Geneva brought complex challenges for the city’s infrastructure and social services. Not surprisingly, the increasing presence of refugees not only fueled a disgruntled population, but the disappearance of expected resources brought newfound constraints. Many of the native residents of Geneva grew to despise refugees, viewing them with contempt as those who carry diseases, steal jobs, and deplete charitable resources. Additional scrutiny focused on the foreigners' muted ability to assimilate quickly into society. Thus, a growing movement emerged of those seeking to enforce regulations which included restrictions upon a refugee’s right to vote. This reactionary posture complicated the process for refugees seeking to attain citizenship. According to William Naphy, although other crises lurked in Geneva, the cultural and political turmoil regarding refugees was the single most common complaint in Geneva during this period. Geneva dealt with refugees before, but the circumstances surrounding Calvin’s experience posed different obstacles due to the burgeoning numbers and their speedy arrival. For example, in October 1538 or 1539, Geneva’s city hospital assisted 10,657 poor strangers as they passed through the city, and Naphy notes this number does not include local Genevans seeking care at the hospital.  Marcus J. Serven, “The Care of Souls: John Calvin’s Shepherding Ministry,” Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 3.1 (2018): 155-158.

 William Naphy, Calvin and the Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 121.  Ibid., 122.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 34 In Calvin’s day, hospitals were tasked with providing adequate care to the city’s poor, the city’s orphans, and the city’s normal population. In addition to routine healthcare provisions, Jeanine Olson notes how the hospital baked and distributed bread for the poor. These services were an increasing practical burden as workers struggled to maintain a consistent level of care for the poor. By the end of 1543, city officials were willing to help strangers so long as the resources were available, but when resources were depleted the city’s response ceased.

The disappearance of funding compelled Calvin to respond with precise leadership in the formulation and direction of the Bourse, a collection fund designed to support the poor when Geneva’s resources were depleted. Through this consistent advocacy, Calvin shaped an ecclesial and pastoral intervention which transcends his ministry setting. Olson’s work reveals the importance of Calvin’s work with the Bourse. She notes Calvin’s direct intervention “regularly involved through his contributions and recommendations to poor people to seek out the fund for help.” Practical questions emerge as modern ministers evaluate their own options to the worldwide crisis, and a brief overview of Calvin's motivating principles sheds light on contemporary solutions. What was driving his advocacy to minister to refugees? One must refrain from political reductionism or political talking points when answering. Calvin’s answer was deeply theological, and his response centers on a robust glory theology as seen in his substantive views of the imago Dei.

 Jeanine Olson, Calvin And Social Welfare: Deacons and the Bourse Francaise (Susquehanna, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1989), 124.  Ibid., 16.

35 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies The Imago Dei and its Implications Calvin articulates how one is to “do good” to fellow image bearers even though the image of God in fallen man is marred.

The Lord commands all men without exception “to do good” [Heb. 13:16]. Yet the great part of them are most unworthy if they be judged by their own merit. But here Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love. However, it is among members of the household of faith that this same image is more carefully to be noted [Gal. 6:10], in so far as it has been renewed and restored through the Spirit of Christ. There is wise and culturally relevant pastoral counsel in this commentary. In the modern world, there are multitudes of people who are, in Calvin’s words, “most unworthy [of serving] if they be judged by their own merit.” In other words, those who are unworthy do not earn by their actions any good will from anyone, but Scripture does not teach that our valuing of others is based upon their inherent goodness, their ability to produce a marketable good, or their economic, political, or national status.

The inherent personhood of those in need of charity is enough justification to motivate those who more clearly manifest God's image. Members of the household of faith have, as Calvin says, the image of God “renewed and restored through the Spirit of Christ,” so there is an inherent ethic attributed to the manner of behavior one Christian has for another person. But Calvin’s treatment clarifies his expectation of Christians towards those outside the household of faith. Christians cannot expect unregenerate humanity to recognize this truth, but the household of faith must resolutely commit to seeing all humanity through this lens. According to Calvin: Therefore, whatever man you meet who needs your aid, you have no reason to refuse to help him. Say, ‘He is a stranger;’ but the Lord has given him a mark that  John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), 1:696. The brackets within the quotation are within the original.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 36 ought to be familiar to you, by virtue of the fact that He forbids you to despise your own flesh (Isa. 58:7, Vg.). Say, ‘He is contemptible and worthless;’ but the Lord shows him to be one to whom He has designed to give the beauty of His image. Say that you owe nothing for any service of his; but God, as it were, has put him in his own place in order that you may recognize toward him the many and great benefits with which God has bound you to Himself. Say that he does not deserve even your least effort for his sake; but the image of God, which recommends him to you, is worthy of your giving yourself and all your possessions. This was precisely Calvin’s point in his letter to the Lutherans in Frankfurt. Theological disagreements do not preclude a gracious hospitality. Calvin’s view evidences a robust worldview of providential activity for those in our midst are not there accidently. Further, Calvin’s view of human placement and movement, and the sanctified responsibility of believers to those in their midst, gives rise to an evangelical witness seeking to praise God and give evidence to his grace through service.

At this point, one must seek clarity concerning Calvin’s motivation for advocacy. It is common in contemporary conversation to hear an appeal to the imago Dei when discussing the ethical obligations of Kingdom citizens towards all people. In fact, nearly every Christian response to the refugee crisis begins with a reference to the imago Dei. Calvin, however, believed we were too selfish to make good use of this as our motivating ethic. Our advocacy cannot be reduced to merely an affirmation of one’s image bearing, for we could manipulate humanity’s image bearing to our own good by classifying others in ways that benefit our needs.

In other words, one could claim rich and poor to be image bearers, worthy of respect and advocacy, and still in one’s selfishness show partiality to the rich over the poor.

What is needed, in Calvin’s view, is to build our advocacy not simply from the basis of humanity’s image bearing, for that is basic, but to serve and show hospitality to image bearers  Ibid.

37 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies because of the one for whom humanity images. Yes, refugees are image bearers and deserve respect and dignity, and their plight should compel Kingdom citizens to lighten their burden. But to take Calvin’s position in its full expression, image bearers are merely reflections of the source, our holy God, who is worthy of unhindered devotion. Stated simply, Christian advocacy for image bearing refugees honors their humanity, but the ultimate purpose of any advocacy is to praise and magnify the character of God. Noted Reformation historian Roland Bainton affirmed this trajectory in Luther and Calvin. He argues, “Both Calvin and Luther had an overwhelming sense of the majesty of God, but whereas for Luther this served to point up the miracle of forgiveness, for Calvin it gave rather the assurance of the impregnability of God’s purpose.”  Calvin’s view of the majesty of God purposed his life in such a way that his own political refugee status in Geneva modeled the spiritual refugee status of his own soul. The spiritual sojourn and pilgrimage in exile was an important and consistent focus in Calvin’s theological corpus. Calvin scholar Herman Selderhuis, helpfully suggests, “[Calvin’s] theology of the experience of being a stranger, of having heaven as one’s true home country, reduced the need for strong ties to one’s earthly home country, increased mobility and produced a pioneer mentality.” His refugee status, coupled with the pervasive refugee crisis in Geneva, fueled his theology of the imago Dei to ignite action for the purpose of doxology. Contemporary ministers seeking to forge avenues of ministry advocacy for their congregants can incorporate this purposeful vision of glorifying God by serving image bearers with a graceful hospitality.

 Roland Bainton, The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (Boston: Beacon Press, 1985), 114.  Herman Selderhuis, John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009), 215.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 38 The Diaconate and the Goal of Graceful Hospitality In their recent book, The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life, Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements state “the secret weapon for gospel advancement is hospitality.” Willis and Clements have a friend in Calvin because he too argued for hospitality in this way. Calvin believed hospitality was not a question of personal preference but of obedience to the command to show kindness to strangers. Calvin mourned the decline of Christian hospitality in his own day, and he claimed that hospitality had “nearly ceased to be properly observed among men; for the ancient hospitality, celebrated in histories, is unknown to us, and Inns now supply the place of accommodation for strangers.”  God is fundamentally hospitable in his nature, and Calvin believed hospitality to be a theologically-driven practice the church employs to mirror God’s character.

The author of Hebrews speaks pointedly to the importance of biblical hospitality: “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:1-2, ESV). As Gareth Cockerill notes, the author of Hebrews is careful to instruct his audience how “they are not just to remember ‘hospitality’ but the ‘love of hospitality.’ This is no begrudging offer of kindness but a generous sharing of what one has.” Thus, hospitality's biblical root is an explicit love for outsiders. Love for Christian brothers and sisters does not end there, but it fuels our love for others. We should recall the dire warning against restricting love exclusively to believers, for Jesus himself asks, “Do not even  Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements, The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life (Chicago: Moody, 2017), 19.  John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, ed. and trans. John Owen (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1853), 340.  Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 680.

39 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies unbelievers do the same?" (Matt 5:47). Commenting on this text, Craig Blomberg states, “The true test of genuine Christianity is how believers treat those whom they are naturally inclined to hate or who mistreat or persecute them.”  Further, Paul confirms that lives claimed by the gospel should look a certain way, for he says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:12–13).

In texts such as these, contemporary pastors can see clear demands to incorporate a view to hospitality that is not a secondary issue for the Christian community. Interestingly, in the qualifications for those elders leading the newly established churches, one must be “hospitable” (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:8). Why does Paul require hospitality as an elder qualification, and what significance does this requirement reveal about those tasked with the ordinary means of grace?

Beyond reflecting the character of God, such admonitions demonstrate to the laity how they too should respond to outsiders. So how can qualified pastors lead their people to serve on behalf of refugees? There must be numerous answers to this question, but one solution worthy of contemporary inquiry rests in a recasting of the church’s diaconate ministry.

During medieval times the office of deacon was seen merely as a stepping block to higher ecclesiastical positions. Calvin challenged this truncated view when he organized a new understanding to diaconal work. Matthew Tuininga demonstrates how Calvin saw deacons as those whom the church has appointed to distribute alms, provide ongoing care for the poor, and serve as stewards of the church’s economic provisions.

 Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, New American Commentary, vol. 22 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 114-115.  Matthew J. Tuininga, Calvin's Political Theology and the Public Engagement of the Church (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 239.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 40 Before the Bourse system, the term "deacon" primarily applied to city hospital administrators. The hospital’s connection to city officials and administrators conflated the diaconate office and its ecclesial roles. For example, in Calvin’s Geneva, deacons were appointed by the government in consultation with local pastors. Their duties were many, but their primary role centered on the poor through the government-funded institution of the general hospital.  Various kinds of deacons worked through the hospital to collect and circulate resources for the poor, care for the sick and disabled, and secure shelter and food for the homeless, widows, and orphans. Additionally, deacons assisted the unemployed with what today would be called job training skills. In all this, deacons worked closely with the pastors and the city government, but Calvin’s view of the diaconate continued to shift throughout his Genevan ministry. In the 1559 edition of the Institutes Calvin summarized his views concerning the role of deacons: The care of the poor was entrusted to the deacons. However two kinds are mentioned in the letter to the Romans: “He that gives, let him do it with simplicity…he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness” [Rom. 12:8]. Since it is certain that Paul is speaking of the public office of the church, there must have been two distinct grades. Unless my judgment deceive me, in the first clause he designates the deacons who distribute the alms. But the second refers to those who had devoted themselves to the care of the poor and the sick…If we accept this (as it must be accepted), there will be two kinds of deacons: one to serve the church in administering the affairs of the poor; the other, in caring for the poor themselves. But even though the term diakonia itself has a wider application, Scripture specifically designates as deacons those whom the church has appointed to distribute alms and take care of the poor.  Serven, “The Care of Souls,” 172.  Ibid.

 Bruce Gordon, Calvin (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011), 201. Gordon claims, “Through its extraordinary range of activities it looked after the diverse needs of the men, women and children who arrived in Geneva. It helped men retrain and obtain work, arranged apprenticeships for boys, looked after widows and found work for them, mostly in sewing. The type of jobs could vary enormously.”  Calvin, Institutes, 2:1061.

41 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

Calvin’s counsel sheds light on how deacons can be deployed for effective local church hospitality ministry. In Calvin’s view, deacons are not passive actors in the church’s mercy ministries. They are, instead, the agents to move Christians into real world action and service.

Far from ‘running the church,’ as is often believed in some denominational contexts, deacons are the boots-on-the-ground workers from within the church.

In his recent biography of Calvin, Reformation scholar Bruce Gordon gives more information on the work of the Genevan deacons. He states: The deacons of the Genevan church did just about anything and everything. They purchased clothing and firewood, provided medical care, and not infrequently were present at births. They arranged guardians for the children of the sick.

Essentially, they attempted to meet any need. Their task was thankless. The deacons had to respond immediately to whatever crisis landed at their doors—a sudden influx of refugees could arrive unannounced. They had to deal with difficult benefactors and recipients and the records are full of the ingratitude of those whom they helped, as well as the hostility of locals. People often stole the items they were loaned, and violent threats against the deacons were not uncommon. The deacons themselves were volunteers and therefore had to be men of means. Jeanine Olson claims “no successful reformer of the sixteenth century could ignore the needs of the society in which the reform took place, for the educational and welfare needs of people continued after the Reformation.” As Gordon mentioned above, Calvin’s deacons engaged in careful and widespread ministry, and their numerous efforts flowed out of his flexibility and concern. Their work cost them time, treasure, and comfort. Whether it was local

 Gordon, Calvin, 201.  Jeanine Olson, “Calvin and Social-Ethical Issues,” in The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, ed.

Donald McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 153.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 42 hostility to their work, or the sheer complexity of serving a needy population, their ministry service was faithful and all encompassing.

Lessons from Calvin Many pastors desire to work diligently and helpfully to serve the refugee populations within their communities, but these pastors often struggle to develop a strategy for effective intervention. For whatever reason, other pastors have avoided the subject altogether, but avoiding the subject is not an option if churches are going to be visible expressions of the gospel amid the shifting cultural winds of our day. The hesitancy to discuss the issue with any depth in many churches stems from the politically charged nature of the national dialogue on refugees and immigration. Many Christians and many pastors fear that by addressing the issue they will inevitably offend some in their congregation or within the community. Regardless, the numerical data suggests silence can no longer be the church’s response.

Depending on how one observes recent data, the United States annually resettles thousands of refugees from a variety of nations.  According to Alan Gomez, “Presidents have the authority to unilaterally set the annual refugee cap, which has been as high as 217,000 under President Reagan and hovered between 70,000 and 80,000 under the Bush and Obama administrations.” President Trump has reduced the cap to 45,000 refugees a year. In the United States, three governmental agencies are tasked with overseeing refugee service: The US Department of State, Homeland Security, and the FBI. Each of these agencies employ security  The office of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in 1950. The most current refugee statistics can be found at http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/. Additionally, the US State Department’s dedicated website for their refugee work is https://www.state.gov/j/prm/ra/. On this site, the State Department claims, “Since 1975, the United States has accepted more than 3.3 million refugees for permanent resettlement.”  Alan Gomez, “Refugee Admissions to U.S. Plummet in 2017,” USA Today, January 3, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/03/refugee-admissions-u-s-plummet-2017/999903001/

43 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies screening and data processing to facilitate the influx of persons entering into the United States as refugees. Further, for one to qualify as a refugee in the United States, one must prove or demonstrate one’s eligibility by giving credible evidence of persecution on account of either race, religion, political sentiments, national origin, or social class.

Clearly, opinions vary on the political components of the US policy and its admission of refugees each year. Pastors, however, can avoid the political rhetoric and overlook the debates related to the appropriate number of refugees for yearly admission.  Instead, because the United States admits refugees each year, pastors can endeavor to build a successful strategy for those refugees in their midst. In the end, how many refugees admitted within the United States annually is a separate issue. That they are already here and will continue arriving is enough information for pastors to craft a strategic ministry response. Evidence of this commitment is seen in a recent New York Times piece featuring Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. By any estimation, Johnson Ferry is a mega-church with significant local, regional, national, and international influence and resources. Johnson Ferry joined with 1,055 other churches to work alongside World Relief, an evangelical resettlement organization committed to serving refugees and immigrants in assimilating into their respective communities. The church’s pastor, Bryant Wright, acknowledged the complexities of intentional refugee ministry for his church. “I know there’s risk,” Wright averred. “I’m not being naïve.” But Pastor Wright said that Jesus commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all nations,” and this mandate requires active engagement in this complicated arena. Johnson Ferry’s efforts provide evidence of  This statement does not suggest such debates lack importance. Rather, when strategizing ministry solutions to the refugees already here or those who will arrive, these debates are distracting.

 Richard Fausset and Alan Blinder, “Evangelicals Ignore G.O.P. by Embracing Syrian Refugees,” NewYork Times, September 6, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/us/syrian-refugees-christianconservatives.html

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 44 intentional hospitality, but many evangelical churches are numerically small and have limited financial resources to embrace Johnson Ferry’s robust approach. Ministering to refugees must not be restricted to mega-churches alone. Instead, focusing a church’s response through the diaconate could allow for the flexibility congregations need to minister effectively regardless of size or resources.

What can be learned from Calvin’s advocacy and his expansion of the diaconate? Before offering applications, some cautions must be presented. There are vast differences between Calvin’s Geneva and twenty-first century America. The lines between Church and state in Calvin’s day were often blurry, and in our individualistic American context, we are still trying to determine what constitutes a separation from church and state. Additionally, the church must recognize the government’s many social services and programs in order to use the church’s limited financial resources strategically. Once these factors are considered, pastors can use the diaconate to minister effectively among refugees by appropriating the following steps.

Preach and Apply a Biblical Worldview To bolster the work of deacons, pastors can first preach toward a biblical worldview for the entirety of the congregation. Throughout his ministry in Geneva, Calvin maintained a biblical worldview regarding God’s activity in the world. Calvin related the mass movements of people (or refugees) to Paul’s explanation of people movements at Mars Hill:  “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel  John Calvin, Commentary Upon The Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 163-167. Alister McGrath adds, "For Calvin, God places individuals where He wants them to be, which explains Calvin's criticism of human ambition as an unwillingness to accept the sphere of action God has allocated to us. Social status is an irrelevance, a human invention of no spiritual importance; one cannot allow the human evaluation of an occupation's importance to be placed above the judgment of God who put you there" ("Calvin and the Christian Calling," First Things 94 [June/July 1999]: 33).

45 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26– 27).

Throughout the Old Testament, God raised up some nations while he scattered others.

The development of Israel and her sordid history of movement and place reveal God’s handiwork. Whether one reads of God orchestrating the exiles in their return, or follows along closely to Luke’s narration of people movements in Acts, one easily recognizes God’s purposeful intervention in humanity’s place and purpose. Paul’s thesis in Acts 17 rests on God desiring to be known and praised.

Calvin is a model for pastors who are tasked with shaping the worldviews of their flock, for he used his own refugee status as an emphasis in his preaching and congregational discipleship. Further, with a biblical worldview present within a congregation’s ethos, believers will more easily relate to refugees because Christians sojourn by faith while seeking a better city.

Reasserting this biblical worldview in preaching and congregational discipleship will combat the influence of Western materialism, individualism, and bias. Though some pastors do seek to view refugees through the lens of a biblical worldview, others seem to approach these image bearers from a posture of fear and skepticism. This mindset could be more American than biblical, and it could lend to a stifled corporate witness. A pastoral renewal of building a biblical worldview could signal positive rejoinders to this unhelpful posture.

In his book Shepherds After my own Heart, Timothy Laniak writes, “[Pastoral] leadership can only be understood in terms of a fully integrated theological vision of God and his work on earth.” This theological vision requires tangible expressions of leading others to grasp God’s

 Timothy Laniak, Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible, New Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2006), 249.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 46 work among peoples and spans of time. A pastor not only ministers with sheep; he fights against various assaults of theological and practical weight. When pastors fail to address mistaken theological beliefs, the practical ramifications permeate the church body’s witness and ministry.

Establishing a biblical worldview is one way a church’s theological vision can take shape in its ministries to refugees.

Incorporate a Theological Vision of Evangelism When the congregation’s worldview is shaped biblically, the church’s deacons can offer the critical leadership and administration related to the church’s mercy ministries. Calvin’s deacons worked to apply a biblical worldview by including refugees in their services. John Starke notes how Calvin worked to have refugees sit under his preaching five times a week, and this strategic plan required the hands-on capabilities of diaconate work. Starke states, “As they listened to Calvin's preaching their hearts were stirred for their homeland. Many of them yearned to go back to France and preach the gospel. Calvin agreed to commission some of them to return but wanted to train them first. ‘A good missionary is a good theologian,’ he told them.”  That Calvin sought to preach the gospel to political sojourners surely indicates his redemptive purpose behind all the trouble and planning his actions demanded. But in the end, the biblical worldview he instilled in his church led to the hearing and acceptance of the gospel. In turn, Calvin, his fellow pastors, and their deacons were able to train and unleash a church planting program throughout Europe. According to Stark: By 1555, Calvin and his Geneva supporters had planted five churches in France.

Four years later, they had planted 100 churches in France. By 1562, Calvin's Geneva, with the help of some of their sister cities, had planted more than 2,000  John Starke, “John Calvin, Missionary and Church Planter,” The Gospel Coalition, November 27, 2012, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/john-calvin-missionary-and-church-planter/

47 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies churches in France. Calvin was the leading church planter in Europe. He led the way in every part of the process: he trained, assessed, sent, counseled, corresponded with, and prayed for the missionaries and church planters he sent. This side of Calvin’s pastoral ministry receives scant attention in biographical treatments of his ministry. There is within his refugee advocacy a clear appreciation for and commitment to congregational discipleship and ministerial training. Calvin and his deacons instilled an appropriate worldview, preached the gospel to those whom God brought in their midst, and worked diligently to disciple and train these converts for effective ministry.

This approach could be implemented within a church’s approach to refugee ministry. To be sure, this sort of strategy takes patience, planning, and adequate staffing, but with time and hard work, churches of various sizes could train refugee converts to minister and plant churches.

On a practical level, area churches could partner to shoulder the responsibilities and tasks of training refugee converts for pastoral and missionary ministry.

Expand the Role of Deacons Regardless of any current or future US policy, as long as God wills to bring refugees to the United States, churches will have to strategize to minister effectively from a biblical worldview. Pastors must resist the theological error of silence. A posture of passive ignorance further alienates the church from its biblical activity of generous hospitality. Some Christians mistakenly believe the refugee crisis is exclusively a political problem, driven by those elected officials tasked with the messy and complicated matters of public policy. Governments certainly have an important role, and Calvin pressed Geneva officials to act within their public responsibilities, but Christian sojourners have much to say and much to do, and pastors have a role in forming a theological vision of evangelism. Nevertheless, a pastor’s main calling is the  Ibid., para. 7.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 48 ministry of prayer and faithful biblical preaching (Acts 6:4; 2 Tim. 4:2). Articulating a biblical worldview and instilling a vision of reproductive discipleship necessarily requires fellow workers to facilitate ministry application.

Calvin’s deacons provided hospitality to refugees by assisting in medical crises, supporting the unemployed, and providing for widows and orphans. Through the work of the Bourse, we can detect in Calvin a resolute posture of activity from the diaconate.

Contemporary ministers can learn from this approach and seek ways to expand the role and function of the diaconate. Depending on the church’s location, deacons could work to strategize ways for their churches to offer space and training for English language skills, job training activities, and other local community projects which help refugees assimilate into their new communities. With space and manpower, churches can serve communities by hosting and leading various programs specifically designed to serve refugees. This approach does not exclude outreach opportunities to other community members, but if a church has a refugee population in its region, this sort of advocacy could provide immediate avenues for ministry activity.

Additionally, if refugees are converted through the church’s ministries, deacons can work to offer discipleship opportunities and catechesis training.

Conclusion Because of recent developments in US foreign policy approaches to refugees and immigrants, churches face similar questions to those Calvin confronted along with his company of pastors and the churches they led. Without conflating the problem, we must admit that solutions to these problems necessarily require civil government and international bodies to intervene with their God given duties, but the church has a moral and theological obligation

49 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies which transcends the important work of the state. Is there a theologically robust posture capable of lending practical solutions in the modern refugee crisis? How should the church respond?

More specifically, what specific role does the pastor-shepherd have in leading the church to respond to these challenges? There is no shortage of answers, but Calvin reorients the ecclesial discussion when viewed from his shepherding ministry.

Calvin believed God sovereignly superintended these movements of people. Refugees were not dehumanized as mere intrusions into his way of life. He viewed the refugeereality as an opportunity for Christ to be expressed in the world through the church's mercy ministries. The immigrant who arrives may either be a brother or sister to be added to our fellowship or a lost soul in need of the gospel. Calvin has provided the church with a theological and practical example of a compassionate and Christ honoring response.

One can discern Calvin’s view of hospitality and his advocacy for refugees by observing his commitment to a biblical worldview, his articulation of a theological vision, and his expansion of the diaconate. As churches seek to strategize compassionate responses, a reappraisal of the diaconate might produce adequate avenues for immediate intervention.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 50

The Makarisms of the Apocalypse: An Index to the Heavenly Realities of the Christian Life

by William Scott Moody Introduction For the apostates let there be no hope, and the kingdom of insolence mayest thou uproot speedily in our days; and let the Christians (noserim) and the heretics (minim) perish in a moment, let them be blotted out of the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who humblest the insolent.1 Those are the very words of one of The Eighteen Benedictions spoken by the Jews in a synagogue service against Christians in the ancient city of Sardis. The derogatory terms of this prayer express a withering imprecation against those Jews who chose to follow Jesus Christ as Messiah. Believers had to choose between remaining faithful to Christ or defecting to the membership of the local synagogue in order to avoid persecution. Such a membership roll was termed “the book of life” by this benediction. This may be behind the promise of Jesus to His faithful followers in Sardis that their names would be permanently inscribed in His Book of Life (Rev. 3:5), guaranteeing heavenly access and eternal blessing.

In addition to the threat posed by Judaism in the first century, Christians also experienced the pressures of the imperial cult. The Roman emperor, Domitian, demanded worship as a divine being. He would be called Dominus et Deus Noster (“Our Lord and God”). Any person, Christians not excluded, who refused to acknowledge the divine status of the emperor was  Assistant professor of preaching, Luther Rice College and Seminary.

11William Horbury, “The Benediction of the Minim and the Early Jewish-Christian Controversy,” Journal of Theological Studies, 33 (April 1982): 20.

51 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies subject to criminal prosecution as an enemy of the state. Such was the lot of Christians in the first century.

Interspersed between the messages and visions of the Apocalypse are seven “blessing” passages (makarisms).

They provide an index to the heavenly realities of the Christian

fellowship of the first century. The blessing passages provided great encouragement to the original readers, as well as providing encouragement to believers down through the centuries: “We are to take heart what is written (1:3). Revelation is not intended to tickle our fancy, but to strengthen our hearts. . . . God encourages us not to shy away from it just because some have wrongly viewed it as an impossible puzzle.”2 Spiritual blessings strengthen the heart, and an overview of the seven makarisms is helpful.

The makarisms can be classified into two broad categories: action makarisms (calling for action) or reward makarisms (relating the actual rewards awaiting for those who remain steadfast). Five of the makarisms emanate from heaven (14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 22:7; and 22:14).

The last book of the Bible features a different kind of reading experience. An exploration of the genre and authorship of the Apocalypse assists the reader to understand and apply the full meaning of the makarisms. An overview of the themes, actions required, and rewards are aligned with the relevant passages in Table 1.

22Vern Poythress, The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2000), 71.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 52 Table 1: Overview of the Makarisms Passage 1:3 14:13 16:15 19:9 20:6

Blessing of the Word Blessing of Eternal Life Blessing of Lord’s Return Blessing of Celebration Blessing of Deliverance from Death

Action Obey ---Watch and Remain Pure -------

22:7 22:14

Blessing of Obedience Blessing of Heavenly Access

Obey ----

Theme

Reward ---Rest and Reward ---Feast and Celebration Resurrection and Reigning with Christ ---Heaven

Authorship and Date of the Apocalypse The opening verses supply the name of the author who calls himself “John” (1:4, 9; 22:8). Traditionally, the disciple of the Lord, the brother of James, and the son of Zebedee has been identified as this “John.” Metzger writes, “Since there is no qualifying identification (such as “John the elder” or “John Mark”), it is probable that the author intends his readers to understand that he is John, who was so well known that he needed no titles or credentials.” 3 The prevailing conditions of the latter first century (A. D. 69-96) supply the proper context for the increasingly hostile environment for the followers of Jesus Christ. The original readers of the Apocalypse would have readily identified the antichristian forces arrayed against them during the reign of Domitian (A. D. 81-96) with the evil portrayed in the book of Revelation.

\

The Genre of the Apocalypse Genre refers to the type of literature that comprises any piece of writing. A section of writing (from a few paragraphs to an entire book) can contain one or more types of literature.

Identification of genre is one of the most important tasks in the hermeneutical process. It is indispensable in the proper interpretation of Scripture: Most exegetes agree that identifying the genre of the text to be interpreted is crucial and that the text must be understood in light of the common conventions 33Bruce Metzger, Breaking the Code (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993), 14-15.

53 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies that typified that genre at the time of its writing. Thus, poetry is not to be interpreted in the same manner as historical narrative, nor is prophecy properly read in the same manner as an epistle (letter).4 The book of Revelation moves the reader from the familiar territory of the gospels and the epistles to the strange, even bizarre, world of the Apocalypse. Swete compares such a transition to passing into “another atmosphere.”5

Bauckham acknowledges that Revelation

appears to be “an anomaly among the other New Testament books.”6 The opening words of the Apocalypse supply both the genre identification and the title of the book: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show to His servants the things which must take place quickly, and He signified and sent it by His messenger to His servant John” 7 (1:1). The last book of the Bible is called “The Apocalypse” (Gk. apokalupsis–“to remove the veil”). Encoded within this word are the title and the genre identification of the book of Revelation. It is a title because the veil is removed from Jesus Christ, and He is seen in all of His glory. It is a genre identification because the very literature used in the last book of the Bible presents the glorious unveiling of Jesus Christ through series of symbols, images, signs and visions. William Warren acknowledges the protreptic purpose of apocalyptic literature: Where can hope be found when the world is in chaos and not only one’s own future but also that of the entire community is bleak? When the opposition seems so strong that survival itself is in doubt, where is God? Is there any reason to be faithful to God’s calling when the price for faithfulness may very well be death?

Apocalyptic literature seeks to minister in such circumstances to the suffering 44Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, Ill: Intervarsity Press, 1999), 55.

55H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1907), clix.

66Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 1.

77Unless otherwise indicated, Old Testament quotations are from New King James Version (NKJV), copyright by Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982. New Testament quotations are the author’s translation.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 54 community by answering questions like these. For example, the Book of Revelation is addressed to specific churches in Asia Minor, bringing God’s Word in Christ to bear on the difficult circumstances being faced by those Christians.

With persecution and perceived invincible opposition as the rule of the day, John proclaims God’s intervention on behalf of his people in the most dramatic of fashions, thereby offering an unfaltering source of hope.8 In reality, Revelation defies classification into a single literary type. Two additional literary categories may be supplied with the word “prophecy” in verse 3 and with the formula in verse 4–“John, to the seven churches which are in Asia.” Acknowledging the difficulty in attempting to cast Revelation into a single genre type, Carson, Moo, and Morris suggest a more flexible genre type–eclectic: “We may best view Revelation, then, as a prophecy cast in an apocalyptic mold and written down in a letter form.” 9 The genre used by John presents a healthy, robust Christianity.

The blessing passages find expression within the context of the exalted and

glorified Lord working to establish His Kingdom and eradicate evil. Interestingly, Hauck declares that even the literary form of the makarism itself is a kind of genre in its own right. 10 The makarism genre exists within the host genres of the apocalyptic, prophetic, and epistolary.

The initial words of Revelation express a strong Christianity and set the tone for the entire book.

Christology The opening words of the Apocalypse were carefully chosen by the Holy Spirit in order to state fully the purpose of the book: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” The expression “of Jesus Christ” is a translation of a noun in what Greek grammarians call a genitive case, more particularly a subjective genitive or an objective genitive. The noun phrase (“of Jesus Christ”) in

88Willam F. Warren, “Interpreting Apocalyptic Literature,” in Biblical Hermeneutics, eds, Bruce Corley, Steve Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2002), 347.

010Adolf Hauck, “Makarios, makarizo, makarismos,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol.

IV, ed. Geoffrey Bromiley (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), 363.

55 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies the genitive case can either serve as the subject (subjective genitive) producing the action implied in the verbal idea of the lead noun (“The Revelation”) or it can serve as the object (objective genitive) receiving the action implied in the verbal idea of the lead noun. In other words, the opening statement of John can read, “The Revelation given by Jesus Christ” (subjective genitive) or “The Revelation about Jesus Christ” (objective genitive).

Daniel

Wallace offers an intriguing alternative to the designations of subjective or objective genitive in the opening verse of Revelation: plenary genitive. He envisions a plenary genitive noun as being capable of serving as both subject and object, that is “the subjective notion produces the objective notion.”11 The concept of plenary genitive as applied to the statement “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” reveals a strong Christology: This is the title John gave to his work. Is the revelation that which comes from Christ or is it about Christ? In 22:16 Jesus tells John that his angel was the one proclaiming the message of the book to John. Thus, the book is certainly a revelation from Jesus Christ (hence, we may have a subjective gen. in 1:1). But the revelation is supremely and ultimately about Christ. Thus, the gen. in 1:1 may also be an objective gen. The question is whether the author intended both in 1:1.

Since this is the title of his book–intended to describe the whole of the work–it may well be a plenary gen.12 This strong Christology of the Apocalypse provides a significant backdrop for the blessing passages. All blessing comes through Christ. He is the centerpiece of the book of Revelation.

Grant Osborne relates that Revelation 1:5 (“And from Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth”) sets the tone for the book: First, he is the “faithful witness,” a title repeated in 3:14 to Laodicea, where he is called “the faithful and true witness,” and in 19:11, where he is called “Faithful and True.” In this sense he is the archetype for faithful Christians (2:10,13; 17:14), who must persevere in their witness (6:9; 11:7; 12:11; cf. “testimony of Jesus”: in 1:9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4). Second, he is “firstborn from the dead,” with two main thrusts: Jesus has sovereignty over life and death, and this prepares for Jesus as eschatological judge (20:14; 21:4, an authority he shares with the Father), 212Ibid., 121.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 56 and Jesus is the prototype for those who would be raised with him (2:7,11; 20:6; 22:2-3,14,17). Third, he is “ruler of the kings of the earth,” those enemies of Christ (10:11; 17:18) who will be defeated by him (6;25; 18:9; 19:18) and will eventually bring their glory into the New Jerusalem (21:24; i.e., those who repent on the lines of 14:6-7). Fourth, he has freed us by his blood . . . and made us a kingdom of priests (5:10; 20:6).13 Haddon Robinson, in his book, What Jesus Said About Successful Living, offers insight into the provenance of the word makarios, translated as “blessed”: In secular Greek the island of Cyprus was called the makarios isle, the blest isle.

The idea was that those who lived on Cyprus never had to leave its shores in order to have all they needed to be content. They had natural resources and minerals.

They had a beautiful place to live, with fruit and flowers. The island was selfcontained. No one had to search for the needs and wants of life. . . . When we are blessed by God, we are in a sense self-contained; that is, our happiness does not come from circumstances, or by accidents, or through diligent searches. It comes because we stand approved before the Creator of the universe. . . . To be blessed means to sense the joy, or happiness, that comes from knowing that we stand approved before God.14 Likewise, the Christian experiences no blessing apart from Jesus Christ. He is a kind of island unto Himself. He is the Makarios Isle. “In Christ” means that every blessing that He possesses can become experiential for the believer. Paul related this very concept to the Corinthians: “For all of the promises of God are in Him [Jesus] ‘Yes’, and through Him ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor. 1.20). It would be helpful to explore more fully the significance of makarios as it was used in the first century.

Significance of Makarios Hauck posits that the word group of makarios, makarizein, and makarismos in the NT “refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in 313 Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2002), 35.

414Haddon Robinson, What Jesus Said About Successful Living (Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 1991), 28.

57 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies the salvation of the kingdom of God.”15 Moreover, this word group, with its great emotional force,

often found expression within “the context of eschatological proclamation,” which

explains its presence in part of the Synoptics and Revelation.16 Ceslas Spicq acknowledges that makarios was used predominantly in secular Greek to describe the blessedness of the departed dead “who have escaped the vicissitudes of existence here below”17 to the blissful conditions above.

Blessing in this life seemed rare, if not

impossible. Christianity audaciously pronounces a blessing upon believers living in the midst of the vicissitudes of this life. Blessing does not have to wait until heaven. It can be a present reality in the life of a believer. Moreover, makarios speaks of “much more than contentment; it is an interior joy that becomes external, elation translated into shouts, songs, acclamations. . . .

The explanation is that God will be the source . . . “ 18 Spicq even relates that makarios was used in a polemical way in Scripture to combat the imperial cult, which was becoming a threat for believers who felt compelled to obey and worship God alone.19 Interpretive Approaches to the Apocalypse One of the challenges in understanding the last book of the Bible is how to interpret it consistently throughout. Four major interpretive approaches have been developed, and these are displayed in Table 2.

Table 2: Interpretive Approaches to the Apocalypse 616 Ibid., 368.

717Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 433.

818Ibid., 438.

919Ibid., 439.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 58 Approach

Focus

Fulfillment

Preterist Historical Idealist Futurist

Original Readers Human History Timeless Spiritual Truths Events at the End of History

Fall of Jerusalem or Roman Empire Parousia Defeat of Evil Eternity Future

Boyd Luter evaluates the various schools of thought attempting to interpret Revelation and then offers the eclectic approach as the suitable one for Apocalypse: Three of these schools of thought have obvious strengths and almost as many obvious weaknesses. The preterist view rightly emphasizes the original setting (in the spirit of historical-grammatical exegesis) but tends to undervalue the endtimes aspect of Revelation. The idealist view correctly emphasizes the spiritual warfare angle and seeks relevant timeless principles in every context but is not historically rooted. The futurist view correctly spotlights the climactic events of the end of the age but is weak in demonstrating the present-tense relevance to the original hearers (or even readers today). . . . Given the general recognition of the above analysis, blended combinations of the above standard views began to emerge.20 Christianity claims to be grounded in historical fact. It cannot be severed from its roots in the factuality of actual events.

While the Apocalypse contains symbols and expresses values

(timeless ideals), it also contains data concerning past, historical events and future, prophetical events. A combination of the preterist/futurist approach allows the interpreter to focus on the meaning of the Apocalypse in its original setting, as well as its application to climactic end-time events: “In the end, the best overall interpretive approach to Revelation is a preterist-futurist view, rooted firmly in both the original first-century context and the future setting of eschatological fulfillment. . . . In fact, such eclectic views have become so common that it has become rare in recent years for a serious commentator to argue for any of these views in pure form.”21 This eclectic approach in interpreting the Apocalypse cultivates an environment of hermeneutical restraint which can be a safeguard against extreme interpretations.

020 Boyd Luter, “Interpreting the Book of Revelation,” in Interpreting the New Testament, Essays on Methods and Issues, ed. David Alan Black and David S. Dockery (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2001), 460.

59 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Value of the Makarisms The makarisms in the Apocalypse express the values which are embedded in the Word of God. They are the ideals for all believers in all settings. They provide an index to the important issues of the Christian life: The adjective makarios in Acts . . , the General Epistles, and Revelation is linked with the values and ideals of Christian subcultures. Those who live according to these values will experience well-being–if not now, in the future. . . . The chief value highlighted in these makarisms is an enduring obedience in the face of trials and persecutions. It is the enduring obedience that will be rewarded with life in the end as well as maturity in the present.22 The Apocalypse, “a tract for bad times,” 23 provided good news for hurting hearts. Believers needed to be reminded that God, who rules and overrules, controls all things. His purposes will prevail. Life is not a collection of random experiences without purpose. Rather, it is a loving tapestry of planned moments inspired by the will of a compassionate God (Rom. 8:28). G. K. Chesterton, the famous journalist and philosopher, once wrote, “The most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe.”24 A first-century Christian might have been tempted to lose heart at the prospect of remaining committed to Christ in the face of such hardship; contemporary Christians might be induced to lose heart God in the midst of persecution. John points to the fact that the Lord has never vacated His throne (Rev. 4-5).

The Makarisms of the Apocalypse (1) Blessing of the Word, 1:3

222D. H. Johnson, “Blessing,” in Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, ed. Ralph Martin and Peter H. Davids (Downers Grove, Ill: Intervarsity Press, 1997), 131.

323Bruce Metzger, The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 267.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 60 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, for the time is near (KJV).”

The inaugural makarism occurs in the opening verses of the book as part of the prologue (Rev. 1:1-8). An Apocalypse blessing awaits those who read and those who hear and heed the words of the prophecy. In this initial makarism, John probably envisions a corporate worship setting with the designated reader as the one who would be assigned to read the text in such a setting. Moreover, Comfort identifies the reader, in this instance, as the one who would have read aloud the text of the Apocalypse to a group of scribes entrusted with the responsibility of copying the book for “the seven churches in Asia” (1:4): Revelation 1:3 promises a blessing “to the one who reads the prophecy of this book”–speaking specifically of each of the readers who would read aloud the book of Revelation to each of the seven churches addressed in the book. It is very likely that each reader for each of the seven churches was also a scribe who made a copy of the entire book of Revelation before it was sent on to the next church.25 Osborne acknowledges that other letters in the New Testament were written to be read aloud in the worship service (1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16; and perhaps Eph. 3:4), and, on the basis of Revelation 1:3 and 22:18-19, the Apocalypse also was intended to be read in the service. 26 The initial makarism is paradigmatic because it sets the tone for the remaining blessing passages (and even the book of Revelation): the reader is to listen and obey! John uses 2 participial phrases–“Those who are hear (akountes) the words of this prophecy and keep (terountes) the things which are written in it”–to designate the fitting response to the Word of God. Hearing and obeying are inseparable biblically.27 In fact, it is characteristic of John to

525Philip Comfort, Encountering the Manuscripts (Nashville: Broadman Publishers, 2005), 51-52).

626Grant Osborne, Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 57-58.

61 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies combine the two concepts (John 12:47; 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10,14). 28 Mounce connects this combination of hearing and doing to the actual words of Jesus in Luke 11:28 (“For He Himself said, ‘Indeed, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it’”). 29 While there is a predictive element in prophecy, the expression “the words of this prophecy” designates writings which demand an ethical response. On the basis of what stands written (“the things which are written”–gegrammena), believers are to obey the words of Revelation: “Throughout, the focus is not just on eschatology but on ethics.”30 A note of urgency is supplied in the makarism with the words “For the time is near.” This expression parallels Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has drawn near.”

Jesus uttered that statement at the inauguration of His earthly ministry. A new order of reality had emerged at His incarnation. The Apocalypse heralds a new order of reality connected with the events surrounding the Parousia of Jesus. Paul designated the church at Corinth (indicating the New Testament church as a whole) as those upon whom “the end of the ages have arrived” (1 Cor. 10:11). The “end times” actually began with the exaltation of Jesus into heaven (Acts 1:9).

The angels acknowledged that moment with the disciples: “This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you watched Him go into heaven,” Acts 1:11). Revelation actually marks the imminence of end time events connected with tribulation, judgments, and the return of Christ. Beale aptly comments, It is apparent from the synonymous parallelism in Mark 1:15 that the nearness of “the kingdom” prophesied in the OT is but a sharpening of what is stated in the first clause about the fulfillment of “the time” in the present. The same wording 828Ibid., 58.

929Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), 66.

030Osborne, Revelation, 59.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 62 in Revelation refers to the immediate future. John probably views the death and resurrection of Christ as inaugurating the long-awaited kingdom of the end times, which the OT (e.g., Daniel) had predicted and which will continue to exist throughout the church age.31 There is a motivation to ethical living contained in the expression “For the time is near.”

Believers are to live holy lives in light of the Lords’ return: “And everyone who has this hope (hope of the Lord’s return) in himself purifies himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). Osborne remarks, The “nearness” of the Lord’s return is used frequently in the NT to call believers to live responsibly toward God (Rom. 13:12; Heb. 10:25; James 5:8; 1 Pet. 4:7, with the cognate . . . engizo, draw near; Mark 13:28-29 par.; Rom. 13:11; Phil. 4:5 . . . . In other words, in light of the fact that “the time is near,” we are called to live decisively and completely for God.32 (2) The Blessing of Eternal Life, 14:13 “And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, ‘Write: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes!’ says the Spirit. ‘They shall rest from their labors, for their works follow them.’”

The second makarism moves the reader from the prologue (Rev. 1) to the mid-section of the Apocalypse dealing with seven significant signs in heaven and on earth (12:1-14:20). More specifically, this blessing motivates the believer to withstand pressure to worship the beast and his image, since the beast and his worshipers are marked for judgment (14:9-11). Endurance is the need of the hour (14:12). This section occupies a prominent place in the overall structure of the book. As an interpretive device, Lee proposes a chiastic structure of Revelation in which the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of the Apocalypse serve as the climax of the book (refer to Figure 1).

131G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), 185.

232Osborne, Revelation, 59.

63 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies If Lee’s analysis is correct, then the blessing offering eternal life (reward) is all the more significant. Following the Lamb is the only way to receive eternal life with all of its attendant blessings. This beatitude emanates from heaven: “And I heard a voice out of heaven saying . . .”

The authority of the throne resonates in its words. Persecution, mistreatment, suffering, pain, and death might be the lot for the believer under the murderous reign of the Beast (those who refuse his mark, 14:9-12), but this does not mean that blessings are being withheld: “God’s people may be grossly maltreated even up to and including the death penalty. But they, and not their tormentors, remain blessed. . . . Yet those who die in the Lord are always blessed . . .”34

Figure 1: The Chiastic Structure of the Apocalypse A (1:1-20) Prologue: John’s introduction to his prophecy B (2:1-2:33) Present situation: the message to the seven churches C (4:1-5:14) The fundamental paradigm: eternal worship of God and the Lamb–worthiness of the Lamb through death D (6:1-17) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (first pair): the seal judgments–focus on Christ E (7:1-17) The faithful believers: the 144,000 and the great multitude from the tribulation F (8:1-10:11) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (second pair): the trumpet judgments–the nature of judgment G (11:1-19) The false power of the beast: defeat through resurrection H (12:1-6) Two women: salvation through the woman clothed with the sun I (12:7-18) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (third pair): the dragon thrown down to the earth by Michael J (13:1-18) Moment of Decision: the beast and its worshipers J’ (14:1-20) Moment of Decision: the Lamb and his followers I’ (15:1-16:21) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (third pair): the bowl judgments–focus on God H’ (17:1-6) Two women: killing of the saints by Babylon G’ (17:7-18) The false power of the beast: defeat by the King of Kings F’ (18:1-24) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (second pair): lament over the fall of Babylon E’ (19:1-10) The faithful believers: the bride of the Lamb D’ (19:11-21) Judgment and defeat of God’s enemies (first pair): Christ overcomes the beast and false prophet C’ (20:1-10) The fundamental paradigm: eternal damnation of Satan and his allies–worthiness of the saints through death B’ (20:11-22:5) Future situation: the new heaven, new earth, and New Jerusalem A’ (22:6-21) Epilogue: Final exhortation to heed the prophecy33

434Leon Morris, Revelation, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishers, 1988), 177.

333M. V. Lee, “A Call to Martyrdom: Function as Method and Message in Revelation,” Novum Testamentum 40, 2 (1998):174.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 64 The Spirit affirms the blessings of rest (“they shall rest from their labors”) and reward (“their works follow them”) for those who die in the Lord during the time of the Apocalypse.

This verse is used in funeral sermons, but the initial application of this passage must be to those martyrs who will die for their faith during the time of the Great Tribulation. “Martyrdom is stressed (6:9-11; 7:14; 12:11; 13:7,15; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 20:4; 22:14) and forms one of the important themes of the book. . . . Throughout the Apocalypse, martyrdom is a victory, a conquering of Satan by participating in the ‘fellowship of Jesus’ suffering’ (Phil. 3:10).”35 The theme of obedience continues (from v. 1:3). In Rev. 14:12, the life qualities of those who are faithful to the Lord Jesus even to the point of death are acknowledged: “Here is the endurance of the saints: those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ!” Lee identifies 14:12-13 as the critical section of the Apocalypse, presenting the clear choice for saints: “the beast or Christ, eternal torment or martyrdom.” 36 The stakes are very high in Revelation. Choices have eternal consequences: But the “choice” has been presented to them [the hearers] in an explicit manner which makes clear what the more desirable option is: God or Satan, good or evil, eternal bliss or eternal torment, life or death. They can choose Christ and die, but receive the promised reward. In this way, Revelation climaxes in the decision to face martyrdom willingly for Christ’s sake. . . . Persecution does not mean defeat.

Rather, their deaths are an integral part of God’s mysterious plan of salvation.

Martyrdom leads to an eternal reward, just as the Lamb is worthy because he was slain.37 (3) The Blessing of the Lord’s Return, 16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they will see his shame.”

535Osborne, Revelation, 544.

736Lee, “Martyrdom,” 191.

37

Ibid., 192.

65 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

The third makarism highlights the importance of spiritual vigilance.38 It occurs almost as a parenthesis in the narrative relating the outpouring of the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath (Rev. 16:12-21). It warns the believer to watch for the coming of the Lord. The words used by the Lord border on startling: “Behold, I am coming as a thief!” Certainly the Lord is no thief.

He claims the thief-like qualities of stealth and suddenness in the comparison. The word “thief” has already been used by the Lord in the Apocalypse in reference to His coming in judgment to the congregation at Sardis (3:3). There the term is meant to arouse a sleeping church to action and watchfulness. The word translated as “watches” is from the Greek word gregoreo, meaning “to be or become fully awake.”39 It is used twenty-two times in the Greek New Testament.

Interestingly, the majority of occurrences are found in eschatological passages highlighting the need for watchfulness in light of the Lord’s imminent return (Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mark 13:34, 35, 37; Luke 12:37; 1 Thess. 5:6,10; Rev. 3:2-3; 16:15). The impending eschatological event of the Lord’s return to evaluate His own provides the incentive for watching and keeping one’s clothing intact. Perhaps a temple ritual offers some insight into this makarism: As the priest kept watch in the temple, so an officer of the temple went around every watch with a lighted torch before him. If any watch did not stand up and say to him, “O officer of the Temple Mount, peace be to thee!” and it was manifest that he was asleep, he would beat him with his staff and he had the right to burn his raiment.40 A failure to keep one’s clothes (walking naked) speaks of judgment rather than thievery.

This is reminiscent of the eventual judgment levied against the Laodicean church by the Lord who would come and remove their clothing, so the shame of their nakedness would appear (3:1718). The garments speak of the righteous acts of the saints: “And it was given to her [the 040Cleon Rogers, Jr. and Cleon Rogers, III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 642.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 66 Bride/Church] that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (19:8). If the Lord removes one’s garments in judgment, then subsequent opportunities to live for the Lord (one’s witness) are removed. In the particular context of Revelation 16, the garments symbolize a refusal “to concede to the idolatrous demands of beast worship.”41 It is worth noting that the Babylonian harlot shares a similar judgment with the idolatrous believers who compromise. Both will be stripped naked and walk in shame (16:15; 17:16).

A thief takes what he does not lawfully own (John 10:10). This world and those in it belong to the Lord (Psa. 24:1). His approach may be characterized by surprise and secrecy (like a thief), but His activity will be characterized by sovereignty and justice (like the Sovereign Lord who owns this world). His evaluations are correct evaluations and His judgments are truthful.

Dever writes about the unique qualifications of the Lord God as Judge: There is no question of God’s judgments being uncertain or ineffective, inadequate or wrong. No, God’s judgments are complete, accurate, and appropriate. Certainly neither you nor I know every wrong done in every place at every time by everyone who has ever lived. Nor do we have the moral character to measure wrong perfectly, or even well. But the God of the Bible does. He stands as an eternal, ever-present, and ever-truthful witness, as well as an everwise, ever-merciful, and ever-just Judge. Trust God for his perfect justice.42 (4) The Blessing of Celebration, 19:9 “And He said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who have been invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”’ And He said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’” The fourth makarism speaks of a glorious time of festive celebration for the inhabitants of heaven. More precisely, it is a marriage supper, a wedding feast, planned after the vanquishment

242Mark Dever, The Message of the New Testament (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005), 539.

67 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies of the harlot and her companions (Rev. 17-18). The beautiful, pure bride stands in stark contrast to the vile harlot of Babylon.

The wedding celebration is called “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (19:9). The Church, identified as the body in Eph. 1:22-23, is now the bride (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 21:2,9; 22:17). Christ will be joined to His bride, the Church.

A triumphal note of worshipful

celebration reigns. Note the repeated alleluias (Praise the Lord) in verses (19:1, 3, 4, and 6) which precede and resonate throughout this marriage ceremony. The significance of this event would not be lost on the readers of the Apocalypse. The Church that Christ loved so much that He would give His life in her behalf (Eph. 5:25) will be presented to Him. The joys, intimacies, and blessings which characterize marriage will be experienced between Christ and His own.

Ross writes about this joy as an expression of the realization of long cherished hopes: The idea of a marriage feast provides an appropriate picture of the union Christ and his people. Weddings are perhaps the most joyous occasions people have; they are celebrations of love and harmony, filled with excitement and anticipation of the beginning of a new life and a new identity. Similarly, down through the ages believers have longed to be with their Lord in perfect communion, to be caught out of their old life and ushered into his presence, where there is joy and peace and love. Until now, their worship has been with this hope, as they now come into his presence by the Spirit. In glory, though, all such hopes will be fulfilled–not for an hour or season, but for all eternity.43 This fourth beatitude of Revelation speaks of a group of guests other than the bride who are to be invited to the wedding celebration: “Blessed are those who have been invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Who are these wedding guests? It is probably not the bride (the New Testament saints). It would be redundant to invite the bride to her own wedding. It is probably a reference to Old Testament saints who preceded the church age and perhaps even tribulation saints who will follow the church age. However, Easley identifies Christians as 343Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2006), 495.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 68 comprising both the bride and the invited guests: “Here is another example of the flexible symbolism found in Revelation. On the one hand, the church is the bride of the Lamb; on the other hand, individual Christians are the guests invited to participate in the wedding supper.” 44 Easley’s position is corroborated by the fact that the word kaleo, translated as “invited” (or “called”), is etymologically related to the word ekklesia, translated as “church” or “assembly.”

The word translated as “supper” is deipnon. It is the usual word for meal or supper. It is used 16 times in the Greek New Testament. The word occurs again in Rev. 19.17: “And I saw one angel standing in the sun and he cried with a great voice speaking to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, ‘Come! Gather together for the supper of the Great God.’” Poythress maintains that the feast motif prevails throughout this chapter, but with a chilling twist: “The wedding feast, the consummation of blessing and satisfaction, contrasts pointedly with the horrific feast of 19:17-18,21, in which the birds consume the corpses of the wicked. Everyone will participate in one or the other feast.”45 John hears the voice underscore the truthfulness of the divine revelation: “These are the true words of God.” Truth characterizes God the Father (Rom. 3:4; Titus 1:2), God the Son (John 1:14, 17; 14:6; Eph. 4:21) and God the Spirit (John 14:17; 15:26). As One who embodies veracity, whose essential nature is truth, it naturally follows that when God speaks, He speaks truthfully (see 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Conversely, the enemy has been exposed as a liar who embodies mendacity (John 8:44). This verse is paradigmatic for Revelation and the Bible as a whole: 

“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6, NKJV).

444Kendell Easley, Revelation, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Broadman and Holman

Publishers, 1998), 351.

545Poythress, Returning King, 171.

69 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 

“The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160, NKJV).  “Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).  “And account of this we also continually give thanks to God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you did not welcome it as the word from men, but as it is in truth, the word from God, which also powerfully works in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).

All of the Word of God, in its parts and in its collective whole, is truth. In other words, “The Bible always tells the truth, and . . . it always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about.”46 (5) The Blessing of Deliverance From Death, 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

The fifth makarism anticipates the blessedness of those who will share in the first resurrection and experience deliverance from death. The Scripture presents the truth about resurrection in very specific terms, even to the point of classifying and designating the order of resurrections. The clear teaching of Scripture is that everybody will experience resurrection: “Truly, truly, I say to you that the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. . . . Stop marveling at this, because the hour comes when all of those who are in the graves will hear His voice. And those who have done good things will come forth to the resurrection of life [first resurrection] and those who have done evil things will come forth to the resurrection of judgment [second resurrection]” (John 5:25, 28-29).

Jesus anticipates resurrection for all, without exception. Good works do not provide the basis for sharing in the first resurrection; it is belief in Christ. Good works provide the evidence that one will share in the first resurrection (John 5:24).

646Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Bible Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 91.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 70 Whereas the first resurrection follows the first death, the second resurrection precedes the second death. This makarism declares the participants in the first resurrection to be blessed because they are beyond the reach (authority and power) of the second death, a fate which one has described as “an eschatological destiny that should be avoided at all costs.”47 It will be helpful to compare the first and second resurrections to understand their different eschatological destinies.

This beatitude speaks of a thousand year period which has come to be known as “the millennium.”

Interpreters of the Apocalypse have differed regarding the meaning and

application of the millennium. A literal interpretation, meaning a thousand year period, allows for the events surrounding the millennium (rapture, tribulation period, Parousia) to be taken literally as well. The premillennial position places the return of Christ before the millennial period, thus allowing for His millennial reign, the testimony and resurrection of tribulation saints, the final and eternal defeat of Satan, and the horror of the Great White Throne judgment to occur immediately following His Parousia (Rev. 20:1-15) .

The chapter opens with the archenemy of mankind, the devil, being cast into an abysmal prison by a great angel (20:1-3) for a thousand years. Simultaneously, the Lord will preside over this earth, bringing great peace and abundance. This age will herald a return to the glories similar to those of the paradise in Eden. Moreover, those faithful saints who have been martyred for their allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ will experience resurrection (20:4-6). A possible application of 1 Cor. 15:22-24 to this text would allow for a multiple stage fulfillment of the First Resurrection, akin to the multiple stages of the Jewish harvest: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits, then those

71 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He will deliver the Kingdom to God the Father, when He destroys all rule and authority and power.”

Stage 1–Christ (resurrection of Christ)–Firstfruits Stage 2–Those who are Christ’s at His coming (resurrection of believers at the rapture of church)–Main Harvest Stage 3–Those who are Christ’s at His coming (resurrection of believers at the return of Christ)–Gleanings The “second death” is identified as banishment into the lake of fire (20:14; 21:8).

Revelation 20:6 juxtaposes the first resurrection against the second death. Both are limited in their scope.

The first resurrection affects only believers; the second death affects only

unbelievers. Participation in one means exclusion in the other. Believers are safe from the horrors of the second death; unbelievers are banished from the blessings of the first resurrection.

Table 3: The First and Second Resurrections The First Resurrection Believer Two Births and One Death Bodily Eternal Blessing Life after Death

The Second Resurrection Unbeliever One Birth and Two Deaths Bodily Eternal Judgment Death after Life

While this makarism finds initial application to the martyrs of the tribulation period, participation in the first resurrection ensures that all saints will be invested with a priestly ministry and kingly rule: “They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.” The priestly privileges once extended to Israel (Exodus 19:6; Isa. 61:6) now have been given to the saints (1 Pet. 2:5,9-10; Rev. 1:5b-8; 5:9-10). The kingly rule of the saints, previewed by the Lord in His Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:17, 19), has now come to pass. These are depicted in Table 3.

(6) The Blessing of Obedience, 22:7

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 72 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

The reader moves to the epilogue of the book (22:6-21) for the sixth makarism. This makarism, like the initial blessing statement (1:3), underscores the importance of obedience in light of the imminence of the Lord’s return. Is there a hermeneutical clue to be found in the similarity of these two makarisms? David Johnson affirms such a position: “This blessing is repeated as a sort of framing device in the penultimate benediction of the book, ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book’ (Rev. 22:7).”48 It might be worth noting at this point that the seven makarisms interspersed throughout the Apocalypse could comprise a “spread chiasmus,” a loose structure of thematically related concepts spread throughout the overall text. Luter offers the following outline of the spread chiasmus of the makarisms in the Apocalypse: Spread Chiasmus of the Makarisms in the Apocalypse A

A’ D

(1:3) Heed for the time is near B (14:13) Death and blessing beyond C (16:15) Alertness (echoes Matt. 24:42-44; 25:1-13) C’ (19:9) Invitation to marriage supper (echoing Matt. 25:1-13) B’ (20:6) Resurrection beyond death (22:7) Heed for the time is near Concluding offer of “blessing” to the converted50 Johnson affirms that all of the makarisms should be read together for the total effect: “If

all these benedictions are read together (and perhaps the number seven indicates that they should be), one can see that those who remain faithful in their actions in the face of persecution while waiting for the Lord are blessed.”49 050Luter, “Interpreting the Book of Revelation,” 471.

949Ibid., 131.

73 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies (7) The Blessing of Heavenly Access, 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, in order that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.”

This last makarism opens the gates of heaven into the paradise prepared by God for His children. The New Jerusalem embodies eternal blessing, for it is the city of the King. Bauckham acknowledges the pride that the readers of the Apocalypse would have had at the prospect of enjoying the full rights and privileges of city life, since many would have had to dissociate and distance themselves from the public life of the city due to immorality and idolatry.51 The original wording of this verse is in some dispute. The fourth revised edition (1993) of the United Bibles Societies (UBS4) follows the wording of the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (5th century): plunontes tas stolas auton–“who wash their robes” (22:14). The Byzantine Text tradition follows the wording found in many minuscule (later) manuscripts: poiountes tas entolas autou–“who do His commandments.” Swete maintains that the scribes would have been predisposed in favor of poiountes tas entolas autou.52 Most of the minuscules with the reading poiountes had scriptoria located in Asia Minor and points westward.

It is the speculation of this writer that the scribes of at least a sizeable number of Byzantine manuscripts could have been unduly influenced by the teachings of Pelagius (A.D. 354-415) who basically taught “that human effort and merit could bring about salvation without divine grace.” 53 Shelley identifies Pelagius as “an eminently moral person, who became a fashionable teacher at Rome late in the fourth century. British by birth, he was a zealous ascetic.” 54 The blessings of heaven awaiting those who were morally scrupulous in their obedience to divine commands 151Bauckham, Theology, 128.

353Grenz, Guretzki, and Nordling, Dictionary, 89.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 74 would have fit nicely into the Pelagian scheme. A less imaginative explanation for the Byzantine variant could be simply that the scribes were attempting to harmonize the text to previous passages like Rev. 12:17 and 14:12 which speak of keeping the commandments of God. One final explanation for the variant could be what textual critics call “an error of hearing,” in which a scribe (listening to the letter being read from a lector at a scriptorium) thought he heard poiountes, when in actuality it was plunontes. The same explanation might be true for tas stolas and tas entolas.

The wording plunontes tas stolas auton recalls 7:14 where mention is made of robes being washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Morris notes a change of tense for the verb “to wash” from the aorist in 7:14 to the present in 22:14: “The present tense points to a continuous washing.

There is a sense in which the saved are washed once and for all (e.g. 7:14, where the tense is aorist). But we so easily defile ourselves day by day as we live with the pressures of the world that it is necessary for Christ’s own to be cleansed continually (1 Jn. 1:7).”55 Those whose robes have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ have the right to the Tree of Life, which discloses that “the curse is over,” 56 or better, it has been overcome. Death has been swallowed up in victory (21:4); access to God has now been provided for all eternity (the opposite of the banishment from the Garden of Eden, Gen. 3:23-24). Paradise has been restored: “The point is Eden is back.”57 The Tree of Life was last seen in the Garden of Eden; now God has transplanted it to heaven. The blessings represented by this tree have been part of God’s plan for mankind all along: “Whatever the spiritual and heavenly reality of this may be, it is clear that the elements of the garden have been brought forward to the future Paradise to show 555Morris, Revelation (Tyndale), 253.

656Ross, Recalling, 497.

75 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies that the source of all life is with God. 58 The total well-being of all who enter into the gates of the city is symbolized by access to the tree and city. The most important moments of salvation history revolve around three trees: (1) Paradise Relinquished–“Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,” whose harvest rendered man under a curse through the disobedience of the “first Adam.

(2) Paradise Regained–“Tree of Golgotha’s Hill,” whose harvest (the “Last Adam”) will enable man to experience deliverance from curse of sin.

(3) Paradise Restored–“Tree of Life,” whose harvest will signify that the curse is over and will enable man to experience the life of heavenly paradise.

Conclusion The makarisms provide an index to the significant values of the Christian life. Christians in the first century (and throughout the history of the church) have had to endure mistreatment and persecution, even to the point of death. It is the contention of this writer that the makarisms interspersed throughout the Apocalypse highlighting the heavenly realities of the Christian life– the Word, eternal life, the Lord’s return, celebration, victory over death, and heavenly access for all eternity–have fulfilled a deictic purpose in providing an illustration of what a life blessed by God will look like, as well as a protreptic purpose in encouraging beleaguered believers to remain faithful. It is eschatology and ethics. The writer believes John would decry against an eschatological perspective of the future that does not make an ethical impact in the present. The messages and visions of the Apocalypse provide just the tonic to embolden saints to stay true to the Lord Jesus (then and now).

A glimpse of glory makes the difference. John was transformed in his Patmos cave by the glorious vision of Jesus on His throne and His provision for the saints:

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 76 Without the vision of Christ in glory, our worship, in fact our faith, would be impoverished and easily threatened. From time to time God has allowed people to catch a glimpse of this glorious scene in order to enliven their faith and devotion. Moses saw the glory of the LORD on Sinai. Isaiah saw the LORD enthroned in glory and surrounded by angelic choirs. Ezekiel also saw the heavenly throne guarded by the cherubim. Daniel witnessed the Son of Man receiving the kingdom from the Ancient of Days in the heavenly court. And some of the disciples beheld his glory at the transfiguration. But now John peered into the realms of glory, and there as clear as could be was the risen and glorified Christ, assuring the churches of his sovereign care.59 The Apocalypse closes with a heart-cry for the Lord to come (22:17, 20). A glimpse of the glory creates a yearning within the saints that will not be satisfied apart from His majestic presence. That Presence will provide access to eternal splendors, joys beyond imagination, beauties beyond description. From such promises springs hope eternal: At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.60 The makarisms of the Apocalypse prepare God’s people for that glorious, eschatological moment. Until then, the makarisms are God’s tools to produce a vigorous, robust faith for victorious Christian living.

959Ross, Recalling, 479.

060C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001), 43.

77 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies

The Healing Miracles as Acts of New Creation

by Steven Winiarski This world is full of pain and suffering. Tragedies such as tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, miscarriages, cancer, disease, and death leave a trail of suffering that at some level has touched all of humanity. Amid such tragedies, how do the Scriptures remind the reader of God’s care? Surely, God is love and has demonstrated his love through the giving of his son (John 3:16). But many have focused on the spiritual or redemptive ramifications of this kind of love, leaving no application for physical suffering in the physical world. While this view of John 3:16 is highly questionable, it is nonetheless a pervasive view in American Christianity.

Similarly, theological discussions concerning Jesus as the High Priest focus almost exclusively on his role in atonement for sin and opening a way to heaven.  An over-emphasis on eternal life as entrance to heaven, however, divorces Christ’s purpose in entering into and interacting with the physical reality. John’s Gospel speaks of life abundantly, which must surely enter the physical realm as well. The writer of Hebrews uses Jesus as high priest just as much to demonstrate his ability to empathize with his creation as he does to provide eternal life through atonement. Jesus’ concern for the physical well-being of mankind is clearly displayed in the  Steven Winiarski is a professor of New Testament Greek and Linguistics at Missional University. He can be contacted at swiniarski@missional.university. Richard Mouw and Douglass Sweeney examined the work of theologians such as Calvin, Hodge, and Berkhof on the topic of Jesus’ priesthood and concluded that reformation theology, which has shaped much of the modern discussions of Christ’s suffering, almost exclusively focuses on the cross. They argue that “What this should tell us is that our formal theological prescriptions need to be more interactive with an immersion in the realities of the human condition.” Richard J. Mouw and Douglass A. Sweeney, The Suffering and Victorious Christ: Toward a More Compassionate Christology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 60. D. A. Carson rightly argues that the concept of abundant life in John 10:10 does not refer to the amount of life, but rather the quality of life those who trust in Jesus can expect. D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 385.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 78 Gospel accounts of the healing miracles. In these accounts, the Gospel writers provide concrete evidence of Jesus’ concern not only for spiritual renewal but also for physical renewal.

It is the thesis of this paper that the healing miracles of Jesus serve as a new creation event and foreshadow God’s eschatological plan to renew all things, including the physical realm. This article will first examine current views on the purpose of the miracles in the Gospels showing how these views are helpful but incomplete.  Next, it will examine two healing miracle accounts from Mark 5 in order to demonstrate these miracles as new creation events. Finally, it will discuss some ramifications of this method of interpretation on Christology in relation to those affected by physical affliction and tragedy.

Current Views on the Purpose of Miracles: The Miracles as Theological Myth and Mere Coincidence The ages of Enlightenment, Renaissance, Industrialization, and scientific discovery caused a stir in the world of Gospel studies. Changes in logic and reason as well as scientific and technological advances led many to question the legitimacy of the miracles in the Gospels.  This approach culminated in the work of Rudolph Bultmann’s form critical approach to the miracles Eric Eve argues that while compassion may have been a factor in Jesus’ healing ministry, his overriding purpose was to establish the authority and authenticity of his kingdom. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that Jesus, as the eschatological king, acted with mercy and compassion upon his fallen creation with acts of healing and restoration. These acts should be interpreted as acts of new creation, making Jesus’ motivations of eschatology and compassion inseparable from one another. Eric Eve, The Healer from Nazareth: Jesus’ Miracles in Historical Context (London: SPCK, 2009), 122. There is not space here to examine every proposal for the purposes of the miracles. Graham Twelftree notes, however, that “there is still much work to be done on the miracles of the historical Jesus. Still to be decided is the fundamental question of the place of miracles in a reconstructed life of Jesus: do they have a place, and if so, are they central or of peripheral significance. See Graham Twelftree, “The History of Miracles in the History of Jesus,” in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research eds. Scot McKnight and Grant Osborne (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), 201. Mark Larson outlined changes in approaches to the miracles in the Gospels from the 1600s to the 1900s.

He observed that science, skepticism, historical criticism, and philosophical naturalism challenged the trustworthiness and faithfulness of the miracle accounts of the Gospels. See Mark J. Larson, “Three Centuries of Objections to Biblical Miracles,” BSAC 160:637 (Jan 2003): 77-100.

79 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies in the early to mid-1900s. Bultmann believed that the Gospels were shaped into their final forms by the later church in order to explain their religion, but they do not reflect actual history.

According to Bultmann, “We can know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, [what we do have] are moreover fragmentary and often legendary.” This belief led to Bultmann’s attempt to demythologize the Gospels, especially regarding the miracles, including the resurrection. He argued, “The resurrection is not an event of past history. All that historical criticism can establish is the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection.” Bultmann was not alone in this approach but rather was joined by influential theologians and organizations such as Schweitzer, Schleiermacher, and the Jesus Seminar.

Bultmann’s approach fails in two ways. First, since Bultmann’s approach to the miracles was driven by twentieth-century issues, it is hard to use his model in explaining the original purpose of the miracles in the first century. After all, the modern concerns of the ages of Enlightenment, Industrialization, and scientific revolution would have hardly been the concerns of those living in the first or even second or third century. According to Graham Twelftree, a first-century reader would have unquestioningly taken the Gospels as attempts to reveal the Jesus of history. Second, Bultmann’s approach limits the meaning of the miracles to their theological message developed by the later church. In Bultmann's view, since the events did not actually Rudolph Bultmann, “The Historical Background for the Ministry of Jesus,” in The Historical Jesus: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies: Vol. 1, The History of the Quest: Classical Studies and Questions ed. Craig A. Evans (New York, Routledge), 124. Rudolph Bultmann, “The New Testament and Mythology,” in Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate, ed. Hans Werner Bartsch, trans. Reginald H. Fuller (London: S.P.C.K, 1953-62), 38, 42. Graham H. Twelftree, Jesus The Miracle Worker: A Historical and Theological Study (Downers Grove: IVP, 1999), 259.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 80 happen, all that can be gleaned from them is their theological message. The events of the miracles, however, betray this purpose, especially in the healing miracles. Jesus’ interactions with the sick are detailed, vivid, and personal, not abstract. In portraying these miracles in such a lively way, the Gospel writers do more than give a theological message to the church but rather provide a deep portrait of the personality and quality of Jesus himself.  Thus, while New Testament scholarship owes much to Bultmann’s work in the Gospels, especially in his classification and categorization of the miracles, Bultmann’s approach fails to provide a satisfactory purpose for the healing miracle accounts.

While Bultmann denied the historicity of the miracles, others since have taken the historical accounts at face value while still marginalizing their purpose and impact. No one scholar’s work has impacted the study of the New Testament in this way more so than the work of E. P. Sanders. While Sanders is well known for his work in Pauline Studies, his work in the Gospels has also been influential. Sanders approached the miracles as historical acts that came to Jesus. In other words, Jesus did not perform the miracles himself but rather performed physical actions (laying on of hands, speaking words, standing up to the storm) that coincided with the events of the natural world. According to Sanders, the miracles all had their basis in the rational world. For E. P. Sanders, the healing miracles should not be classified as miracles but events of hysteria and psychosomatic episodes that have their basis in the rational and scientific world. E. P. Sanders’ marginalization of the miracles is inadequate to explain the miracle events.

While it is certainly possible that at some points in the biblical text, the miracles can easily be explained as acts of nature (the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea), the biblical Wendy J. Cotter, The Christ of the Miracle Stories: Portrait through Encounter (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010), 3. E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (New York: Penguin, 1993), 158.

81 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies narrative still places God as the cause of these natural events. If Sanders is correct and the miracles are just Jesus acting in accordance with nature, then it would still require Jesus to have a supernatural ability to cause that natural occurrence or at least be able to perceive the work of God through nature to be able to act in sequence with God’s act through the physical world.  Therefore, even if this is the case, the question remains, what purpose do the miracles of Jesus serve to a first-century reader? What purpose do they serve for readers of the text today? Similar to Bultmann's perspective, Sanders’ approach to the healing miracles also fails to provide any purpose for their inclusion in the biblical text. He believed that the healing miracles demonstrate virtually nothing of Jesus’ motives in performing them and claimed similar accounts could be found throughout pagan sources. Sanders argues that the Gospels “were not written to answer our questions. They cannot tell us what was in Jesus’ own mind as he began his career, nor precisely what hopes and expectations he aroused among the people of Galilee.”  The accounts of pagan miracle workers, however, do not become common until a period much later than the Gospels and after the circulation of the Gospels. Keener observes, for example, that the miracle work of Apollonius may indeed offer some parallel to Jesus’ miracle work, but the John A. Witmer points out that “On the basis of biblical witness Christians believe that God is also the self-existent Sustainer and Governor of all things (Acts 14:16–17; 17:24–28). The eternal Son of God, who became incarnate as the Lord Jesus Christ, is described as 'upholding all things by the word of his power' (Heb 1:3) and the one in whom 'all things consist' (Col 1:17). As a result, the regularity of the universe which men call the laws of nature is in reality the normal pattern of the cosmos-sustaining power of God.” John A. Witmer, “The Doctrine of Miracles,” BSAC 130:518 (Apr 1973): 129. Craig Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 181.  Even Sanders admits that some of the miracles cannot be explained rationally, but even in these instances he hesitated to attribute them to the supernatural ability of Jesus to perform them.  Graham Twelftree, “The History of Miracles in the History of Jesus,” in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research eds. Scot McKnight and Grant Osborne (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), 201.  E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism (Fortress Press, 1985), 160.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 82 novelistic features found in Philostratus' (ca. A.D. 170-250) writing is too late to be relevant for understanding the Gospels. Clinton Arnold also noted that while similarities exist in the pagan accounts, the Gospel narratives “are distinct from any known pattern or form.”  More importantly, in terms of understanding the functions of the healing miracles, Sanders fails to provide any reason or purpose of either Jesus Himself in performing them or the Gospel writers’ inclusion of them in the Gospel narrative, leaving both a first-century reader and the modern reader of the biblical text unsatisfied.

The Miracles as Proof of Deity and Producing Faith A second proposal for the healing miracles in the Gospels is to demonstrate the identity and deity of Jesus. This proposal focuses on the work of Jesus in the miracles as acts of revelation that identify Jesus as the Messiah. B. L. Blackburn, for example, argued that the miracles “support and promote the identity of Jesus as God’s eschatological agent, the Messiah.”  This approach sees Jesus’ works of healings and miracles as acts that stand in typological relation with the miraculous acts of Israel’s prophets going back to Moses.  Apologist Norman Geisler stated that “In Deuteronomy 18:14-20 God promises that he will one day raise another prophet like Moses through whom he will speak. The miracles of Christ are signs that he is that prophet

Craig Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 55-6.  Clinton E. Arnold, “The Kingdom, Miracles, Satan, and Demons,” in The Kingdom of God eds. Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 155.  B. L. Blackburn, “Miracles and Miracle Stories,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels ed. Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall (Downers Grove: IVP, 1992), 559. Ibid., 560.

83 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies and more.” Similarly, Clinton Arnold argued, “Many miracle stories point to the identity of Jesus as someone more than a mere man and who exceeds even prophets like Elijah and Elisha.” While this approach to the miracles is certainly valid, it is incomplete. The grand narrative of the Gospels and the miracles contained within that narrative indeed move towards the climactic event of the resurrection where Jesus’ identity is made known once and for all. But this grand narrative of the Gospel writers should not overshadow the specific purposes of Jesus in the individual healing accounts. The background should not overshadow the foreground. In other words, while the Gospel writers certainly want the readers to keep in mind the overall identity of Jesus as he performs acts of healings, they also give the reader glimpses of other purposes for the healing miracles, even if those glimpses coincide with the grand narrative. The manifestation of Jesus’ deity was demonstrated in his mighty acts over creation. It was certainly on full display at his transfiguration. The revelation of his identity culminated at the resurrection. Why does Jesus choose to heal, to feed the five thousand, to raise the dead in light of these other actions and events? Is his identity not able to be known through those means?

What is unique about the picture of Jesus in the healing accounts is that they are more than just a list of his powerful statements and more than a recounting of his mighty acts. Gary M. Burge argued that instead, “What is unique about the Gospels are the unexpected stories that detail Jesus’ regular interruptions. Jesus took time for people who generally assumed they were invisible. And what remains from those interruptions are stories that show the remarkable extent Norman Geisler and Patrick Zukeran, The Apologetics of Jesus: A Caring Approach to Dealing with Doubters (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009), 28. Clinton E. Arnold, “The Kingdom, Miracles, Satan, and Demons,” in The Kingdom of God eds.

Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 156. Jesus’ ability to perform acts of healings certainly flows from His identity, but the specific narrative of the healing accounts demonstrates a more immediate purpose beyond Jesus’ identity. Thus, these purposes do not conflict with one another but flow from one another and coincide with one another.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 84 to which Jesus affected individual lives.” Through these interactions, the Gospels demonstrate that Jesus, being powerful in both word and deed, chose to interact with the physical realm of suffering humans and alleviate their suffering with the power of restoration and recreation.

Alongside apologetical purposes, many have argued that Jesus performed healing miracles as a means to produce faith. In his recent work on the miracles, Keith Warrington argued that “Although the miracles of Jesus did not always lead to expressions of faith, they did provide people with the opportunity to gain a more accurate perception of identity . . . to provide an opportunity for faith in Jesus as the Son of God.  Clinton Arnold also believed that Jesus used the miracle stories as a means by which to elicit faith from his immediate audience. Two problems arise from this interpretation. First, while Arnold is right to point out the many cases where Jesus commends the faith of an individual (Mark 2:5, 5:34, and 10:52 for example), Arnold missed that in many of these cases, the individual being healed demonstrates faith prior to the healing, thus the healing miracles do not elicit faith, but rather are done based on faith. The woman with the blood disease in Mark 5, for example, does not confess faith in Jesus prior to being healed and does not declare any kind of soteriological faith after being healed. She only knows that Jesus has a reputation of restoration and reaches out in faith to touch his cloak. This does not downplay the importance of faith in the Gospels. Instead, it shows that once again, Jesus had a more immediate concern that had its basis in the restoration of those he encountered. The woman with a blood disease is healed, removing her of not only her disease, Gary M. Burge, Encounters with Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 17. Keith Warrington, The Miracles in the Gospels: What do They Teach us about Jesus? (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2015), 25.  Clinton E. Arnold, “The Kingdom, Miracles, Satan, and Demons,” in The Kingdom of God eds.

Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 156.  Ibid., 156-7.

85 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies but also restoring her to the community by calling her a daughter.  Even Warrington admitted that “Jesus demonstrated that he had the authority to ensure that those who were excluded and unable to participate in their communities were transformed and incorporated.” Second, Jesus himself had problems with the notion of using miraculous signs in order to elicit faith. At the end of Matthew 15, Jesus feeds the four thousand with just seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus’ motives here were not to produce faith but were based on his compassion for the crowd and their physical needs. As miraculous as this event was, it was not enough to elicit faith. The very next pericope (Matt. 16:1-4) begins with the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to Jesus to ask for a sign from heaven.  John Nolland rightly noted that “As far as Jesus is concerned, the request is otiose and is being made for reasons that have nothing to commend them.” Jesus responds by comparing them to “a wicked and adulterous generation that demands a sign.” In contrast, though, Jesus upholds those who demonstrate faith even without a miraculous sign of healing or otherwise. He says to the woman with the blood disease that “Your faith has made you well,” and declares before the centurion that “not even in Israel

This passage will be discussed in more depth in the next section of the paper. Because Arnold mentions it in his section on eliciting faith, it need only be addressed superficially here. For now, though, it is worth noting the restorative nature of the healing event which moves beyond eliciting faith.  Keith Warrington, The Miracles in the Gospels: What do They Teach us about Jesus? (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2015), 20. Their motives for asking for a sign were to test Jesus. Leon Morris argues that the verb “signifies that they were not sincere in their seeking a sign. They evidently thought that Jesus could not produce it, and their intention was not so much actually to see a sign as to show people that Jesus could not produce one.” This motive does not negate Jesus’ attitude towards those who ask for signs. Signs may accompany the message, but those whom Jesus commends are who believe the message either before the sign or without the sign at all. See Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 413.

John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 649.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 86 have I found such faith.” So, while Jesus does commend those who demonstrate faith, he does not necessarily use healing miracles to elicit faith, leaving this proposal unsatisfactory.

The Miracles as Kingdom Proclamation One final approach to the healing miracles of the Gospels is to see them as acts of kingdom inauguration and proclamation. Mark Saucy believes that “Jesus' miraculous demonstration of the kingdom of God cannot be separated from His proclamation of the kingdom. Therefore, like the parables, miracles have a revelatory function in the ministry of Jesus and the early church.” Similarly, N. T. Wright argued that the miracles “were signs which were intended as, and would have been perceived as, the physical inauguration of the kingdom of Israel’s god, the putting into action of the welcome and the warning with which were the central message of the kingdom and its redefinition.” This approach looks at Jesus’ actions in the miracles as kingdom fulfillment of Old Testament promises. In this approach, the miracles become new acts of the Holy Spirit initiating a new covenant which serve to renew Israel as God’s people under God’s king.  Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20 serve as base texts for this interpretation.  “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit Mark R. Saucy, “Miracles and Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God,” BSAC (July-Sept 1996): 153, 285. Saucy later stated that “The miracles in the Gospels first confirm the message of God's in-breaking rule and then reveal the identity of the messianic Ruler. They are first eschatological and soteriological and then Christological, despite the subsequent reversal of this paradigm in the church's later apologetics.” N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1996), 196.

Saucy argues that “the Gospel writers went to great lengths to affirm Jesus' miracles as revelations of the promised New Age. The Spirit who worked miracles was present in Jesus, and the effects of that Spirit, namely, the miracles themselves, spoke of the arrival of the prophesied New Age. Jesus' healing the lame, deaf, and blind, and raising the dead (Matt. 11:5) are viewed as typical of the Gospel miracle accounts, clearly drawing from promises in Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 35:4-7; 42:18; and 61:1-2.” Mark R. Saucy, “Miracles and Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God,” BSAC (July-Sept 1996): 153, 287.  B. L. Blackburn, “Miracles and Miracle Stories,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels ed. Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall (Downers Grove: IVP, 1992), 558.

87 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” And, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Many see Luke’s use of δακτύλῳ θεοῦ (the finger of God) as an allusion back to Exodus 8:19, which would indicate that Jesus sees himself as a new Moses initiating a new exodus in order to establish a new people of God under a new kingship and kingdom. As Vern Poythress notes, when the disciples of John came asking if Jesus were the Messiah, Jesus responded by quoting Isaiah 35:5-6: “The blind see, the lame walk, the leper is cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good news is proclaimed to the poor.” While this approach is quick to incorporate themes of mercy, restoration, and compassion, it does so in a way that is subservient to the theme of kingdom inauguration. Keith Warrington, for example, focuses on the healing acts as acts of mercy and restoration, but only in relationship to Jesus' authority. After demonstrating the miraculous works of the prophets as signs of God’s favor under the Old Covenant, Saucy argues that the acts of mercy demonstrated in Jesus are to be interpreted as signs of God’s favor in the new covenant.

Based on God's commitment to the covenant, His mercy issues forth in tangible action to fulfill the messianic mandate of proclaiming and enacting righteousness.

The miracles are particular and necessary expressions of God's covenant commitment and promise for the future. The idea of the in-breaking of divine love

Clinton E. Arnold, “The Kingdom, Miracles, Satan, and Demons,” in The Kingdom of God eds.

Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 158. Pao and Schnabel note that the contest between Moses and the magicians is seen as significant in that it demonstrates the power of God and His approval of Moses which enables Luke’s statement to demonstrate God’s power and approval of Jesus in the face of his competitors. See David W. Pao and Eckhard J. Schnabel, “Luke,” in the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament Eds. G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 323.  Vern Poythress, The Miracles of Jesus: How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serve as Signs of Redemption (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016).  For example, Warrington views Jesus healing a leper, healing Peter’s mother in law, and healing a paralytic as mercy acts subservient to kingdom authority. See Keith Warrington, The Miracles in the Gospels: What do They Teach us about Jesus? (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2015), 49, 64, and 75.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 88 and kindness in the kingdom without appropriate changes in the physical wellbeing of people was impossible under the righteous demands of covenant-mercy. It would be wrong to disagree with this approach, for there is much to be commended and appreciated from an eschatological approach to Jesus’ miracles. Themes of restoration, mercy, compassion, and renewal are vital to the ministry of Israel’s messiah. This approach, however, has two weaknesses. First, it places Jesus’ ministry solely in the context of Israel and firstcentury messianic expectation. This is not necessarily wrong. In order to understand what Jesus means in a twenty-first century context, it must first be understood what he meant in a firstcentury context. The danger in this approach though, is that Jesus’ healing ministry becomes something that is only relevant in the first century and does not move beyond the immediate situation of Israel. What benefit is it to us in the twenty-first century that Jesus came to restore Israel in the first century? In Jesus’ own time, He demonstrated that His ministry of healing and restoration was to be understood as going well beyond Israel. In Matthew 8 and Luke 7, Jesus heals the servant or son of a centurion. In both these examples, Jesus commends these outsiders for their faith, faith that he could not find even in all of Israel. In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Jesus heals the daughter of a Canaanite. In John 4, Jesus interacts with a Samaritan woman. These passages demonstrate that Mark R. Saucy, “Miracles and Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God,” BSAC (July-Sept 1996): 289. No one part of Scripture was written to us. It was, however, written for us. The Gospels, then, must be interpreted in a first-century context, but serve as witnesses to the life, ministry, and purpose to those who live well beyond the first century. Thus, their meaning must move beyond the first century or they lose their usefulness as Scripture. Grant Osborne noted that “we cannot read it without reliving and applying the conflicts and lessons. Like the disciples we stand in awe and worship Jesus. With Jesus we submit to the Father; for us too discipleship means to 'take up the cross,' even if like many of them 'the cross' involves our own martyrdom.” If this is true, then it must also be true that Jesus’ healing miracles must also speak to and impact the believing community well beyond the first century. It is not just the etic explanation that matters, but also the emic explanation. The question then becomes what response do the healing miracles demand of people today? It is my belief that they serve as a foreshadowing of the hope that those who believe in Jesus will experience when Jesus returns again. Thus, new creation is at the center of these healing events. See Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Rev. and expanded, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 220 and Eric Eve, The Healer from Nazareth: Jesus’ Miracles in Historical Context (London: SPCK, 2009), 142.

89 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies Jesus was not the restorer of all Israel but all people and all things. J. Julius Scott, for example, rightfully observes that “Jesus sees eschatological overtones in the coming of the Gentile centurion and in their act of healing. This should not be surprising . . . the inclusion of the Gentiles heightens the eschatological framework in this passage.”  Thus, his arrival in the first century and his acts of healing must not only look back to the Old Testament for meaning but also must look forward to his future return where all people and all things will experience this renewal. In this way, Jesus’ healing ministry provides a glimpse of new creation for all who believe.

A second danger in an eschatological approach, like the proof of deity argument, is that it can allow the background to become the foreground. Once again, the grand narrative of the Gospels certainly demonstrates Jesus as the eschatological fulfillment of Israel’s expectation.

But this grand narrative is not always at the foreground of the specific healing event. The centurion, the Canaanite woman, and the woman with the blood disease are not immediately concerned with Jesus’ relationship to Israel. The immediate concern is the physical ailments of either themselves or those they love. Even in the resurrection of Lazarus, the immediate concern was Lazarus’ physical death. While these examples certainly demonstrate Jesus as the eschatological Messiah in the grand narrative, they do so through Jesus’ healing and restorative actions that affects the physical world. These acts are more than just eschatological proofs of Jesus’ identity in terms of Old Testament prophesy. They move beyond Israel’s Old Testament While Scott is quick to recognize that these examples are exceptional even for Jesus, he concludes by noting that these examples serve as “first fruits of a larger ingathering and shows his compassion for individuals was not restricted.” Julius Scott, “Gentiles and The Ministry of Jesus: Further Observations on Matt 10:5-6, 15:21-28,” JETS 33:2 (June 1990): 166, 169. Stephen Kim argues that the resurrection of Lazarus signifies Jesus’ ability “to reverse the effects of sin and death.” These acts of new creation in the healing ministry of Jesus should also be understood as a foreshadowing of events to come. Kim does not abandon the eschatological significance of this event to Israel.

Instead, these two points should be held in balance with one another. Stephen S. Kim “The Significance of Jesus’ Raising Lazarus from The Dead in John 11,” BSAC 168:669 (Jan 2011): 60-1.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 90 into the physical world of the suffering of humanity through acts of restoration, mercy, healing, and rejuvenation, all of which foreshadows his actions of new creation in the age to come.

Francis Macatangay noted that Jesus’ exchange with Martha prior to the resurrection of Lazarus "is a revelatory [...] encounter” demonstrating "Jesus as the agent of life now and in the next" world. Though Macatangay limits the foreshadowing of this event to Jesus’ resurrection later on in John’s narrative, it is not hard to see this event as foreshadowing the resurrection of all things through Jesus in the new creation. Francis M. Macatangay, “One More Look at Martha’s ‘Perfect’ Statement in John 11:27,” Southeastern Theological Review 3:2 (Winter, 2012): 237.

91 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies The Healing Miracles as New Creation: Mark 5:21-43 If Jesus is Israel’s eschatological king who in the Gospels comes with authority to heal, restore, and renew all things, then this renewal of all things should be understood as acts of new creation. These acts point back to God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament and forward to the renewal of all things for all who believe - Jews, Gentiles, early Christians, and twenty-first century Christians alike. A brief analysis of Mark 5:21-43 will demonstrate Jesus’ actions of restoration and renewal as foreshadowing the eschatological event of new creation in Revelation 21:3-5.

As a disclaimer, any attempt to examine the context of a specific passage and its impact on the whole has the danger of missing the foreground by focusing on the background. At the same time, background information helps to establish the specific purpose of a specific passage in order to establish meaning for the whole. The goal of the analysis of Mark 5:22-34 below is to separate the immediate concerns of the people and players in the immediate context from the wider view of the theological narrative. In so doing, it allows readers to understand both the immediate concern Jesus had for the physical realm and the broader message of the Gospel writers that Jesus is indeed the Christ, leading to a holistic view of Jesus’s role in both the physical and spiritual realms.

Mark’s Gospel begins with a description of Jesus as Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ θεοῦ. While the legitimacy of the inclusion of υἱοῦ θεοῦ in the text is somewhat disputed, its reappearance in Mark 15:39 (Ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν) as well as Mark 1:11 (Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός) make the appearance of the phrase here extremely likely.  This titular usage of υἱοῦ

R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 49.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 92 θεοῦ becomes the major theme of the whole Gospel. Thus, Jesus’ whole ministry, from his words, actions, death, and resurrection point to his sonship.  As the υἱοῦ θεοῦ, Jesus acts as the new agent of God, bringing with him new creation. This theme of new creation is on full display in Mark 5:21-43.

Mark 5:21-43 contains two miracle accounts intertangled with each other in such a way that the two events become one encounter. Many have argued that this represents Mark’s tendency to sandwich events together. The vividness of Mark’s description, coupled with the fact that all three of the synoptics record the events in the same form, points to what R. T. France calls “a well-remembered narrative sequence which derives from the tradition rather than from Markan ingenuity.” The pericope begins with Jesus beside the sea and a synagogue ruler named Jairus coming to Jesus seeking healing for his child, who according to Mark is at the point of death.

The phrase παρακαλεῖ αὐτὸν πολλὰ demonstrates the urgency of the request, while ἐσχάτως ἔχει M. Eugene Boring, “Mark 1:1–15 and the Beginning of the Gospel,” ed. Dennis E. Smith, Semeia 52 (1991): 46. Ibid., 51.

Drawing on the full phrase, Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ θεοῦ, James Edwards sees a connection between Mark’s introduction of Jesus and the creation event in Genesis 1. He argues that “For Mark the introduction of Jesus is no less momentous than the creation of the world, for in Jesus a new creation is at hand.”

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 23. This theme of newness fits well with Mark’s purpose for writing which was to address the community of believers under duress. Mark’s introduction here reminds the reader that there is a time coming through the Son of God in which he will make all things new. In so doing, there will be no more trial, tribulation, disease or destruction. See R. A. Gueilich “Mark,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels ed.

Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall (Downers Grove: IVP, 1992), 524. See for example, James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 92. The inclusion of the name of the synagogue leader, the use of Aramaic, and the details of both encounters all point to an authentic memory of sequence. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 234.

93 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies demonstrates the reason for his urgency. If Jesus does not intervene with physical healing, Jairus’ daughter will die. Jairus pleads with Jesus and Jesus agrees to go with him. Along the way, they are interrupted by another person seeking healing.

As the crowd was pressing in upon Jesus, a woman with a blood disease enters the crowd to touch Jesus with the hope of being healed. This woman is described as having a discharge or hemorrhage of blood for twelve years. In Jewish eyes, she was considered unclean according to Leviticus 15:19-27. In Greco-Roman eyes, she was considered weak, frail, and sickly. Not only is this woman described as suffering from her disease, but Mark describes her using several participles, amplifying the severity of her condition. She has suffered at the hands of many doctors, exhausted all her wealth doing so, and has not only not improved, but has gotten worse.

Two points need to be made here. First, this woman was not born with this condition, but rather it came upon her at some point during her life. This means that at some point in time she was not unclean. She was able to live in community with others, to have friends, family, the prospect of a Matthew’s account records Jarius’ daughter as already dead. There are two possible solutions to this tension. First, it is possible that Matthew is compressing the story for his own purposes. More likely though, the situation is so dire that Matthew uses stronger language to stress the urgency of the situation even more. In either case, this discrepancy does not challenge the historicity or the theological significance of this event. Ben Witherington III. The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Kindle Location 2771). Kindle Edition.

“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean. If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening" (Lev. 15:19-27, ESV). Candida Moss has offered an excellent examination of this account based on Greco-Roman models of the body. She argues that Mark’s use of ῥοός indicates that her body lacks the appropriate boundaries and unnaturally leaks its contents into the world, making her weak and frail in Greco-Roman culture. Candida R. Moss, “The Man with the Flow of Power: Porous Bodies in Mark 5:25-34,” JBL 129:3 (2010): 514.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 94 husband. This disease, however, has stripped her of all that, leaving her physically and emotionally hopeless. Second, in an attempt to remedy the situation, she exhausted all her wealth (which must have been somewhat substantial) seeking the help of many physicians, only to be made worse. Thus, she would have lost whatever honor or standing she had in society and had no means to regain it as long as this disease persisted.  Gary Burge summarizes this point, saying “This woman lived in a perpetual state of impurity, which resulted in her poverty, isolation, and suffering.” This woman, having heard about Jesus, rushes into the crowd in an attempt to touch his garment, believing that if she did, she would be saved. Here, σῴζω is not used in a spiritual sense, but rather a completely physical, emotional, and communal sense.  Her hope is to be healed from her disease and restored from its emotional and communal damage. This hope leads her to enter into a crowd that is already pressing in upon Jesus, making everyone she touches on her way to Jesus unclean. She touched Jesus’ garment, potentially making Jesus – the honored guest and Jairus’ only hope of saving his daughter – unclean. But the beauty of Jesus is that when unclean things touch him, he does not become unclean. Rather, the unclean becomes clean.

The story takes a dramatic turn as Jesus feels the flow of power leave him. He turns to see who touched him. Charles Powell summarized the tension well: However, when confronted by Jesus’ penetrating gaze, the woman knew that she must come forward and confess what she had done. In fear she did not know what His response would be. Would it be a stern rebuke? Would He denigrate her and Since honor and shame were determined by the community, this woman has lost her usefulness to the community and therefore has been discarded as shameful. She cannot regain honor through marital union or through wealthy influence. She has lost all hope of an honorable existence. See Halvor Moxnes, “Honor and Shame,” Biblical Theology Bulletin (November: 1993): 19-37. Gary Burge, Encounters with Jesus, 44.

W. Radl, “σῴζω,” in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, eds. Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990–), 320.

95 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies treat her as unclean? Would He shame her and accuse her of making Him and others in the crowd unclean? Yes, she had heard about Jesus. She knew Him to be a worker of miracles and perhaps even a prophet. But she may not have known of His gracious demeanor. Yes, He had healed many others, and she may have expected some amount of compassion. But she was unclean. In a sense she had “stolen” her healing. She may have even defiled Him ceremonially. She may have had no expectation of the gracious response He gave. With fear and trembling, she comes to Jesus and tells him the truth of what had happened to her.

Jesus is well within his rights to berate her and put her to open shame. But instead, he grants her mercy and compassion, saying, Θυγάτηρ, ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε· ὕπαγε εἰς εἰρήνην καὶ ἴσθι ὑγιὴς ἀπὸ τῆς μάστιγός σου. The term θυγάτηρ can refer to familial relationships, but Jesus shares no genetic connection to this woman. It is most likely then, that Jesus is using the term figuratively. This term, coupled with the command to ὕπαγε εἰς εἰρήνην, demonstrates Jesus’ attempt to restore her not only physically, but also within the community.  The last phrase, ἴσθι ὑγιὴς ἀπὸ τῆς μάστιγός σου, indicates that this healing was not a temporary relief, but a permanent cure that enabled her to regain all that she lost.  This woman once lost her money, health, honor, and status as a functioning member of her family and community, but now has experienced the power of new creation, making her what she should have been all along, a daughter of Israel.

Charles Powell, “The Passivity of Jesus in Mark 5:25-34,” BSAC 162:645 (Jan 2005): 73. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed from your disease.” Louw and Nida argue that it is impossible to take the term literally in this passage. Instead, they offer a generic translation of “My Dear woman.” Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 110. This command alludes back to a number of Old Testament passages where the recipient is granted peace as a sign of God’s approval, protection or restoration (1 Sam. 1:17, 20:42, 2 Sam. 15:9, 2 Kings 5:19). By using this phrase, Jesus is making it clear that he is granting the same to this woman.

R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 226.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 96 There have been several attempts to frame the importance of this encounter in terms of spiritual renewal. Graham Twelftree believes that the climax of the story “comes with Jesus saying that her faith has made her well . . . So faith exists when there is no break in the divine initiative and human response by means of a restored relationship to God is established.”  Twelftree, however, remembers the encounter backwards. It is the woman who takes the initiative here. Jesus responds to her only after the healing has occurred. Similarly, James Edwards frames this encounter in terms of discipleship, arguing that while the woman wants a cure, Jesus wants the person to encounter him in discipleship.  James Brooks argues that the woman is granted healing, wholeness, and well-being because of a right relationship with God.  Vern Poythress provides a comparable argument, concluding that this encounter applies to the reader in terms of healing from sin. While the woman demonstrates great faith, which Jesus ascribes to her, the immediate context has nothing to do with forgiveness of sins. The woman is concerned with physical, emotional, and communal restoration which Jesus grants to her in the form of a blessing and guarantee. Thus, the appropriate application is not that the reader can be forgiven from sin, but rather the reader who believes in Jesus has hope that Jesus will act with the power of new creation someday as well. In narrating this encounter, Mark does not want the reader to forget that Jesus is the eschatological fulfillment of the Old Testament or that he is the son of God, but Graham Twelftree, Jesus: The Miracle Worker, 157.

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 165. James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 97. Vern Poythress, The Miracles of Jesus: How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serve as Signs of Redemption (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), 153.

97 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies rather wants to demonstrate for the reader that Jesus as both these things has the power to remove even the most crippling of diseases and restore an individual to a state of new creation. As Jesus is declaring this woman to be a θυγάτηρ, reports come to Jairus saying that his θυγάτηρ is dead. The woman’s interruption has cost Jairus the life of his daughter.  They ask him not to bother Jesus any longer. After all, it is one thing to heal a crippling disease, but who can raise the dead? This seemed unthinkable, even for someone as powerful as Jesus. Jesus commands Jairus to Μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε, although it is highly unlikely that anyone including Jairus heeds this command. Arriving at the house, Jesus encounters many weeping and wailing. He asks them why they are causing such a commotion for someone who is merely sleeping. Καθεύδω is commonly used as a metaphor for sleep, making Jesus’ comment here extremely satirical. Silva makes the argument that “Jesus’ point, no doubt, was that for him the child’s state was not final and irrevocable.” After sending the mourners away and going to where the child was, Jesus took her by the hand and commanded her to rise up, and immediately she arose and began walking around. The Even Eric Eve, who downplayed Jesus’ motives of compassion and mercy argued that Jesus’ healing actions function as a foretaste of Jesus’ kingdom power of restoration and renewal. Eric Eve, The Healer from Nazareth: Jesus’ Miracles in Historical Context (London: SPCK, 2009), 116. There is an interesting interplay between the woman and Jarius’ daughter. In verse 23, Jairus’ daughter is called θυγάτριόν. In verse 25 and 33, the woman is referred to as γυνὴ. But in verse 34, the woman is referred to as θυγάτηρ. In contrast, Jairus' daughter is called θυγάτηρ in verse 35, but she is called a παιδίον in 39 and 40. This interplay does not devalue Jairus' daughter. Instead, it elevates the woman to the status of a daughter that has just as much right to Jesus’ healing power as Jarius’ daughter.

In verse 40, the mourners ridicule Jesus and in verse 42 Jairus and all those present were astounded and amazed by the girl’s resurrection. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 238. Albrecht Oepke, “Καθεύδω,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–), 436.  Moises Silva, “Καθεύδω,” in the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 575.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 98 exchange between the command and the action is interesting. Jesus commanded her, saying, Ταλιθα κουμ, which translates as Τὸ κοράσιον, σοὶ λέγω, ἔγειρε. The child responds by εὐθὺς ἀνέστη τὸ κοράσιον καὶ περιεπάτει. The change from ἔγειρε to ἀνέστη leaves no doubt about what just happened. The girl was dead, but now Jesus has called her back to life. She is so alive that she begins walking around. As with the healing of the woman with a blood disease, there is a tendency to spiritualize and moderate the meaning and purpose of this resurrection. Vern Poythress again believes that this resurrection symbolizes spiritual resurrection. This application, however, downplays the significance of Jesus’ interaction with the physical realities of life and death in favor of a spiritual meaning that is absent from the text.

Vernon Robbins rightfully argues that "instead of exploring the logic of healing . . . the Markan version explores the emotional dynamics of allegiance to Jesus in a world containing pain, suffering, and loss.” Furthermore, this application betrays Mark’s background question of “Who is the Jesus?” Mark wants his readers to recognize that this Jesus, as the eschatological anointed one, has the power of life and death in his hands and is able to act with the power of new creation, which is a power that even death itself cannot contain.  In this way, this account foreshadows Jesus’ own resurrection, which will reveal once and for all who he is and what he is Γὰρ most likely functions as a discourse marker, providing background information and could be translated as “because.” The girl was brought to life and as a result begins walking around. She walks around because she is twelve and that is what twelve-year-old girls do. For the function of γὰρ, see Samuel Zakowski, “She Was Twelve Years Old: on Γὰρ and Mark 5:42,” Glotta 92 (2016): 305-317. Ibid., 152. Vernon K. Robbins, “The Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Garment: Socio-Rhetorical Analysis of the Synoptic Accounts,” New Testament Studies 33 (1987): 511. Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, “Narrative Criticism: How Does the Story Mean?” in Mark and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies eds. Janice Capel Anderson and Stephen D. Moore (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 40.

99 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies capable of. He is able to even restore the dead to new life. This foreshadowing, however, does not stop with Jesus himself but carries over to the believing community. Thus, the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter foreshadows Jesus’ resurrection, which foreshadows the resurrection of his community.

On the other side, some have overemphasized the physical nature of the miracle to the point that there is virtually no application for the reader. R. T. France, for example, believed that Mark had no foreshadowing in mind and distinguished between earthly life and resurrection, stating, “Mark gives no overt indication that he wishes to suggest a resurrection typology. This was, after all, a return to earthly life (and subsequent death), not resurrection.”  Even France, however, noted that this account serves as part of what he calls “the high drama of Jesus’ conquest of death.” If this is true, then this event clues the reader in to who this Jesus might be and what his purpose was for healing. Just as with the woman with a blood disease, he is the eschatological anointed one who has come to conquer death, both physical and spiritual, once and for all, and in so doing, he has set out to restore and resurrect with the power of new creation. “O death where is your sting? Where is your victory?” It has none in the presence of Jesus, who has the power to make all things new.

These two healing accounts provide a picture of Jesus’ purpose that is unique from current proposals. In both accounts, the amount of detail and precision point to authentic historical accounts. In both accounts, faith plays a significant role, but in neither instance does

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, “Echoes and Foreshadowing in Mark 4-8: reading and Rereading,” Journal of Biblical Literature 112:2 (Summer, 1993): 224.

R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 240. Ibid., 204.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 100 Jesus perform these miracles to elicit faith. In both accounts, Mark intends for the reader to ask, “Who is this Jesus?” but provides no more insight or discussion in either narrative or explanative forms. Jesus’ identity as the eschatological anointed one is reserved for the background of the narrative. In both accounts, however, the immediate context demonstrates a concern for physical, emotional, and communal renewal, which foreshadows Jesus’ victory over death, providing hope of renewal, restoration, and new creation for all who would follow him.

Practical Considerations and Conclusion How does Mark 5:21-43 tie into the problem of suffering and the purpose of Christ?

How can this passage be used by preachers and teachers to demonstrate those purposes? Does God care about the pain and suffering of the physical realm or is he only concerned with the spiritual realm? Jesus’ actions in the healing miracles as God incarnate and Immanuel provide evidence that he does.

In the healing miracles, Jesus acts with the power of new creation. The blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised. Yes, these events speak to his identity as the eschatological anointed Messiah. But as the eschatological anointed Messiah, he provides through restoration and renewal a glimpse of the new creation that will occur when he comes again. Revelation 21:1-9 gives a picture of a time at the end of time when God will dwell permanently with men and he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death, mourning, crying, or pain. In his commentary on Revelation, Grant Osborne notes, “Every reader . . . should think of all they have gone through, all the illness, and suffering and loss and incredible sorrows that are always part of life in this sin-sick world.”  All these things will come to an end. Why? Because all things will be restored and renewed with God’s power of new creation foreshadowed Grant R. Osborne, Revelation in BECNT ed. Moises Silva (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 737.

101 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies in Christ’s first coming as the eschatological anointed Messiah demonstrated in the healing miracles, especially Mark 5:21-4.

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 102 Book Reviews

Joshua Stewart, Editor

Welcome to the book review section of The Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies. In the future, the editorial board would love to see this section of the journal grow in its offerings.

In order for this to come to fruition, I would like to invite readers to contact me about the possibility of reviewing books for the journal.

At this point in time, I am working toward growing the list of publishers willing to provide review copies of new releases. I am also working toward building a database of prospective reviewers. If you see a recent release or upcoming release that you would like to review, please contact me. In either case, please include in your email a curriculum vitae and a list of your areas of interest. At this time, we are only considering potential reviewers in a graduate program or higher.

Shalom lekha, Joshua E. Stewart, PhD Book Review Editor bookreviews@LutherRice.edu

**Joshua Stewart is an Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew and the Master of Divinity Program Coordinator at Luther Rice College & Seminary.

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John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue. Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. January 31, 2017. 1024 pages. ISBN:978-1433545917. $60.00. Hardcover.

Biblical Doctrine is John MacArthur’s (along with Richard Mayhue) overview of systematic theology, written from one of the masters of biblical exposition. The work begins with theological foundation (Prolegomena), building on the foundation with a survey of the major doctrines of the Christian faith (Bibliology, Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology, Anthropology and Hamartiology, Soteriology, Angelology, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology). Each treatment of the major doctrines provides ample substance to be used in graduate and masterlevel systematic theology courses, and this resource will likely become the next gold-standard of general systematic theologies due to its current scholarship, its respected authorship, and its conservative, evangelical position.

Chapters begin and end with a hymn (generally one of the traditional hymns of the faith) and conclude with a prayer related to each major doctrine, allowing readers to appreciate the worship aspect of the study of biblical doctrine. Each chapter also concludes with detailed bibliographies containing both primary systematic theologies and specific works with regard to each doctrine, valuable additions to students involved in research on theological topics. The overall structure of the resource is more teachable and flows more easily than other major systematic theologies (such as Erickson and Grudem), and the depth of the topics presents compares or exceeds comparable systematic theologies.

MacArthur writes Biblical Doctrine from a conservative, evangelical standpoint (while also affirming a Calvinist Soteriology). Concerning Bibliology, the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible is affirmed, as is the inerrancy of Scripture and the preservation of Scripture (including a brief discussion on textual criticism). In terms of Soteriology, MacArthur offers an extended treatment on the doctrine of election from a Calvinist position. When it comes to Ecclesiology, the distinction between the church and Israel is presented as the biblical view in contrast to supersessionism. On Eschatology, the view of Futuristic Premillennialism and a pre-tribulation rapture are discussed as the most biblical views.

In general, Biblical Doctrine is a solid, current, conservative, and evangelical general systematic theology. The work provides a solid foundation and overview of the major doctrines of the Christian faith. However, there are select portions of the resource that some theologians

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 104 will be in serious disagreement with. One portion of the resource which will bring the most variance among theologians is MacArthur’s view on Soteriology. While adherents to a Calvinist soteriology will appreciate MacArthur’s extensive treatment on the doctrine of election, theologians against a Calvinist soteriology will take issue with MacArthur’s position on the subject. Such portions of the work should not prevent the resource from being widely used in academic settings, as the work overall presents a solid and biblically sound presentation of doctrine. In the select portions in which theologians are in disagreement with MacArthur, supplementing these with readings from additional systematic theologies or a professor’s own lecture notes provides sufficient balance on the subjects while still providing students with the benefit from this well-designed overview of systematic theology.

Graduate and master-level students will benefit the most from the resource, although students involved in more in-depth research projects concerning systematic theology will benefit from reading the surveys of biblical doctrine in each chapter while diving into the bibliographies at the end of each chapter. The additional touches with the hymns and prayers allow students to pause and reflect on the study of doctrine as a means to worship God and not merely a formal academic exercise.

While Biblical Doctrine has a few areas of issue (especially among non-Calvinist theologians), MacArthur has blessed the church and the academy with a solid presentation outlining the major doctrines of the Christian faith. It is a resource that will likely become one of the most widely-used general systematic theologies for graduate and master-level courses, and that will continue to reward students for years to come.

Nathaniel Parker, PhD Student Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Hot Springs, Arkansas

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Kenneth L. Woodward, Getting Religion: Faith, Culture, and Politics from the Age of Eisenhower to the Ascent of Trump. New York, NY: Convergent Books, 2017. 459 pages.

ISBN# 978-1-101-90741-2. Retail price (cloth cover, $25/ paper, $19).

Kenneth L. Woodward was the religion editor at Newsweek for almost forty years. Over the course of these decades (1964-2002), Woodward was exposed, on a continual basis, to the trends, key figures, and events that influenced faith, culture, and politics in arguably some of the most volatile decades in US history. Woodward was born and raised as a “cradle Catholic” and Democrat in suburban Cleveland, Ohio but the nature and demands of his profession forced him to explore and attempt to understand religions, denominations, beliefs, and attitudes foreign to his religious-cultural background. Educated at the University of Notre Dame, Woodward presents himself as an orthodox Catholic and a cultural-political progressive. Readers will appreciate Woodward’s commendable job of assessing the impact of faith, culture, and politics on the previous 65 years of American history.

Getting Religion is broken into five major sections: embedded religion, entrepreneurial religion, movement religion, experiential religion, and religion as politics. Embedded religion is an assessment of the relatively docile America of the 1950’s. In that decade, Catholics and Baptists accounted for an astounding 40% of the US population. For most Americans, religion went with the territory and people usually affiliated with their birth religion. Protestants and Catholics tended to marry and procreate with those with whom they attended church and school.

In the 1950’s the average American woman gave birth to 3.8 children! This statistic was no doubt impacted by the fact that birth control was forbidden for Catholics. Prior to the 1960’s the average American was God-fearing and patriotic.

The second part of Getting Religion, entrepreneurial religion, provides an overview of the tumultuous 1960’s. Many who lived through this time period wondered if the US would even survive. Between 1963 and 1968 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, President Lyndon Johnson unveiled his plan for making America the “Great Society”, the civil rights movement burst into the American conscience, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were gunned down within weeks of one another. In church life, moral and spiritual boundaries eroded and disappeared. Evangelicalism sprung up as a spiritual-cultural phenomenon through the influence of key figures such as Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, Robert Schuller, Jerry Falwell,

Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies 106 James Dobson, Bill Bright, and in particular Billy Graham. Their spiritual gravitas would greatly impact and influence the subsequent decade.

The cultural movements of the 1960’s gave impetus to the movement religion that Woodward sees as encapsulating the decade of the 70’s. The ten-year period from 1970-1979 saw the establishment of the peace (anti-war) movement, the women’s liberation movement, the environmental movement, the free speech movement, the gay rights movement, the abortion rights movement, the pro-life movement, and the Jesus movement! Movement religion is an appropriate descriptor for the Seventies because activist clergy and churches were the stimulus for many of the aforementioned movements. For example, MLK Jr., the Berrigan brothers, Father Neuhaus, and Rabbi Heschel exemplified the fomenting religio-social conscious within American Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism manifested in the 1970’s. From a broader perspective, Woodward carefully documents the rise, influence, and fall of Liberation Theology in the decade of the Seventies. The impact of the women’s liberation movement that began in the 1970’s has continued to affect the gender of clergy, the patriarchal language of the Bible, trends in business leadership, and educational curriculums into the present day. The two final sections of Getting Religion, experiential religion and religion as politics, cannot be restricted to a single decade of US history.

According to Woodward, in the late 70’s, religiosity was usurped by spirituality meaning that average Americans were looking for something to experience rather than merely something to believe. During the era of experiential religion, Americans dabbled with Hinduism, Transcendental Meditation (TM), and Buddhism. Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson convinced professors of religion that just as there were stages of psychosocial development there were stages of faith inherent to one’s religious development. Thousands of Americans paid large sums of money to attend Erhard Seminars Training (est) and Transpersonal Psychology clinics.

Americans became obsessed with death and dying through the popular appeal of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s books on that subject. The period of experimental religion gave rise to the entrenchment of cults such as Scientology, the “Moonies” (the Unification Church), and Mormonism in American life and culture.

Religion and politics have been closely associated throughout US history. Beginning with Jimmy Carter in 1976, Woodward examines the influence of religion in the most recent presidential campaigns. Carter was the first candidate for president to claim to be “born again” and was rewarded by receiving a slight majority of the Evangelical vote in his successful run for

107 Luther Rice Journal of Christian Studies office. In the 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan was firmly endorsed by the Christian Right and won in a landslide over Carter. In 1992, Bill Clinton, a Southern Baptist, embraced Christians of every persuasion in route to victories in his two presidential races. George W. Bush avowed that “Jesus changed his heart” and that solidified the religious base of the electorate in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Despite being raised Muslim, Barack Obama was able to convince enough skeptics that he was a Christian to win the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. At a national level, the focus of the Republican Party became “family values” and the Democrats became the Party of “the politics of righteousness for the oppressed”.

You may be wondering why a seminary student should read this book. The majority of seminary students were born since 1970 and are unaware of the religious, social, and political culture of the US over the previous 50 years. Though you may disagree with the way Woodward interprets key events from the previous five decades, you will nonetheless be aware of the unfolding of the broad movements of recent American history.

Ron Cobb Luther Rice College & Seminary

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B. Witherington, Paul’s Narrative Thought World: The Tapestry and Tragedy of Triumph (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 3–5.

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D. Reinhard, “Ephesians 6:10–18: A Call to Personal Piety or another Way of Describing Union with Christ,” JETS 48 (2005): 521–32.

6

M. Kitchen, The ἀνακεφαλαίωσις of All Things in Christ: Theology and Purpose in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, 1988), 74, 76–77.

Bibliography Examples Arnold, C. Ephesians, Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in Ephesians in the Light of its Historical Setting. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 63. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Barr, J. The Semantics of Biblical Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961.

Kitchen, M. “The ἀνακεφαλαίωσις of All Things in Christ: Theology and Purpose in the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, 1988.

O’Brien, P. The Letter to the Ephesians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

Reinhard, D. “Ephesians 6:10–18: A Call to Personal Piety or another Way of Describing Union with Christ.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48 (2005): 521–32.

Witherington, B. Paul’s Narrative Thought World: The Tapestry and Tragedy of Triumph.

Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994.

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