Things that matter little, and things that matter much

It matters little...

1. Whether or not we know who the Beloved Disciple was, if he didn't find it important to come out and say it, then I don't need to know.
2. that the Qumran community existed. They appear, by all evidence I've read, to be a community of isolationists, which mean they play relatively little role in the surrounding world. John the Baptist, Jesus, and and the disciples were not isolationists, which means their worldview differed from these people. In fact, it appears that Jesus and most of his followers were Hellenized Jews (Jesus spent formative years in Egypt, perhaps even reading some Philo).
3. Whether we use the term Jehovah or Yahweh or LORD. God's name in Hebrew is something like Yahweh, in german that translates Jehovah. The key is that God, and his name, are above every other name.
4. Whether there was a "Johannine Community." Mainly because the gospel of John is evangelistic in nature, not focused on discipleship of an existing community. See chapter 20:30- 31 for evidence.
5. If we call it Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, or Communion. The point is the same. We are called to remember Christ, his death and resurrection, in a community with fellow believers. All three names focus on important things for us to remember during this time.


It matters much...

1. How we translate the Greek word "ouv" (my new office computer doesn't have greek fonts yet, don't hate). The word, mostly translated "therefore" implies a cause and effect relationship between the text before and after it. However, the NIV, and other translations, have mistranslated this word (I think intentionally) in many circumstances. The one bugging me today is John 11:6

2. How we understand the concept of "faith." Many have taken this word and made it as flimsy as head knowledge, or a one time pledge of the heart. But let us remember that favorite Scripture of Martin Luther: "The righteous shall LIVE by faith." Faith is a way of life, and it is all encompassing.

3. Whether you study grammer of words first during exegesis. If you study the words, you may have a "pet" translation in mind before you see the relationship between words. But if you do the grammer work first, you can look for other examples of this word in similar grammatical contructions.

4. What you read. I realize today that I spent most of my last two years at Milligan reading the most critical works concerning the Bible, but that never offered much about how the text relates to faith. What I have discovered looking back is that these academic books often focused on things that were not based on the text, but assumptions about the person/group writing the book. These books failed to follow the scientific method. Thank you Raymond Brown, who I read in my last semester, you showed me how to think logically while focusing on the important issues of the text.

5. Whether we believe Israel at the time of Jesus was primarily Greek or Hebrew. This changes entirely our focus of study. Personally, I believe that Israel was very hellenized. I believe the primary spoken language of the Jews, even amongst one another, was Greek. I believe that Aramiac and Hebrew at the time were primarily used for religious services and festivals.

Bonus: It matters much...

Whether you think the sermons in the gospels and acts are the actual words of Jesus or artistic summaries of their teaching. I believe these are the actual sermons and messages, and that the text tends to give clear indication if more was said that was not written down (see Acts 2:40)

Have a great week!