Blog or Article?
Blogs often focus on personal opinion, experiences, views, anecdotes or advice. Blogs tend to have a relaxed and conversational feel, such as in storytelling and are generally 300-500 words.
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Here's the deal:
None of Paul's letters were written to US. Corinthians was written to the Greek believers in Corinth.
Don't you think we should approach the translation from that point of view and try to understand
the mind of ancient Greeks?
You will find, if you do your own research into this, that in the second group of sumphero, that the word for faith, pistis, comes from the word peitho, which is the Greek goddess of persuasion. She was the herald for Aphrodite and as such was the prophet (one who speaks for another) for Aphrodite.
For this reason, Paul included discerning of spirits. Here's the way the order is established in the Greek text:
Faith (pistis), gifts (joys) of healing (cure), energizing of potential, prophecy and discernings of spirits.
If we are to undo the ignorant practice of the so-called manifestations of the spirit, we need to translate Paul's words, to these Greeks, with their frame of mind and religious practice of centuries. He did not write these words to US. How can we comprehend his words unless we do more research on the ancient Greek mind?
And with that, I will leave you to your own research, if you care to do so. If you don't care, that's fine. I will do my own for myself. Thanks for reading!!!
In the last post (part 1), we found that there is a bringing together. But, of what?
Group 1: Word (arrangement) of Sophia and Word (arrangement) of Gnosis.
Why does the Spirit bring these two together?
Group 2: Prophecy, Discerning of (belonging to) Spirits, Faith, Energizing of Potential and Gifts of Healing.
Why does the Spirit bring these five together?
Group 3: Kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues.
Why does the Spirit bring these two together?
The Curious Problem of Andra
When using The Word Study New Testament and The Word Study Concordance [Tyndale], there is no word number for “man” in Ephesians 4:13, in the phrase “unto a perfect man.” Only the word “perfect” is numbered, leaving the user to think that “perfect man” is the one number given for both words.
The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament clearly shows eis andra teleion, “into a man full-grown.” Andra is the accusative singular of the word anEr (alpha, nun, Eta, rho). Translated 215 times as either “husband, man or men.” Not a very exciting word translation, to say the least.
Dr. Wierwille taught us one of the rules for Biblical research understanding: “used before.” I never thought I would be looking into Homer’s Odyssey to find that “used before.”
Think about it. Paul wrote his letters to Greek “pagans” (according to Hebrew thought of that time) using an understanding their culture knew for thousands of years. I suggest seeing a You Tube video, by Roger Travis of the University of Connecticut, called CAMS 1103 Classical Mythology: The Odyssey and the Andra, part D. (May 5, 2009).
In the video, Travis speaks of the Odyssey where Zeus is speaking to Athena in the council of the gods:
“For shame, how can mortals think that we are in control of their actions?” Travis goes on to explain something called Double Determination where “every important action in Homer’s epics has both a human and divine cause.” “The human cause is the one that is really important.”
He also uses the term “the true man, the andra,” reference to Telemachus who grew and proved himself as a proactive man with the same dignity and power that resembled his father, Odysseus. He visits Eumaeus, the swine herder, with whom his father Odysseus is in disguise. Eumaios means “searching well.” The swine herder believes that Odysseus is on his way home. (Wikipedia)
This seems to have parallels with the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Joshua Immanuel, the Christ, took the essence of Odysseus and Telemachus and condensed it into the parable that says everything in short, minus killing the suitors of his mother. We all know the parable and that when the son “came to himself,” he remembered his father’s house and this gave him the determination and courage to go home, where he finally arrived.
Paul writes to the Ephesians about the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers with a view to (pros, all the way to) the perfecting of the saints, into the work of service, into the building up of the body of the Christ. Then he writes:
Ephesians 4:13
Till we come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament says, under the Greek: “until we may arrive (oi the) all at (into) the unity (one and the same) of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of (tou the) God, at (into) a man full-grown, at (into) a measure of (a) stature of the fulness of the Christ.” [My parenthesis to translate the Greek word eis properly and to show when article “the” is used and “a” when there is no article before the noun].
Where are we supposed to arrive? The Father’s house, as the Prodigal Son returning to where he started. All the parts into the oneness of the pistis (from Romans 10:9 believing in your heart that THE GOD awakened self out of a dead shell) and of the epignosis (knowledge upon) belonging to the son of the God, an andra matured, into an instrument of measurement belonging to a period fitted for a particular function, belonging to the fulness (volume) of the Christ.
This is not something that God will do at the so-called gathering together. This happens by what we do in practice to reach theosis through concentration, meditation, observation and introspection. We will find the Father hiding in ourselves while “visiting” the swine herder (he who searches well) by coming to ourselves.
The epic proportions of this human effort are recognized by the Father with the best robe, a ring on the finger and sandals on the feet. The fatted calf and the celebration feast and merriment are for “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
The work of the andra is important for spiritual maturity. It is the difference between reading the story (theory and belief) and being the story (experience).
With over 30,000 different denominations of Christianity, we are far from “one and the same.” Only experience can bring us into the one faith and the knowledge upon us belonging to the son of the Father. This is not accomplished by agreeing on scripture or “rightly dividing the written Word.” All the disagreements on scripture have shown this to be a fact in our present day experience.
It is time to find the Father hiding in ourselves.
Dear Way Corps Alumni:
With a Supreme Court appointment looming before the Senate this week, many desire to better understand the vast powers of the Court. For the Way Corps Alumni, Steve Morrison has kindly written the attached article, explaining the purpose and functions of the Supreme Court. I think you might find it thought-provoking, from a Christian-citizen point of view. Here is the link to the file. Understanding the Supreme Court
As you may recall, Steve Morrison is both 8th Corps, and a celebrated attorney --licensed in four states and a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court, allowed to practice in the highest Court of our land.
Thank you much!
Steve Sann |
