What caused the financial meltdown in 2008?
Here is the link to this morning’s interview on WSAU. It was a good and lively discussion.
[audio:https://www.hushbeck.com/blog/audio/Elgin_Hushbeck_on_what_really_causded_financial_meltdown_of_2008.mp3]What caused the financial meltdown in 2008?
There is still a lot of confusion about how we got into the current financial mess. Yet if we do not understand the problem, how can we ever hope to fix it? This Wednesday following the 8:00 AM news I will be on WSAU radio to discuss what really happened in 2008 and how most of the politicians in both parties did not really understand it, and how as a result their fixes only further compounded the problem. You can listen live here. If you can’t listen, you can find this in chapter 10 of the paperback version of Preserving Democracy
The Epistles of John: Living in Truth and Love. 1 John 1 continued
Week 12: Nov 27, 2011
This week we had a lot of discussion before continuing 1 John 1:1
Study
1:1b – What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the[1] Word of life!
existed from the beginning
– Last week we saw that the “What” at the start of the verse referred to the totality of Jesus, and the message he brought concerning eternal life. This brings us to the next question. When was the beginning that is being referred to here? Again there are several possibilities.
1 From all eternity as in John 1:1. One question however, is that this is from (ἀπ) the beginning whereas John 1:1 was in (ἐν) the beginning. It would also seem to be in contrast from the other three clauses that will follow this one.
2 From the beginning of the world. This is certainly possible but seems a bit arbitrary. Why pick this point as the point to begin. It also has the problem of possibly, but necessarily, implying that Jesus only existed from the creation. So it add little to our understanding of the verse, but introduces a possible problem
3 From Jesus’ earthly ministry. This is consistent with the other three clauses and since the “What” includes both the message and eternal life, this would make sense as this was the point at which the message of eternal life began to be spread.
4 From the beginning of the apostles teachings. This is also largely consistent with the time frame of the three clauses yet to come. However it would shift the focus from the totality of Jesus and the message of life that he embodied, to more of an emphasis on the message, i.e., this is the message we have taught from the beginning. And while this is consistent with the timeframe, it would conflict with the see and touch aspects of the “What” discussed in the next verse.
Given all of this it would seem that it is close between the 1st and 3rd options. The lack of explanation by John, and clear allusion to John 1:1 would seem to argue for the first option. Yet the third option seems to fit a little better. One thing to consider is that they may have been conflated in John’s mind. The main point being stressed here is the lack of change. Whether one sees this as from the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry or from all eternity ultimately matters little, and it may not have mattered to John as he wrote.
Questions and Discussion.
The class began with a question concerning the judgment seat of Christ: Since none of us are perfect and all have sinned and fallen short, even as Christians, will this be a judgment that we should fear? This developed into a long discussion on the balance between love and judgment and the nature of forgiveness that would be impossible to recreate here, however it does foreshadow some issues that we will be covering later in the study. In the end I argued that while our life will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, this will not be a time of fear. I am not sure we have the words for the emotions what we will be feeling, it will be a time of sadness for all the times that we failed our savior, but it will be a time when we experience true forgiveness and as such our sense of failure will be, I believe, overwhelmed by the love of Christ and at that point we will understand both his sacrifice and his forgiveness in ways that we can’t now. So while I do not believe it will be a time of fear, like most of the afterlife, we cannot really say what it will be, for now we see through a glass darkly. (1 Cor 13:12)
Next week we will continue in 1 John 1
If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com and be sure to put “Epistles of John” in the header.
See here for references and more background on the class.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. www.isv.org
Note: Some places I have modify the text from the ISV version. Passages that I have modified have been noted with and * by the verse number and the ISV text is included in a footnote.
Footnotes:
1 v1:1 Lit. about the
The Epistles of John: Living in Truth and Love. 1 John 1a
Week Eleven: Nov 20, 2011
This week we finish 2 John, and then started 1 John. I finished 2 John in previous post.
Study
1 John
Outline
While there is very large agreement when it comes to the outline of 2nd and 3rd John, the reverse is true when it comes to 1st John as there is very little agreement. As Marshall described the problem “It is… extremely difficult to find a pattern in the author’s thinking, and many different suggestions have been offered.”(p 22) As I reviewed the many suggested outlines none stuck me being correct as they seemed to be imposed upon instead of derived from the letter. So I looked at the text of 1 John and, right and wrong, came up with my own. You will need to decide if I have taken a step in the right direction, or just added to the confusion.
My approach was to look for distinctive features in the text that would define the structure, and I noticed two. While there is wide disagreement over the outline there is a general agreement that the first 4 verses of chapter one serves as a prologue to the rest of the letter, and I agree with this assessment. There is also general agreement that the letter has two main sections with the division occurring somewhere around the end of chapter 2 or the beginning of chapter 3. Commentators differ as to exactly where.
As such, the body of the letter begins in verse 5 with “This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all!” I noticed that a very similar phrase occurs in 3:11, “This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” These are the only two places where such a phrase occurs in 1 John and so I took them as marking off the two main portions of the letter. Verse 5:13 begins “I have written these things to you who believe…” While similar phrases do occur elsewhere, most notably in chapter 2, here they seem to have the tone of summation, and thus begin the final portion of the letter. So based on this we have 4 main parts, a prologue, two major sections and a conclusion.
The second feature I noticed is, as I noted in 2 and 3 John, John seems to use phrases such as “Dear Friend” (3 John 2, 5 & 11) and “Dear Lady” (2 John 5) to mark changes in thought, and the same appears to be true here as the transition at 2:1 is marked by “My little Children…” Looking through the letter, this and similar phrases occur periodically “My little Children…” (2:1), “Dear Friends…” (2:7 & 18), “Little Children…” (2:18, 2:28 & 3:7), etc., so I took these as marking transition. Using this as my framework I started my detailed analysis of the letter to see if this would work out. I am currently up to Chapter 3 and for the most part it is working very well.
The major diversion from this pattern has been in the middle of Chapter 2. While verse 12 does begin a section with “I am writing to you, little children…” it is the beginning of an almost poetic section of two groups of three phrases, were each phrase beginning with either “little children”, “fathers” or “young people” and clearly not all of them are meant to be transitions, rather the entire passage is a unit.
The other major break with this pattern occurs in verse 20, where John switches from talking about those who left in verse 19, to his readers with “You have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things.” This also seems to beginning a new section. Internally, most of these subsections consist of two part, and opening statement which often serves as a premise, and then a expansion or discussion.
At this point I have only worked through the beginning of chapter 3 and here is what I have so far. I will update this when I have finished my notes.
I. Prologue – Our Testimony: the Word of Life (1:1-4)
II. Part I – Light and Darkness (1:5 -310)
a. The Message – Living in the Light (1:5-1:10)
i. God Is Light – Establishing Common Ground (1:5)
ii. Three Proposition Refuted (1:6-10)
b. Expansion: Keep His Commandments (2:1-6)
i. Jesus the Messiah is our advocate (2:1-2)
ii. To know him is to obey him (2:3-6)
1 Statement (2:3)
a Claim (2:4)
b Counter-Claim (2:5)
2 Restatement (2:6)
c. Expansion: Love One Another (2:7-11)
i. The commandment to Love (2:7-8)
ii. To be in the light is to love (2:9-11)
1 Claim (2:9)
a Counter-Claim (2:10)
2 Restatement of Claim(2:11)
d. Our Position (2:12-17)
i. Our position in Christ (2:12-14)
ii. Warning: Do not love the world (2:15-17)
e. Their Position (2:18-27)
i. Antichrists a sign of the time (2:18)
ii. They Left us (2:19-20)
f. Why John Writes (2:21-27)
i. Premise: You Know all things (2:20-1)
1 You know lies are not in the truth
ii. Those who deny are the liars (2:22-23)
1 Those who confess have the son and the father.
iii. You remain in him (2:24-25)
1 You have the promise of eternal life
iv. Summary (2:26-27)
g. Expansion: Abide in the Father (2:28-3:1)
i. To abide is to be Prepared (2:28)
ii. The righteous are God’s Children (2:29-30)
h. Expansion: We are God’s Children Live accordingly (3:2-3:6)
i. Premise: We will be like him (3:2)
ii. Live accordingly (3:29-30)
i. Don’t be Deceived (3:7 – 3:10)
i. Premise: Don’t be Deceived (3:7a)
ii. Distinguishing between Righteous and Unrighteous (3:7b-3:10)
III. Part II – Love One Another (3:11-5:14)
a. The Message – Love One Another(3:11-17)
b. True Love Acts (3:18-20)
c. Love answer prayer (3:21-24)
d. Test what People Say (4:1-3)
e. We overcome the World (4:4-6)
f. Love comes from God (4:7-10)
g. Love leads to perfection (4:11-5:12)
IV. Epilogue – These things have I written unto you (5:13-21)
a. Conclusion (5:13-20)
b. 4:21 – Final warning (5:20)
Notes
I. Prologue – Our Testimony: the Word of Life (1:1-4)
The first four verses of this letter are one sentence in the Greek text and most consider this sentence to be the most complicated in the writings of John, with phrases such as “bordering on incoherence,” “grammatical impossibilities” and “unclear.” (Harris) The train of thought is interrupted 3 times and the main verb does not occur until the end of verse 3. However the thoughts here are not random but appear to have the following structure.
| 1a | (imperfect) | What was from the beginning |
| 1b | (perfect) | What we have heard |
| 1c | (perfect) | What we have seen with our own eyes |
| 1d | (aorist) | What we have observed and our hands have touched |
| 1e | Concerning the word of Life | |
| 2a | (aorist) | And the life was revealed |
| 2b | (perfect) | And we saw |
| 2c | (present) | And we testified and proclaim to you |
| 2d | The life eternal | |
| 2e | Which was with the father | |
| 2f | (aorist) | And was revealed to us |
| 3a | (perfect) | What we have seen and have heard (summary of 1&2) |
| 3b | (present – main) | We proclaim to also you |
| 3c | (present) | So you also many have fellowship with us |
| 3d | And this fellowship of ours is with the father | |
| 3e | And with his son Jesus Christ | |
| 4a | (present) | And these things we write |
| 4b | (present, perfect) | So that our joy may be full. |
1a – 2d are in the form of a chiasmus, centered on 1e, “Concerning the word of Life,” with 2e and f begin a further description of “The life eternal.” 3a quickly summarizes the chiasmus before getting to the main verb “We proclaim” in 3b. The remainder of the passage (3c-4b) then explains the reasons for the proclamation.
The reason for all this complexity is that John is doing many things. He is making an allusion to the Gospel of John, which also opens with a chiasmus. He is stressing the eyewitness nature of his testimony and that it results in both eternal life and fellowship with the father.
1:1 – What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the[1] Word of life!
– There is a pretty clear allusion to John 1:1 here: In the beginning was the Word…
– This is the first of 4 “what” phrases, and instantly raises the question of just what is being referred to here? As is often the case there are several possibilities that have been suggested.
1 Jesus as the Word (λόγος) as in John 1:1. There does seem to be a clear allusion to the opening of John’s gospel and the word (λόγου) is mention here at the end of the verse, “The word of life (τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς). There is, however, a problem. The passage says “What” (neuter), not “The one” (masculine). It is not impossible for a person to be referred to using a neuter. Paul does this in 1 Cor 15:10 saying about himself that, “By the grace of God I am WHAT I am.” But it is unusual.
2 Life is another possibility, as this is also mentioned at the end of the verse. It is also supported by 1:2 which begins “This life…” However this option has the same problem as understanding this as Jesus for the Greek word for life (ζωῆς) is feminine.
3 I believe the best way to understand this is to see Word of Life as embodying both the incarnation and message of God. Thus the reason John uses “What” (neuter) is because the reference is not just personal but is inclusive of the message of salvation that Jesus proclaimed. John is stressing the inseparability between the message of Christ and the person of Jesus, which as we will see early in the letter is very important to his overall message.
Next week we will continue in 1 John 1
If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com and be sure to put “Epistles of John” in the header.
See here for references and more background on the class.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. www.isv.org
Note: Some places I have modify the text from the ISV version. Passages that I have modified have been noted with and * by the verse number and the ISV text is included in a footnote.
Footnotes:
1 v1:1 Lit. about the
The Epistles of John: Living in Truth and Love. 2 John 12,13
Week Eleven: Nov 20, 2011
This week we finished 2 John, and then started 1 John. I will start 1 John in a separate post.
Study
II.Conclusion
b. Final words (12)
12 – Although I have a great deal to write to you,1 I would prefer not to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
– This is a serious matter and there is a lot to do, but John does not want to write. The ending her is very similar to the closing of 3 John
c. Greeting (13)
13 – The children of your2 chosen sister greet you.3
– John closes the letter closes in the standard way. The reference to “Children” most likely refers to the members of John’s Church.
In the next post I will start 1 John
If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com and be sure to put “Epistles of John” in the header.
See here for references and more background on the class.
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. www.isv.org
Note: Some places I have modify the text from the ISV version. Passages that I have modified have been noted with and * by the verse number and the ISV text is included in a footnote.
Footnotes:
1 v12 Lit. you (plural)
2 v13 Lit. you (singular)
3 v13 Other mss. read you. Amen
