u/alternativea1ccount

Not sure how many of you on here keep up with internet apologetics but I recently watched the David Wood-Andrew Wilson debate and it was absolutely abysmal. Abysmal and embarrassing and I see this across all corners of internet Christianity including, unfortunately, in this corner at times. The spirit of the Corinthian church is alive and well in the spirit of the internet Church. I'm so tired of it all. Something needs to change. But how do we change it?

>The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Is "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" a heading or title rather than the opening line? It seems like verse 2 is where the actual narrative begins, but verse 1 is just a summary of what happens, not actually part of the narrative itself.

I've been trying to expand my vocabulary in Koine considerably but I'm finding myself getting a bit bored reading the NT. I'm not 100% fluent yet but I can read a pretty large amount without much aid (though I still struggle with 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, and the Petrine epistles!) Does anybody know which books of the LXX are most accessible and where I can start? I want to expand my vocab and become more fluent in reading Koine.

Hey I wanted to post a translation I did of some fragments of the Gospel of Thomas from the Oxyrhynchus papyri I happened to find that were published online. What do y'all think?

>1. These are the hidden words which the living Jesus spoke and which Judas, who is Thomas, wrote down.

>2. And he said, "Whoever may discover the interpretation of these words shall not taste death."

>3. Jesus said, "Let the one seeking not cease to seek until he finds; he will be amazed and, having been amazed, he shall reign and, having reigned, he will rest." 

>4. Jesus said, "If those leading you shall say to you, 'Behold, the Kingdom is in the sky', the birds of heaven will precede you. But if they say, 'It is under the earth!' The fish of the sea will precede into it before you, and the Kingdom of God is within you, and outside. Whoever shall know himself, he will discover this, and when you know yourselves, you will see that you are sons of the living Father. But, unless you know yourselves, you are in poverty and you are the poverty."

>5. Jesus said, "An old man will not hesitate to ask a seven day old child about the place of life, and you will live because many who are first will be last, and the last, first, and they will have eternal life."

>6. Jesus said, "Know that which is before your sight, and what has been hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing secret which will not become manifest, nor having been buried that will not be raised up."

>7. His disciples questioned him and they said, "How will we fast, and how will we pray, and how will we give alms, and what diet will we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not lie, and what anyone hates, do not do. For all things will be full of truth before heaven. For nothing has been concealed which will not be made manifest. Blessed is the one who does not do these things. For everything in illumination will be from the Father who is in heaven."

>8. Jesus said, "Hypocrite, you see the speck in the eye of your brother, but you notice not the beam in your own eye. Cast out the beam from your eye and then you will see clearly to cast out the speck in the eye of your brother."

>9. Jesus said, "Unless you shall fast to the world, you shall never find the Kingdom of God. And unless you 'Sabbatize' the Sabbath, you will not see the Father."

>10. Jesus said, "I stood in the midst of the world and was seen by them in the flesh and I found everyone drunk, and I found no one in them thirsting, and my soul toils over the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and they see not, because they return into the world as empty ones. And they seek to come again from the world as empty ones. Nevertheless, now they are drunk. When they shall put away their wine, then they will repent." 

>11. Jesus said, "If flesh came because of the spirit, it is a marvel. But if the spirit is because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. But I marvel about this, that so much wealth dwells in this poverty." 

>12. Jesus said, "Where there shall be 3 divine beings, they are gods. And where there is only one, I am with him. Raise the stone, there you will find me. Split the wood, I am also there."

>13. Jesus said, "A prophet is not accepted in his own country, nor does a physician heal for those who know him."

>14. Jesus said, "A city being constructed on the summit of a high mountain, and being fortified, is neither able to fall nor be hidden."

>15. Jesus said, "What you hear in your ear, preach from the rooftops." 

>16. Jesus said, "Do not worry from the morning until evening, from evening until morning; neither in your food, what you shall eat; neither in your clothes, what you shall wear. You are much better than the lilies which grow but do not spin. Not having clothes, what do you lack? Who can add upon your stature? The same will give your clothes to you."

>17. Jesus said, "Often you desired to hear the word which I speak to you, and have not the one uttering. And the days will come when you will seek me and you will not find me."

>18. Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scribes received the keys of knowledge and they hid them. They neither enter nor have permitted those entering to enter. But be wise as snakes and innocent as doves."

Please note that I am an amateur, not a scholar. I taught myself Koine and I have no formal training.

Because the middle recension has some very bold claims about the nature of Jesus, he even calls him "begotten" with respect to the flesh but "unbegotten" with respect to the spirit. His language borders on modalistic monarchianism in some places, language which later Trinitarians might not even be comfortable with as it actually sounds "too high". Has there been any serious scholarly treatment of Ignatius's Christology and where he stands in studies on early high Christology? Because it seems to me he often gets neglected in these discussions, which often focus on the Logos Christology of the late 2nd century and 3rd century apologists.

Should "that in him we might become the righteousness of God" be interpreted as believer's receiving God's righteousness through imputation or should it be read as "that in him we might become what God considers righteous" as in, actually becoming righteous in God's eyes instead of just being imputed righteousness?