Jas 3.1

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I'm a born-again Christian, active member of the body of Christ, husband and father, and Bible teacher. I love to study Scripture, and firmly believe it is the only credible standard for truth.

Aside from my devotion to God, His people, and His word, I don't really have any loyalty to a particular doctrine or creed.

(The guy in the picture is Zhuge Liang from the movie Red Cliff.)

	1,454 reputation	bio	website	onedoctrine.org	visits	member for	1 year, 1 month
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May 22	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? let us continue this discussion in chat
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? When we're talking about very common words like "water," "light," "seed," etc. I think we would do well to remember that these do actually refer to "water," "light," "seed," ... they are not always symbols just because they appear in the same book as a symbolic usage (as your quote from Craig Koester also indicates.) Anyway, you are free to disagree. I am not on a mission to criticize or convince you or anything like that. I hope my comments have been useful to you in some way, but if not, maybe they'll be of some use to another reader.
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? RE: "each individual authorial work . . . should not be partitioned" I'm not so sure about that. As I mentioned, in Matthew 13 we see "seed" within the same Gospel, in the same chapter... in fact, within the same discourse, by the same speaker... being used several different ways.
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? Oh, and I am also trying to preserve the distinction between the historical context and the narrative context / between the quoted speaker and the narrator.
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? I can tell you are well educated in hermeneutics, so to state it more technically, I am trying to caution against the "exegetical fallacy" of "illegitimate totality transfer" (where the connotations of a word in one context are illegitimately carried to another context.)
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? In John 1:1-5 the narrator explains "In the beginning was the Word . . . All things came into being through Him . . . In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness . . . ." Given the context and the genre, it is easy to see here that the narrator is establishing a symbol by speaking metaphorically about the Son as "the Light." However, I don't think it is safe to assume that because John recorded a discourse which includes Jesus establishing a symbol that the symbol carries over outside of that discourse. (cf. various uses of "seed" in Matt. 13)
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? RE: the fig tree, Mark may have been implying a similarity between the fruitless fig tree and the temple, but I am wary of "the fig tree is a symbol for the temple" given the typical usage of the statement. RE: Redaction, I agree. RE: Jesus' symbols, they are His, not John's. It has to be shown that John was also intentionally establishing a symbol (vs. intentionally including the discourse for another reason.) RE: John 4:28, she left in haste. I think we need to be cautious of drawing too much significance from a single word. (I would suggest posting a separate question for this one.)
May 21	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? Some good thoughts. I would challenge the fig tree example though, on this basis. With the light motif, Jesus identified Himself as the light of the world in a particular context for a particular purpose. John shared portions of Jesus' discourse for a particular purpose, but that does not mean that John was establishing a symbol for his own use outside of Jesus' discourse.
May 19	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? Matt, could you possibly provide an example of what sorts of passages you are wondering about? With the ambiguity in terms and variety in perspectives out there today it is tough to know exactly what you are seeking based solely on linguistic descriptions. Is there a particular passage that has caught your attention in this regard? If not, could you give us a couple of examples of each to clarify your question?
May 19	comment	How can we determine when an image is a symbol? Great answer. I understood your usage of "subjective," but as you noted in your comment about "free will," the term carries different connotations depending on usage. Since the OP was using the terms differently, it would be helpful to clarify how you are using the terms, or stick with the vocabulary he was using. Thanks for the great contribution though. Please continue to share your insight!
May 11	comment	What is the significance of the floating ax head in 2 Kings 6:1-7? Welcome to the site serena. Please review our about and faq pages when you get a chance to see what makes a good answer. You can return to this answer and edit it after reading up a bit so you can get your up-votes and earn some reputation for your contribution. Thanks!
May 10	comment	Why does Jesus tell his mother his “hour has not yet come”? @Joseph Interesting thought. Jesus is indeed presented in the Gospel of John as the "2nd Moses", so I suppose it is possible that once again He was pointing to His true identity here by this "attesting miracle." (On an unrelated note I think "saving the best wine for last" is a reference to the Spirit, who Jesus would send after He finished His work on the cross. I'm not sure Matthew Miller's claim that the link is based on intoxication is reliable though.) What Jesus does here is not merely some "work of power." By redeeming a very shameful situation, He also shows Himself to be The Redeemer.
May 8	comment	Why does Jesus tell his mother his “hour has not yet come”? Could you possibly site your sources, or is this from personal observation?
May 8	comment	Why does Jesus tell his mother his “hour has not yet come”? @MatthewMiller I didn't mean to imply the entire answer came from His commentary. I have edited to clarify. (I just wanted some "meat" behind my claim about the "hour" reference.)
May 8	comment	Is there any exegetical reason for believing the seven churches of Revelation correspond to seven successive “church ages”? A lot of this was interesting, but all of it was confusing. What is "Sabbath/Day 1"? I thought the 7th day was the Sabbath? What does "Trumpets/Day 5 swarms" mean? How did you come up with this stuff? Or did you read this somewhere? Given how confused I feel after reading this, I'll have to down-vote pending some clarifying edits. (Thanks for the effort, though.)
May 7	comment	Is there any exegetical reason for believing the seven churches of Revelation correspond to seven successive “church ages”? Thanks Bob. I'm going to accept this for now, since I don't want to forget to accept an answer, but I am still eagerly awaiting the "yes" perspective as well.
May 7	comment	Is there any exegetical reason for believing the seven churches of Revelation correspond to seven successive “church ages”? See the about and faq pages for tips on formatting, etc.
Apr 11	comment	Before the Tower of Babel did all speak Hebrew as the original human language? Is this a hermeneutics question? I'm feeling like this might be a better fit on Christianity.SE and/or MiYodeya.SE.
Apr 11	comment	Did Abraham leave Haran before or after his father died? FWIW I up-voted your answer; it was very good and represented your view well.
Apr 11	comment	Did Abraham leave Haran before or after his father died? I respect your interpretation of Genesis 6:3 as one possibility, but it is not the only possibility. I have heard two others -- one of which seems to fit the context better (to me); that man's days were numbered; there would be 120 years left before the Flood would destroy humankind from the face of the planet (save Noah's family, of course.)