Call no man father: Difference between revisions
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Acts 22:1: Paul says, "Brethren and fathers." | Acts 22:1: Paul says, "Brethren and fathers." | ||
No plucked eyes, severed hands among Christians. | No plucked eyes, severed hands among Christians. The dead cannot bury the dead. Jesus used ''hyperbole'' to make a point. | ||
'''God has no grandchildren''' (David Du Plessis). The instruction to "call no man your father" is not about the vocabulary we use to identify the biological cause of our first birth or to honor our elders in the Body of Christ; it is about the interior recognition that no human being other than God, the Son, Incarnate, comes between us and God. Jesus Christ is our personal Lord and Savior. Through Him, we are "born again" of water and the Spirit. The way in which God is our Father goes beyond every form of human fatherhood in the order of nature and in the Christian community. | The point being made, in my view, is that '''"God has no grandchildren"''' (David Du Plessis). The instruction to "call no man your father" is not about the vocabulary we use to identify the biological cause of our first birth or to honor our elders in the Body of Christ; it is about the interior recognition that no human being other than God, the Son, Incarnate, comes between us and God. Jesus Christ is our personal Lord and Savior. Through Him, we are "born again" of water and the Spirit. The way in which God is our Father goes beyond every form of human fatherhood in the order of nature and in the Christian community. | ||
[[Category:Scripture Studies]] | [[Category:Scripture Studies]] | ||
Revision as of 02:24, 16 December 2010
"Honor your father and your mother."
"Call no man teacher" vs. the charism of the gift of teaching.
"Abraham, ... is the father of all of us. ... He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist" Rom 4:16-17).
Acts: Stephen says, "Brethren and fathers, hear me."
Acts 22:1: Paul says, "Brethren and fathers."
No plucked eyes, severed hands among Christians. The dead cannot bury the dead. Jesus used hyperbole to make a point.
The point being made, in my view, is that "God has no grandchildren" (David Du Plessis). The instruction to "call no man your father" is not about the vocabulary we use to identify the biological cause of our first birth or to honor our elders in the Body of Christ; it is about the interior recognition that no human being other than God, the Son, Incarnate, comes between us and God. Jesus Christ is our personal Lord and Savior. Through Him, we are "born again" of water and the Spirit. The way in which God is our Father goes beyond every form of human fatherhood in the order of nature and in the Christian community.