The Study of the Scriptures - Session 12: Wednesday, 22 July 2015 at Faith Baptist Fellowship Church Lake Ariel, PA

The Study of the Scriptures

Session 12, Wednesday 22 July 2015

Faith Baptist Fellowship Church

Lake Ariel, PA

http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/

Review Sessions 1-11[1]

The Means God Uses: The Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the Church

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)

1. Placing trust in God: The ability of God and the sufficiency of the Scriptures — Coming to the Scriptures with Faith

2. Putting man in his place: The inability of fallen man and an understanding of the responses of the creature to the revelation of God — Coming to the Scriptures with Humility

3. The Unity of the Word of God: the First, Progressive, and Full Mention Principles of Interpretation — Coming to the Scriptures with Hope

4. The Diversity of the Contexts within the Canon of Scripture — Coming to the Scriptures with Respect

5. The Humiliation of Incarnational Hermeneutics — Coming to the Scriptures with Caution

6. Putting the Scriptures in their Place: The Historical Perspective in Bible Study — Coming to the Scriptures with Perspective

7. Familiarity Breeds Contempt — Coming to the Scriptures without Presumption

8. Texts and Translations — Coming to the Scriptures with Thanksgiving

9. Three Issues With Unfulfilled Prophecies — Coming to the Scriptures with Consistency

10. Lex Rex: or Slow Down, Simplify, and Separate — Coming to the Scriptures with Simplicity

11. Praying, Singing, and Trembling - Coming to the Scriptures with Worship

The Problem of the Parables

The definition of parable: What is a parable?

Common assumptions and misconceptions about parables — things to be aware of, and in some cases to be avoided

What is the longest parable?[2]

Immediate and larger context:

1) the introduction (vv. 1-2), and the 2 earlier “parables” in Luke 15 (vv. 3-7, 8-10),

2) the rest of the “Travel Narrative” of Luke (9:51-19:27),

3) the rest of the Gospel of Luke before and after the “Travel Narrative,”

3) the other parables in the Synoptic Gospels (esp. Mt. 13),

4) the rest of the New Testament, and,

5) the Old Testament.

Subject matters and doctrinal emphases to connect to in these other contexts:

repentance, the love of the Father, sonship, inheritance, adoption, etc.

Specific passages from the Old Testament with connections to the parable:

The two sons? Cp. Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and esp. Jacob and Esau (Gen. 27:1-36:8).[3]

The inheritance of the older versus the younger son? Cp. Dt. 21:15:22:4; Jer. 31:18-20.

What about the cultural context? The cultural context of this part of the world in the 1st century A. D.

A definition of culture: What is culture?

 “Culture is part of history because it concerns the creative result of man’s actions. Culture involves the ways, methods, manners, tools, institutions, and literary productions of any people. These reveal how a people lived, what values they stressed, and why they did or did not prosper. Culture involves the totality  which emerges out of the elements that make up everyday life. The terms, “Egyptian Culture,” “Palestinian Culture,” “Greek Culture,” etc., are not abstractions. These terms denote the way of life of these people. Idolatry and sorcery as well as the forms of worship of the living God are all a part of a people and their culture.”

— A. Berkeley Mickelsen, Interpreting the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963), pg. 160.

“…cultural literacy, namely, the network of information that all competent readers possess. It is the background information, stored in their minds, that enables them to take up a newspaper and read it with an adequate level of comprehension, getting the point, grasping the implications, relating what they read to the unstated context which alone gives meaning to what they read.”

— E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), pg. 2.

Examples of cultural illiteracy:

“I’m mad about my flat!”

In the USA?

In the UK?

 “Consider the phrase fed up or the word mad. “In Egyptian English, a visitor might say, ‘Thank you. I cannot eat any more cookies. I am fed up.” Someone from the United States or United Kingdom would probably use another word, such as full.

A British person who says, “I’m mad about my flat!” is likely far happier about the apartment than an American who says the same phrase but means “I got stuck with this place.””

— Joan Huyser-Honig, “Kenneth E. Bailey on Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes” (7 MAY 2008), on the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/kenneth-e-bailey-on-jesus-through-middle-eastern-eyes/ [accessed 22 JUL 2015].

“Look at the bottom of my shoe! I must have stepped on some chewing gum!”

Here?

In Iraq, or a Muslim nation?

“Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel (sometimes spelled Al-Rashid) (Arabic,فندق الرشيد) is an 18-story hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by journalists and media personnel due to its location within Baghdad's Green Zone.”

“It gained worldwide fame during the 1991 Persian Gulf War when CNN conducted their newscasts from the hotel, propelling the network's senior war correspondent Peter Arnett to fame. Between the Persian Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the building was the main housing facility for Western businessmen and diplomats, as well as foreign press.

A tile mosaic depicting U.S. President George H.W. Bush with a look of astonishment on his face was installed on the floor of the lobby after the Persian Gulf War. This was intended to force any visitors to walk over his face to enter the hotel (a serious insult in Arabculture)….After the invasion in 2003, the mosaic was smashed by U.S. soldiers, who left a portrait of Saddam Hussein behind.”

— Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Tulip_Al_Rasheed_Hotel [accessed 22 JUL 2015].

Benjamin J. Stein, “The Cheerful Ignorance of the Young in L.A.,” Washington Post, 3 OCT 1983, pg. A15; cited by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), pp. 6-7.

“Waltzing Matilda,” in E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), pg. 17.

In order to get the full impact of the Scriptures we must enter into another culture, and assimilate as much of it as possible. The more culturally literate we are with the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Roman Empire of the 1st century A.D. the better we will be able to understand the New Testament documents, and the more we will be able to appreciate their impact on their original recipients. The more culturally literate we are with the previous centuries back to the time of Moses, the greater will be our comprehension of what we encounter in the Old Testament.

Read Luke 15:1-32

¹¹ And he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. ¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. ¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. ²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. ²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: ²³ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. ²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. ²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. ²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: ³⁰ But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. ³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. ³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

What are the three basic elements in this parable?

What are the similarities and differences between the accounts of the lost sheep, coin and son?

How many parables are here?

How would you title this parable?

Kenneth E. Bailey - Muslim emphasis on this parable

Cultural clues — the more we dig, the more we enter into it, the more we learn, the more amazing it is

If you were “a fly on the wall,” and were able to observe the expressions on the faces of Christ’s hearers that day what would you find inexplicable? Why would that be the case?

When they expressed shock, would you have? Why, or why not?

When they shook their heads in dismay and disbelief at what they were hearing, would you be reacting the same way, and for the same reasons? Why, or why not?

What if you heard some of the members of His audience muttering under their breath, or exclaiming out loud, “No! No way! That would never happen! No one would ever do that! Never!” Would you have joined in, and understood why they would respond in this manner?

Soli Deo Gloria,

John T. “Jack” Jeffery

Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel

Greentown, PA

22 JUL 2015

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Postscript

…and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. (Acts 15:3)

This is to be contrasted to the response of the Judean false teachers in the First Christian Church of Antioch, and the Pharisees in the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem.  This is the hinge verse in this paragraph, and the mixed responses to this news highlights the element of internal dissension amongst believers over this issue.

Is there a connection in these historical events to the Parable of the Two Sons in Luke 15?  This is commonly referred to as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”, but when the point of the parable is understood, along with how it is introduced, perhaps it is more accurately referred to as the “Parable of the Two Sons”.  Is there a connection in these historical events in Acts 15 to the meaning of the Parable of the Two Sons in Luke 15?  Are the chapter numbers merely coincidental, or is there a meaningful link between what Christ taught in Luke 15, and what the ascended Christ is doing through His Holy Spirit by His Apostles in Acts 15?

— The Occasion for the Jerusalem Council (The Parable of the Two Ethnicities?), Acts 15:1-5; Sermon preached 22 JUN 2014 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA; on Wayside Gospel Chapel at http://waysidegospelchapel.blogspot.com/2014/06/pastors-sermon-notes-occasion-for.html [accessed 19 AUG 2015].Kenne

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Bibliography

Augustine, Quaestiones Evangeliorum, II, 19 (slightly abridged); cited in C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), pp. 1-2; “Augustine's Commentary on the Good Samaritan,” on Sermons.Logos at https://sermons.logos.com/submissions/47795-Augustine-s-Commentary-on-the-Good-Samaritan#content=/submissions/47795 [accessed 21 JUL 2015].

Kenneth E. Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005).

Kenneth E. Bailey, Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (St. Louis: Concordia Press, 1992). 

Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel’s Story (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003).

Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Gospel Studies Informed by Culture (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007).

Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet and Peasant: A Literary Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976).

Kenneth E. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes: More Lucan Parables, Their Culture and Style (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980). 

G. K. Beale, and D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pp. 341–343.

D. A. Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2000), pg. 12; also in D. A. Carson, “On Distorting the Love of God,” Bibliotheca Sacra 156:621 (Jan 1999), pp. 3-12.[4]

J. Duncan M. Derrett, Law in the New Testament (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970), pp. 100-125, s.v. “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”[5]

C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961), pp. 91-93.

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding the Bible, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1982, 1993, 2003, 2014), pp. 154-167.

Sinclair Ferguson, From the Mouth of God (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2014), pp. 113-120.

Ada R. Habershon, The Study of the Parables, 6th ed. (London: Pickering & Inglis, n.d.).

E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), pp. 2, 6-7, 17.

Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954. 1963, 1972; from Die Gleichnisse Jesu, 8th ed., Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1970), pp. 128-136.

Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (New York: Dutton, 2008).

Timothy Keller, “The Fellowship of Grace Series” (related to his book The Prodigal God), on gospel in life at http://www.gospelinlife.com/sermons/the-fellowship-of-grace.html [accessed 27 JUL 2015]; seven sermons on Luke 15 preached from 28 SEP 2008 to 9 NOV 2008. See especially Keller’s final sermon, “The True Older Brother.”[6]

I. Howard Marshall and R. V. G. Tasker, “Parable,” in New Bible Dictionary, eds. D. R. W. Wood, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), pp. 867–869.

Robert L. Plummer, 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible, series ed. Benjamin L. Merkle (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2011), pp. 265-277.

J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, 4 vols., Vol. 2: Luke 11-24 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n.d.; 1990 reprint of 1856 original), pp. 180-195; s.v. Luke 15:11-32; on Grace Gems at http://gracegems.org/Ryle/l15.htm [accessed 21 JUL 2015].

G. H. Schodde, “Parable,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915 ed., ed. J. Edwin Orr (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1999); on International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online at http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/P/parable.html [accessed 14 AUG 2015].

Deborah J. Shore, “The Infamous Good Samaritan” (28 JAN 2012), on Think Theology at

http://thinktheology.org/2012/01/28/the-infamous-good-samaritan/ [accessed 21 JUL 2015].

John W. Sider, Interpreting the Parables: A Hermeneutical Guide to Their Meaning (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).

Klyne R. Snodgrass, “Parable,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, eds. Walter A. Elwell, and B. J. Beitzel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), pp. 1606-1614.

R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977, 2009), pp. 94-97.

Benjamin J. Stein, “The Cheerful Ignorance of the Young in L.A.,” Washington Post, 3 OCT 1983, pg. A15.

R. C. Trench, Notes on the Parables of Our Lord (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1910), 99. 392-428.

Warren W. Wiersbe, Meet Yourself in the Parables (Wheaton: Victor, 1983).

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Appendix: Basic Bible Study Materials — A Suggested Bibliography (with links to Amazon)

This is the book that I recommend as collateral reading for the "Scripture Study Seminar":

Sinclair Ferguson, From the Mouth of God (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2014); paperback (no Kindle available at this time) for $10.59 on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Mouth-God-Sinclair-B-Ferguson/dp/1848712421/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

1. In addition to Sinclair Ferguson's work that I am recommending as collateral reading the following five recent works on the subject may be the most helpful:

J. Scott Duvall, and J. Daniel Hays, Journey into God's Word: Your Guide to Understanding and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Journey-into-Gods-Word-Understanding-ebook/dp/B000SEJRJI [accessed 14 JAN 2015].

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding the Bible, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1982, 1993, 2003, 2014); 

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth-ebook/dp/B00GS084YA/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Peter Krol, Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible (Minneapolis: Cruciform Press, 2014);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Knowable-Word-Helping-Ordinary-People/dp/1936760894/ [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991, 2006);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Hermeneutical-Spiral-Comprehensive-Introduction-Interpretation/dp/0830828265/ref=sr_1_sc_1 [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977, 2009);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Scripture-R-C-Sproul/dp/083083723X [accessed 10 NOV 2014].

2. Here are five recommended older works whose value does not fade!

James M. Gray, How to Master the English Bible: An Experience, a Method, a Result, an Illustration (London: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1907);

in public domain, available online or as a free downloadable digital file (PDF or ePub) on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=AOUOAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 18 FEB 2012].

J. Edwin Hartill, Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1947);

available online or as a free PDF file download (60 mb) on Seminario LAMB at  http://seminariolamb.com/biblioteca/lib/lib-biblical%20analysis/Principles%20of%20Biblical%20Hermeneutics%20-%20J%20Edwin%20Hartill.pdf [accessed 9 MAR 2014];

print editions available on Amazon at 

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Biblical-Hermeneutics-Edwin-Hartill/dp/0310272556/

[accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Arthur T. Pierson, The Bible and Spiritual Criticism: Being the Second Series of Exeter Hall Lectures on the Bible Delivered in London, England in the Months of February, March and April, 1904 (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., n.d.; 1970 reprint of 1905 original by The Baker and Taylor Co., New York);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Spiritual-Criticism-Arthur-Pierson/dp/B0045PPI6W/ [accessed 18 JAN 2015].

Robert A. Traina, Methodical Bible Study: A New Approach to Hermeneutics (Wilmore, KY: self-published, 1952; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980); 

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Methodical-Bible-Study-Robert-Traina/dp/0310246024 [accessed 9 MAY 2014].

Oletta Wald, The New Joy of Discovery in Bible Study, rev. ed. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002);

on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/New-Joy-Discovery-Bible-Study/dp/080664429X/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 [accessed 9 MAY 2014].  

Note: This newly revised edition is also available in Kindle.

Compiled by:

John T. “Jack” Jeffery

Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel

Greentown, PA

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End Notes:

[1] The notes from the previous sessions have been posted to the Wayside Gospel Chapel blog at  http://waysidegospelchapel.blogspot.com/search/label/Scripture%20Study%20Seminar.

[2] “Lk xv.11-32, an elaborate, circumstantial, in fact the longest, parable….” J. Duncan M. Derrett, Law in the New Testament (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970), pg. 100, s.v. “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” This chapter, pp. 100-125, was originally published as an article: J. Duncan M. Derrett, “Law in the New Testament: The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” New Testament Studies 14 (1967), pp. 56-74.

[3] On this see especially Kenneth E. Bailey, Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel’s Story (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003). Bailey states, “In my personal study, a list of fifty-one points of comparison and contrast have gradually emerged.” Op. cit., pg 14. He credits a footnote in N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 2 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), pg. 127, note 10, with alerting him to the possibilities in this connection. This was in connection with Gen. 33:4.

[4] Originally presented as The W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectures (FEB 1998), Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX.

[5] This chapter was originally published as an article: J. Duncan M. Derrett, “Law in the New Testament: The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” New Testament Studies 14 (1967), pp. 56-74.

[6] I am indebted to one of our members, Mary Ellen Bradley for bringing Keller’s book and sermon series on this subject to my attention. I was not aware of either prior to presenting this study, but believe that we are on the “same wavelength.” Keller also credited Kenneth E. Bailey's work. I have included several of them in the bibliography.