As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
What does it mean to be “one flesh”?
— Here’s a few questions to get into specifics:
Does ‘one flesh’ happen when you get married?
Does it happen with sex? Does first base count? Second? Third?
Something else?
Is it a continuing process that builds slowly or is it more of an on-off status that happens at a moment in time?
Is it undoable?
Is it possible to be one flesh with many partners?
— What are some interesting reads? I’m looking for both reliable and otherwise.
Review of Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels,* Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017, 524 pages, paperback.
Richard B. Hays has established himself as one of the foremost NT scholars in the world, based on enduring works like The Moral Vision of the New Testament and Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. He has been at the forefront of the study of such seemingly obtuse but telling elements of the study of the NT as “metalepsis” and “figural interpretation.”
“While some may claim that eternal generation is an extra-biblical doctrine without scriptural warrant, Charles Lee Irons and Matthew Barrett demonstrate that the concept is seen throughout Scripture through familial imagery and other significant metaphors.” - Credo
Ecclesiastes 7:27-28 in the ESV reads:
27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
“We have been waiting for a book to help Christian teens navigate questions about sex and gender. This book seems to fit the bill… . Unfortunately, this is not the right book to give to teens in your life because its many strengths are intertwined with dangerous strands of worldly thinking.” - Ref21
There is no doubt that John’s chief function was to announce the arrival of the Coming One of OT expectation. Yet by his own admission he did not know Jesus as such until Jesus’ baptism (Jn. 1:33). Hence, for some time prior to his pointing to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29), John preached less specifically of the imminent arrival of Israel’s Messiah. He testified that when he baptized Jesus, He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him in the form of a dove. He already knew that he was not worthy to loosen Messiah’s sandal strap (Mk.
“…no one will be looking, expecting, or prepping when Jesus returns. No books, math equations, or solar moon eclipses will give us any hint when this will be.” - Treg Spicer
—Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan, 2002, p. 65
In my opinion, the truthfulness of these claims that Warren makes are some of the most fundamental points of dispute in the worship music wars.
Somewhere, along life’s way, I was bitten by the bug for writing.
My passion is not so much for writing itself—though I realize that there are people like that. But for me is has more to do with a desire to express my opinion and provide meaningful and useful—Biblically based—content.
It is hard to say exactly when the bug first bit. I can remember making scrapbooks of sports stories clipped out of the newspaper back in my preschool days. Then I remember when I was old enough to read sports columns—and dream of writing my own one day.
Jesus testified of John the Baptist that, “if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matt. 11:14). John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord. Therefore, when Jesus will later speak in reference to John the Baptist, as “Elijah…come already” (Matt. 17:12-13), He is saying that John was an Elijah-figure, even though John himself had told the people that he was not Elijah (Jn. 1:21).
Discussion