A Contest, And Other News
I've decided to have a contest. Find for me the words "childlike faith" or "faith of a child" or some equivalent in the Bible. I'm willing to allow for some variance in the wording, but the idea of faith specifically must be there (something like "receive" is too vague) and the faith itself must be explicitly childlike (so something like "my faithful child in the Lord" wouldn't work). You can find it in whatever version you like, but if the translation is unique to that version, you may be asked to justify it. The first person to find these words for me (just leave a comment on this post) will receive a prize of one million dollars. Entries must be submitted by February 1.
So what have I been up to?
I spent the 27th to the first at Winter Camp in the Crowsnest Pass. Except for the 30th, on which I went up to Edmonton (6 hours) in the morning, attended a wedding, and came back down again that night.
Camp was good, relaxing. The wedding was lovely and filled my heart with happiness.
On the last day of camp I suddenly decided to join a road-trip to Vancouver, but not before sending all of my extra clothes and stuff home with a friend. We were supposed to come home Sunday, but we were snowed in in Fernie and got back on Monday. I missed my first day of school.
I've had goodbye parties on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. Two of my dear South African friends have gone home, and two others have gone to Italy for a couple months. I'm not sad, somehow. Just tired from lots of goodbye partying.
It turns out that some people using Internet Explorer can't see my blog's background picture. Why some IE users can and others can't, I can't imagine. Microsoft is Satan. Use Firefox.
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7 comments:
Hi Jake;
The reference that you're referring to comes from Matthew 18:3, where Christ admonishes His followers to "become like little children" in order to "enter the kingdom of heaven." Over the years, this passage has been paraphrased to mean having the faith (or faith-walk, or faith-journey, or relationship, etc.) like one of "these little ones" (quote from later on in the chapter), which has further evolved into "faith like a child." Such a concept indeed--due to our wonderfully concise & explicit English language--has suffered from vaguery & a loss of original meaning, though I believe that some of what the vulgar phrase contains still may hold true. More on that later: this comment is just for the million bucks.
:)
ℓ℮
I can't remember where I read this -- possibly in Brennan Manning's "The Ragamuffin Gospel" -- but a more reasonable interpretation of Matthew 18:3 stems from the fact that children in ancient times were considered property. They were nothing. So Jesus was talking more about status than faith. Become nothing, just as John the Baptist said, "[Jesus] must become greater, I must become less," just as Jesus said elsewhere, "If you would follow me, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me," and again, "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
LE: Ya, I figured that's where they got it from, but I'm pretty sure it's a misinterpertation. (If you want the million, you'll have to do better than "some of what the vulgar phrase contains still may hold true".)
Bruce: An interesting idea. It certainly fits with the broader context of Jesus' ministry. I'll have to read that book.
I can't see the cool background anymore... i miss it. :(
It's in the book of Hesitatins, verse 4:15... "Though shalt have faith like a little child". Please send the million into my account.
Nice try Filth-Man, but most reputable scholars now translate Hesitations 4:15 "Thou shalt eat cupcakes like a little child". (One presumes God is referring to the lick-the-icing-off-first method.) The similarities between the the ancient Hebrew words for "cupcakes" and "faith" has caused some confusion over the years, but modern scholars tell us that the earliest and best manuscripts support the "cupcakes" translation.
The million is still up for grabs.
"The just shall live by cupcakes"... got it. This could be the greatest breakthrough in christian thought since theistic evolution!
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