The Orthodox Study Bible: Mystery
Preface
A September 18, 2020 article revised with significant additions on November 26, 2023, in order to place a version of this article on academia.edu.
I continue from my Reformed Christian tradition to use this fine academic source for review:
Mystery
Glossary: Reverend John W. Morris, Ph.D.
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'Mystery' (803)
'The ways of God, especially God's plan for salvation, which cannot be known with the rational, finite, human mind, but can be experienced only by the revelation of God.' (803). It is also noted that the Orthodox Church views mystery as an aspect of the sacraments. (803).
Verses I have noted from the Orthodoxy text:
Mark 4:11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,...
1 Corinthians 2:7
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;...
Ephesians 5:32
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
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Mysterious examples
When I looked up the three verses cited within the Mystery entry, I was expecting at least one example to be an attempt at a direct reference to the sacraments, as support for Orthodox theology in regards to sacraments and mystery. But in my humble opinion, none of the verses connect directly to the sacraments.
In agreement with the entry, the first two verses, at least, do connect to salvation and in my words, the mystery of the Kingdom of God. Mark 4:11 is within the labeled section Why Parables? (92) and the mystery of the Kingdom of God. The 1 Corinthians 2:7 section is labeled as Understanding Unity: Wisdom of the Spirit (379), and the mystery of the workings of God the Holy Spirit. According to the text's heading, the third example, Ephesians 5: 32 in within The Mystery of Marriage (451) section.
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μυστήριον (root word)
Part of Speech
neuter noun
Root Word (Etymology)
From a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth)
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In classical Greek a hidden thing, secret, mystery
Verses and Greek inflections:
Mark 4: 11 μυστήριον
Noun: Accusative Singular Neuter
1 Corinthians 2: 7 μυστηρίῳ Noun: Parsing:
Dative Singular Neuter
According to Greek scholar, Bauer from pages 530-531:
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'μυστήριον (ου το)' (530)
Defined as 'secret, secret rite, secret teaching, mystery'. (530). In Mark 4: 11 with μυστήριον, same as the root word. Bauer writes that is the gospels this term is only found in one context 'where Jesus says to the disciples who have asked for an explanation of the parables (s)'. (530). Bauer explains that there are parallels in the synoptics with Matthew 13: 11 and Luke 8: 10. (530).
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Matthew 13: 11: μυστήρια from the root μυστήριον (mystērion)
Luke 8: 10: μυστήρια from the root μυστήριον (mystērion)
The Bauer text states that the Pauline version of μυστήριον occurs in '21 places' (530) and is defined as 'A secret or mystery, too profound for human ingenuity...'. (530). The mystery of the gospel and Christ, as the 'secret of Christ 4: 3 (Colossians, my add) is proclaimed' (530). This connects to also Romans 16: 25 and 1 Corinthians 2 (530). Bauer notes with 2:7 'secretly, so that no unauthorized person would learn of it'. (531). With Ephesians 5: 32 where 'A unique great mystery is revealed'. (530).
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Mysterious theology
Appealing to mystery, may occur theologically because of lack of significant cumulative evidences. I can admit that appealing to mystery is often an intellectual quote 'cop-out', as pointed out to me by Dr. William Kay, Wales, my MPhil, United Kingdom, academic tutor. But, I am not stating therefore that it is always error to state 'I do not know'. Not knowing is an aspect of being finite (lacking omniscience) and sinful (although believers are justified, sanctified and eventually resurrected through the applied atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ, Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews), in contrast to God's infinite and holy nature. Appealing to mystery and that which is secret is also an aspect of living within a reasonable, rational, Christian faith and philosophy.
CAIRD, GEORGE B. (1977) Paul's Letters from Prison Paperback, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
COAD, F. ROY (1986) ‘Galatians’, in F.F. Bruce (gen.ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/ Zondervan.
COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville.
DUNNETT, WALTER M. (2001) Exploring The New Testament, Wheaton, Crossway Book
ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic.
FEE, GORDON D. (1987) The First Epistle To The Corinthians, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
FOULKES, FRANCIS (1989) Ephesians, Grand Rapids, Inter-Varsity Press.
GUNDRY, ROBERT (1981) A Survey of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
HARPUR, GEORGE (1986) Ephesians in The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
HUGHES, PHILIP, EDGCUMBE (1990) A Commentary On The Epistle To The Hebrews, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
MARSH, PAUL, W. (1986) ‘1 Corinthians’, in F.F. Bruce, (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/Zondervan.
MARSHALL, ALFRED (1975)(1996) The Interlinear KJV-NIV, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
SHORT, STEPHEN S. (1986) ‘Mark’, in F.F. Bruce (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
STRONG, J. (1890)(1986) Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Pickering, Ontario, Welch Publishing Company.
The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.
https://gospelreformation.net/pauls-understanding-of-sexuality/
ReplyDeletePaul’s Understanding of Sexuality
μαλακοὶ and ἀρσενοκοῖται in 1 Cor 6:9
by Guy Waters September 20, 2018
Introduction
Paul uses two words in 1 Cor 6:9, “μαλακοὶ” (malakoi) and “ἀρσενοκοῖται” (arsenokoitai), that are as important to Paul’s understanding of sexuality as they are difficult to understand. Consider how differently leading English translations render this part of the verse.
“men who practice homosexuality” (ESV; a marginal note reads, “The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts”)
“men who have sex with men” (NIV [2011]; a marginal note reads, “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts”)
“male prostitutes … homosexual offenders” (NIV [1984]
“effeminate … homosexuals” (NASB 1995; a marginal note to the first word reads, “i.e. effeminate by perversion”
“effeminate … sodomites” (NKJV)
“effeminate … abusers of themselves with mankind” (AV)
These translations appear to agree that the individuals in view are men who are engaged in some kind of sexual activity of which Paul disapproves. But the translations’ differences outshine their agreement. Should the terms be understood together or separately? Does the term malakos denote male homosexual activity (generally), the passive participant in a homosexual act, a man who engages in paid sexual activity with other men, or an effeminate man? Does the term arsenokoites denote male homosexual activity (generally) or the active participant in a homosexual act (specifically)? A survey of the commentaries and academic literature yields further possibilities.[1]
What is Paul trying to say to the church? How does his teaching in this verse address the sexual landscape within and outside of the contemporary church? We will summarize what the apostle is saying in these two words in four points, and then draw four pastoral conclusions from his teaching.
Paul’s Meaning in 1 Corinthians 6:9
First, the two words malakoi and arsenokoitai describe individuals who are engaged in activity that Paul regards to be sin. We see this point in at least two ways. First, these two words fall in a much longer list in 1 Cor 6:9-10. Paul insists that persons whose lives are characterized by these actions “will [not] inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:10). There is considerable overlap between this list and the list of 1 Cor 5:11, which describes individuals who are subject to the discipline of the church. Second, the word arsenokoitai appears in one other place in the New Testament, 1 Tim 1:10. In the context of Paul’s argument of 1 Tim 1:10, this word describes a violation of the moral law of God (“the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for … men who practice homosexuality,” 1 Tim 1:9,10 [ESV]). These two words, then, describe activities that are violations of the law of God, that exclude one from the Kingdom, and that are subject to the church’s discipline. Paul understands these two words to describe sin.
Second, Paul understands these two words to describe a particular kind of sexualsin. These two words follow three words, two of which denote immoral sexual offenders (“the sexually immoral … adulterers” [ESV]). The word arsenokoitai follows “the sexual immoral” in Paul’s catalog of sins against the Decalogue in 1 Tim 1:10. The context in which the terms malakoi and arsenokoitai appear together, then, shows that these terms refer to a specific type of sin against the seventh commandment.
Third, these two terms together capture the range of male same-sex activity. Some have argued that Paul is only condemning a particular or narrow kind of homosexual behavior, such as prostitution, pederasty, or rape. On this reading, there is space in Paul’s ethic for non-exploitative homosexual activity between two consenting adults. This view runs aground on Paul’s argument in Rom 1:18-31 and it finds no support from 1 Cor 6:9. For one thing, in Paul’s day, the term malakos had already acquired a technical meaning when it was used in sexual contexts.[2] It denoted the passive partner in male same-sex activity.[3] The term arsenokoitai makes the point particularly clearly. As commentaries frequently note, Paul is the first Greek writer who appears to have used this term. It is a compound formed from two nouns meaning “man” and “bed.” Its origins are not difficult to discover. These two terms appear together in LXX Lev 18:22 and 20:13.[4] In fact, in Lev 20:13 the two component parts of Paul’s new word stand side by side. Both these passages in Leviticus roundly and categorically condemn same-sex activity. This background is important to understand what Paul means by the term arsenokoitai. This word must refer to a wide range of male same-sex activity and may properly be translated “bedders of males, those [men] who take [other] males to bed,” “men who sleep or lie with males.”[5] Since it is paired with the word malakoi, the word arsenokoitai may particularly denote the active partner in male same-sex activity. The two terms, malakoi and arsenokoitai, then, capture, in unqualified and comprehensive fashion, male same-sex activity.
ReplyDeleteFourth, Paul is concerned to address sinful sexual behavior in these two terms, but not only such behavior. In Paul’s day, the term malakoi could denote more than just sexual activity. Such persons sometimes “intentionally engage[d] in a process of feminization to erase further their masculine appearance and manner.”[6] That is to say, the word malakos was used to describe “a man who is trying to be a woman,” a man “who significantly blur[s] gender distinctions.”[7] To be sure, Paul’s primary concern in 1 Cor 6:9 is with same-sex behavior. But the apostle is also aware that, in the social context of which he and his readers were part, those who committed themselves to this lifestyle not infrequently blurred the culturally discernible lines between a man and a woman.[8] It is in this sense that one can appreciate the translation “effeminate” for malakoi, even if one opts for another English word that better captures the sense of the Greek word in the context of Paul’s argument.
In summary, Paul identifies in 1 Cor 6:9 male same-sex behavior as sinful. He places none of the qualifications or limitations upon that behavior for which some in recent times have pled. There is, in other words, no category of acceptable or virtuous same-sex behavior in Paul’s thinking. Paul furthermore recognizes that what may attend such behavior is the conscious blurring of culturally discernible lines between masculinity and femininity.
ReplyDeleteSome Pastoral Conclusions
What does Paul’s teaching in 1 Cor 6:9 say to the church today? In the first place, Paul helps us to see that there is more to same-sex sin than the physical act of same-sex intercourse. In Paul’s day as in ours, some persons who engage in this behavior consciously attempt to blur the lines between male and female. There is, in other words, a particular culture or lifestyle corresponding to this sin that comes into being within the community of its practitioners. A pastoral response to same-sex sin, then, is never purely a matter of the pursuit of behavioral modification. To be sure, it is never less than that. But it must be sensitive and attentive to the ways in which this sin can foster and encourage a sinful distortion of a person’s God-given masculinity (or femininity).
Second, in 1 Cor 6:9, Paul references malakoi and arsenokoitai in the third person. But he concludes with an appeal that begins, “such were some of you” (1 Cor 6:11). One of the implications of this way of speaking to the Corinthians is the recognition that sinners often come to draw their identity from particular sins to which they give themselves freely. In other words, they are known for and may even come to see themselves in light of a particular sin. That was the situation in which some of the Corinthians had found themselves, but no longer. Today, one hears that some Christians may legitimately identify themselves as “gay Christians.” For the apostle Paul, a “gay Christian” is a contradiction in terms. One may identify as “gay,” one may identify as “Christian,” but one may not identify as both at the same time.[9] The Christian’s most basic and comprehensive identity is that he is “in Christ.” It is this reality that Paul will go on to press upon the Corinthians in the verses that follow, as he persuades them to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor 6:18, cf. 6:12-20).[10] Any pastoral approach to persons wrestling with temptations to same-sex sin must be clear and decisive on this point, not least to encourage them to flee to Christ for the resources that they–and all of us–need to fight sin.
Third, Paul’s words remind us that even professing Christians are susceptible to temptations to same-sex sin. It is not simply that he reminds the church that “some” of them had been enmeshed in such sins. The warning of 1 Cor 6:9-10 assumes the possibility of professing Christians falling into the sins that he enumerates in those verses. There is no biblical reason to think that any Christian is somehow immune from temptation to such sins, or from their commission. Those who preach and teach the Word of God, especially, must never make the fatal error of assuming that same-sex sin, in any of its forms, lies entirely outside the walls of the church.
ReplyDeleteFourth, and perhaps most importantly, Paul’s words are full of grace. They wound in order to heal. In v. 11, he reminds us of the resources that are available in Christ to cover the guilt of sin, to dethrone the dominion of sin, and to mortify indwelling sin, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Same-sex sin is not unpardonable. It can be covered by the blood of Christ. Neither is a person who wrestles with temptations to same-sex sin consigned to despair before the prospect of unbroken slavery to it. There is grace in Christ that offers sinners hope–hope to be delivered from the tyranny of sin, and hope to live under the wholesome lordship of Christ; hope to put sin to death, and hope to become more and more like the Savior whom they love.
Paul’s teaching about same-sex sin in 1 Cor 6:9 is unflinching and unsparing. He allows us to make no compromises or truce with this or any other sin. But he does so in order that we would not wallow in the slough of sin but rather enter fully into the freedom that belongs to those who are “in Christ.” Paul’s counsel is not easy. He does not promise Christians that we will be spared setbacks or deep grief in our conflict with this or any other sin. But the joy in Christ that lies before us is well worth the fight. And even in the fight we know that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:37).
[1]See the discussion particularly of Robert A. J. Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice (Nashville: Abingdon, 2001), 303-39; S. Donald Fortson III and Rollin G. Grams, Unchanging Witness: The Consistent Christian Teaching on Homosexuality in Scripture and Tradition (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2016), 277-301; and David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 212-5.
ReplyDelete[2]The term is a substantival adjective meaning “soft.” Greek writers used this adjective in both non-sexual and sexual contexts.
[3]See the literature cited at BDAG, “μαλακός,”and Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice,306-12.
[4]LXX Lev 18:22 reads καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικός βδέλυγμα γάρ ἐστιν. Lev 20:13 reads καὶ ὃς ἂν κοιμηθῇ μετὰ ἄρσενος κοίτην γυναικός, βδέλυγμα ἐποίησαν ἀμφότεροι·θανατούσθωσαν, ἔνοχοί εἰσιν.
[5]Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice, 312.
[6]Ibid., concluding a discussion of 1 Cor 6:9 and Philo Spec.Leg. 3.37-42.
[7]Preston Sprinkle, People To Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not Just An Issue (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 107, 118. He prefaces the statement on p. 107 by saying that the term malakoi “as it stands alone … probably refers to effeminacy in the Roman sense.”
[8]See Paul’s express concern for this matter, albeit in a different context, at 1 Cor 11:2-16, Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice,328.
[9]The same principle applies to every other sin. It is sinful to embrace any identity that is rooted in or constructed around what God forbids in Scripture.
[10]In context, the “sexual immorality” that the Corinthians are to “flee” is heterosexual in nature, but Paul’s argument applies no less to sins of homosexuality.
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GUY WATERS
Dr. Guy Waters is the James M. Baird, Jr. Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. A Teaching Elder in the PCA, he is the author or editor of ten books, including Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul: A Review and Response.