Jonah 1-2 (Very briefly)

Outside Cafe Logos, Vancouver, Friday

Jonah 1-2

New American Standard Bible

Chapter 1

17 [i]And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. 

Chapter 2

1 [j]Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me.

Interestingly, in the Book of Jonah sermon series continued today, my Mennonite  Brethren (MB), pastor takes a typical conservative, evangelical position that the Book of Jonah should be taken as historical and plain literal, literature and as well that Jonah lived in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

In the 2000's, my Presbyterian Church of North America (PCA) pastor also preached a series on the Book of Jonah. He also took a typical conservative, evangelical position that the Book of Jonah should be taken as historical and plain literal, literature, but he taught that Jonah died by drowning and then was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah would have had to been resurrected to state the prayer from the stomach of the fish in Jonah 2: 1-2 continued.

Both pastors parallelled Jonah's event with words of Jesus Christ:

New American Standard Bible

Matthew 12 39-40

But he replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah, 40 because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights,[b] so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Scholarship seems varied on whether Jonah died in this story or not...

Got Questions using Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler

Is helpful

Cited

Those who accept the literal account of Jonah take one of two main views regarding what happened to Jonah during his time in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2). One view holds that Jonah died and later returned to life. The second view holds that Jonah remained alive for three days in the belly of the great fish. Both views agree on a literal reading of the book of Jonah and affirm God’s supernatural ability to rescue His prophet. The difference is whether to see Jonah 2:10 as a description of a weak and bedraggled Jonah or as a truly resurrected Jonah. 

Cited

Those who argue that Jonah died and later rose again appeal to Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2:2: “From the depths of the grave I called for help.” The use of Sheol, the Hebrew term for “the grave,” could mean that Jonah actually died. Yet the words “the depths of the grave,” seen as a poetic turn of phrase, could easily refer to an agonizing or horrifying experience. There’s another reason that some argue for Jonah’s death and resurrection: Jesus said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). The reasoning is that, since Jesus’ death and resurrection were actual, then Jonah must have also actually died and later returned to life. 

But it is opined that

Analogies do not require absolute agreement in every detail.

Cited

First, it is clear that Jonah prayed from inside the fish: “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish” (Jonah 2:1). At the very least, Jonah lived long enough to offer his prayer. Second, the language of Jonah’s prayer is poetic in nature. Terms such as Sheol and the reference to “the pit” (Jonah 2:6) do not have to be interpreted so literally as to require physical death.

Based on the style of writing in this section of Jonah, within the Hebrew Bible as historical, and as Jesus' future reference to the event as historical, I view the story of Jonah as plain literal.

Michael C. Griffiths states that some within scholarship maintain Jonah died by drowning and was then resurrected (923) (parallelling Jesus Christ's statements from Matthew 12). But this author notes that Jonah may have blacked out. (923). It is reasonably possible that Jonah was either resurrected or awakened in order to pray within the fish.

Either way, the life of Jonah was miraculously continued by God. The story is no more difficult to believe as plain literal than is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I had to colourize this photo to have it close to matching what I viewed. The house farthest left that is clearly visible, with the windows, was very bright orange as shown. Last Friday.

BUTLER, TRENT, C (2005) Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, & Micah: Holman Old Testament Commentary ,Max Anders (Ed), Holman OT Commentary Series, B&H Publishing, Nashville.

GRIFFITHS, MICHAEL C. (1986) 'Jonah' in The International Bible Commentary, F.F. Bruce (GE), Zondervan/Marshall Pickering, Grand Rapids.

The Orthodox Study Bible: John 1: 1-3

The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy,Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.

Purchased from my employer, the Canadian Bible Society @ Cafe Logos, Vancouver.

John 1: 1-5 (Including verses 4-5 for context)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [b]comprehend it.

John 1: 1-5

King James Version (KJV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
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The Orthodox Study Bible comments that the Trinity is explicitly mentioned within the Gospel of John. (205). God the Son, has the same nature as God the Father (1: 1, 10:30). God the Son also declares himself 'I am' in John 8: 58. (205). This is a declaration of the eternal nature of God the Son, therefore making himself equal with God (my add).

John 1: 1, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (209).
Was the word means God the Son had no beginning, was eternal and is therefore God. (209).

The Word was with God, shows the Trinitarian distinction between God the Son, the Word and God the Father. (209).  John 1: 2, yet in communion within the Godhead. (209).

The Word was God shows the co-eternity of God the Son and God the Father. God the Holy Spirit is also introduced in the Gospel of John. John 14-16, as example. The Paraclete as God the Holy Spirit, the Helper. One that takes the place, in a sense, of the resurrected Jesus Christ, within the Christian Church.

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Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 
οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 

In beginning (originally) was the word, and the word (saying) was toward the God, and God was the word (saying).

This was in beginning (originally) toward the God.
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Verses 3 demonstrates that God the Son, co-creates with God the Father. (209).

Elective affinity (In brief)

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BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Blackburn

Elective affinity is a term used by Weber which describes the sociological, philosophical and theological connections between Protestantism within Christianity and the ethos (character) of capitalism. Protestantism provides a basic for capitalistic enterprise, although this may not always be a conscious, obvious connection. (116).

Encylopedia.com

Quote

Elective affinity

A term used by Max Weber to describe the relationship between Protestantism and capitalism (in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1905). It refers to the resonance or coherence between aspects of the teachings of Protestantism and of the capitalist enterprise, notably the ethos of the latter. 

Quote

A more modern way of describing the situation to which the concept applies might be in terms of the connections between beliefs, actions, and the unintended consequences of action. (see R. H. Howe , ‘Max Weber's Elective Affinities’, American Journal of Sociology, 1978
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Admittedly, another new philosophical term for me.

I have heard of the "Protestant work ethic' previously.

As the Apostle Paul noted in the New Testament, for example:

2 Thessalonians 3:7-11

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to [a]follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat [b]anyone’s bread [c]without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would [d]follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 

Footnotes: 2 Thessalonians 3:7 Lit imitate us 2 Thessalonians 3:8 Lit from anyone 2 Thessalonians 3:8 Lit freely 2 Thessalonians 3:9 Lit imitate us

At the same time, the Book of James warns against the abuses of the rich and Jesus Christ stated it was nearly impossible for the rich person to inherit the Kingdom of God (Mathew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18).

The Christian is to (when capable by implication) work hard and use the earthly and created tools provided to earn food and necessities for life and achieve a level of prosperity within a Protestant, biblical worldview. But this should not occur by abusing those that do not prosper, the poor, humanity or creation.

Taken up to heaven? (Brief review)

Cafe Logos, Vancouver

This free resource available from my employer, the Canadian Bible Society @ Cafe Logos, Vancouver.

Elijah and the Chariot of Fire (2015), Toronto, Canadian Bible Society,.

Brief review

This small and easy to read booklet, briefly, documents the life of the Prophet Elijah from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.

The part that interests me for this website, is at the end where it explains when Elijah, being with his Prophet successor (my add), Elisha, were walking together and a flaming chariot with fiery horses appeared and took Elijah up to heaven, never seen again within this present temporal realm, as normal man in this present realm.

Biblically, only Elijah (2 Kings 2) and Enoch (Genesis 5) went to heaven without first dying:

New American Standard Bible

2 Kings 2

11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a [e]whirlwind to heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the [f]chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw [g]Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

Genesis 5

23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

In the later Gospels account of the transfiguration Elijah and Moses appear with Jesus Christ to Peter, James and John. From Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36. Also referred to in 2 Peter 2.

Were Moses and Elijah in spirit form, featured with simulated physicality? Or were they resurrected?

The biblical critic can state it in nonsense that any person can avoid natural death.

Typically yes, almost with absolute certainty, let us state with reasonable certainty. The New Testament acknowledges this as a person is appointed once to die (Hebrew 9). The Hebrew Bible (Genesis 2-3) acknowledges physical death as certain, as examples.

But, as God is biblically and theologically the one that existed in the beginning (Genesis 1), and is philosophically the uncased, first cause of all secondary causes, including all life, humanity and angelic and demonic beings; God is the author of both life and death, even allowing for the fall and rebellion of satanic beings and human beings (likely separate events) as secondary causes.

God has the sovereign, omnipotent, ability to create, grant and maintain life and to at the same time can reasonably willingly allow and directly cause death.

Therefore, God can reasonably translate persons from the temporal realm to the heavenly realm.