CJB emphasis in blue and green, Nomads* comments in yellow, and my comments in gray. *Participative Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Kenneth Tipton
[I read the Bible to consider a perhaps 5500 year old
Sumerian political philosophy. It’s primitively expressed by Semite scholars of
3900 years ago in Genesis 1:26-28, in my paraphrase: Female-and-male-human-being may and can, independent of other entities,
choose to constrain political democracy on earth: on earth, humankind has the
power and authority to pursue the
good and constrain the
bad. Civic citizens may use the rule of law to develop justice. Yeshua* affirmed these ideas in each Matthew
19:3-8, in Matthew 5:48, and in other direct dialogue. I think the next Bible
canon should include the law codes of Sumer and competing civilizations.
Resulting insights would take the heat off Judeo-Christianity, a Christ vs
Messiah** vs God competition*** that egregiously deludes Yeshua’s civic
influence. The resulting comprehensive view could accelerate collaborative
pursuit of human being (verb) and lessen baby killings, like those happening in
Israel, in Ukraine, and in the U.S.
*In 4 BC, Yosef and Myriam of Nazareth begot Yeshua; 250 years
before, Greek translation of the Torah provided Ἰησοῦς and χριστός, both of which
competed with Yeshua, the former in life and the later in death. By the 16th
century, Christianity used “Jesus Christ” to repress Yeshua. The
person, Yeshua, said if people don’t speak my name they can’t consider my civic
advice.
**Cyrus, 600 BC, is called a messiah in Isaiah 45:1.
***Competitive monotheism survives on war.]
Key comments extracted
from below:
First, Nomads discussed that Paul’s team was soliciting
these churches– pagans with some Jews, north of the Mediterranean Sea, for
money to go to a faction of Jews in Judah who believed Yeshua was the Messiah,
soon to return and unite the 12 tribes of Israel. A smaller
faction believed the Torah should be upheld.
Second,
1.
the grace God has given [This is a form of defining the God, which is not
a humble practice.]
2.
which means, by God’s will, to
us. [I think this is coercion to support
the church rather than pursue Yeshua’s civic influence.]
3.
in faith, in speech, in
knowledge, in diligence of every kind, and in your love for us — see that you
excel in this gift too [My gift is
to promote Yeshua’s civic influence rather than promote the church.]
4.
make you rich by means of his
poverty. [Yeshua was not wealthy -- was
he? I think he was rich in civic integrity. However, the person who shares
civic integrity does not impoverish his integrity. In fact, sharing civic integrity usually produces an increase.]
5.
I am only giving an opinion. [It’s in self-interest to admit
you could be wrong.
6.
reciprocity. [Reciprocity rings true for the
total society, but not for a particular group or individual. I pay taxes so
that governments can relieve sufferers in a tornado, without losing my ability
to live.]
7.
bring honor to the Messiah [The writer neglects Yeshua in order to favor the
Messiah.]
8.
we would be humiliated [I oppose Paul’s attention to himself: let good
ideas stand on their own.]
9.
be a genuine gift, not
something extracted by pressure [People are
aware of church wealth.]
10.
God has the power to provide
you with every gracious gift [Genesis
1:26-28 says you have and may accept the power and authority to rule to the
good on earth.]
11.
through us your generosity will
cause people to thank God [I do not
trust Paul’s church.]
12.
the Good News of the Messiah [transitioning from Yeshua’s civic integrity to
Pauline church promotion]
8:1 Now, brothers, we must
tell you about the grace God
has given [This is
a form of defining the God, which is not a humble practice.] the
congregations in Macedonia. 2 Despite severe
trials, and even though they are desperately poor, their joy has overflowed in
a wealth of generosity. 3 I tell you they have not
merely given according to their means, but of their own free will they have
given beyond their means. 4 They begged and pleaded
with us for the privilege of sharing in this service for God’s people. 5 Also,
they didn’t do this in the way we had expected, but first they gave themselves
to the Lord, which means, by
God’s will, to us. [I
think this is coercion to support the church rather than pursue Yeshua’s civic
influence.]
6 All this has led us to urge Titus to bring this
same gracious gift to completion among you [Corinth], since he has already made a beginning
of it. 7 Just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge,
in diligence of every kind, and in your love for us — see that you excel in
this gift too [My
gift is to promote Yeshua’s civic influence rather than promote the church.]. 8 I
am not issuing an order; rather, I am testing the genuineness of your love against the diligence of others
[Competitive “love”!]. 9 For
you know how generous our Lord Yeshua
the Messiah was — for your sakes he impoverished himself, even though he was rich, so that he might
make you rich by means of his
poverty. [Yeshua
was not wealthy -- was he? I think he was rich in civic integrity. However, the
person who shares civic integrity does not impoverish his integrity. In fact, sharing civic integrity usually produces
an increase.] 10 As I say, in regard to
this matter I am only giving
an opinion. [It’s in
self-interest to admit you could be wrong.] A year ago you were not only
the first to take action but the first to want to do so. Now it would be to
your advantage 11 to finish what you started, so
that your eagerness in wanting to commence the project may be matched by your
eagerness to complete it, as you contribute from what you have. 12 For
if the eagerness to give is there, the acceptability of the gift will be measured by what you have, not by
what you don’t have. 13 It is not that
relief for others should cause trouble for you, but that there should be a kind
of reciprocity: 14 at present your abundance can
help those in need; so that when you are in need, their abundance can help you
— thus there is reciprocity.
[Reciprocity rings true
for the total society, but not for a particular group or individual. I pay taxes
so that governments can relieve sufferers in a tornado, without losing my
ability to live.] 15 It is as the Tanakh says,
“He who gathered much had nothing extra,
and he who gathered little had nothing lacking.” [Exodus 16:18] [The
Exodus reference is to each family taking all the manna they need and none extra.
In this case, God is providing, and one family is not supplying another; one
church is not supporting another.]
16 Now I thank God for making Titus as devoted to
you as we are; 17 for he not only responded to our
urging, but, being so devoted, he is coming to you on his own initiative. 18 And
with him we are sending the brother whose work for the Good News is praised in
all the congregations; 19 not only that, he has
also been appointed by the congregations to travel with us, so that the way we
administer this charitable
work will bring honor to the Lord and show our eagerness to help. 20 Our
aim in this is to show that our
conduct in dealing with these substantial sums is above reproach; 21 for we
take pains to do what is right not only in the sight of God but also in
the sight of other people. [Proverbs
3:4 (Septuagint)] 22 With
these two we are sending another brother of ours, one whose diligence we have
tested many times in many ways, but who is now all the more diligent because of
his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is
my partner who works with me on your behalf; and the other brothers with him
are emissaries of the congregations and bring honor to the Messiah [The writer neglects Yeshua in order to favor the
Messiah.]. 24 So the love you show these men
will justify our pride in you to them, and through them to the congregations
that sent them.
9:1 There is really no need for me to write you
about this offering for God’s people — 2 I know how
eager you are, and I boast about you to the Macedonians. I tell them, “Achaia [Greece]
has been ready since last year,” and it was your zeal that stirred up most of
them. 3 But now I am sending the brothers so that
our boast about you in this regard will not prove hollow, so that you will be
ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if some
Macedonians were to come with me and find you unprepared, we would be humiliated [I oppose Paul’s attention to
himself: let good ideas stand on their own.] at having been so confident
— to say nothing of how you would feel. 5 So I
thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go on to you ahead of me and
prepare your promised gift in plenty of time; this way it will be ready when I come and will be a genuine
gift, not something extracted by pressure [People are aware of church wealth.].
6 Here’s
the point: he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly. 7 Each
should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or
under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. [Proverbs 22:8
(Septuagint)] 8 Moreover, God has the power to provide you with every gracious
gift [Genesis
1:26-28 says you have and may accept the power and authority to rule to the
good on earth.] in abundance, so that always in every way you will have
all you need yourselves and be able to provide abundantly for every good cause
— 9 as the Tanakh says,
“He gave generously to the poor;
his tzedakah lasts forever.” [Psalm 112:9]
10 He
who provides both seed for the planter and bread for food will supply and
multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your tzedakah [charity]. 11 You
will be enriched in every way, so that you can be generous in everything. And through us your generosity will
cause people to thank God [I do not trust Paul’s church.], 12 because
rendering this holy service not only provides for the needs of God’s people,
but it also overflows in the many thanks people will be giving to God. 13 In
offering this service you prove to these people that you glorify God by
actually doing what your acknowledgement of the Good News of the Messiah [transitioning from Yeshua’s civic integrity to
Pauline church promotion] requires, namely, sharing generously with them
and with everyone. 14 And in their prayers for you
they will feel a strong affection for you because of how gracious God has been
to you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable
gift!
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