The next three chapter cover dramatic acts of Jesus; some of the chapters are quite long. This next is the Call of Peter (Luke 5:1-11) and is relatively short. Bailey almost misses the point right off the bat with a Strawman argument. He talks about how Greeks thought the spirit realm was good and the…
JTMEE: Chapter 10
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Unlike the 18 Jewish prayers, which includes a plea of forgiveness, Jesus connects it to forgiving others. Promptly after the end of the Model Prayer, Jesus adds a comment to reinforce the necessity of embracing forgiveness as the way of life. Thus, Bailey notes…
JTMEE: Chapter 9
In the typical Semitic language word order, the next two requests of the Model Prayer go like this: Let it come — Thy Kingdom, let it be done — Thy will. First is the Kingdom. Bailey reminds us that this rests on a particular view of human existence. Modern secularism insists that history is just…
JTMEE: Chapter 8
Bailey’s penchant for elaborate lyrical analysis is on good display again here. The chapter opens with mention of the subject: the part of the Model Prayer that asks for holiness for His name. Then he immediately launches into a list of the items in the Model Prayer (BTW, he calls it by its traditional name,…
JTMEE: Chapter 7
Here we begin another section of the book (four chapters), which is devoted to the Model Prayer, Matthew 6:5-9. Bailey testifies that he was one of the first Christian professors to teach in Latvia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the conference he encountered a woman who had grown up under communism, and…
Extra: Get Out
I’m responding to a recent general discussion over at Jack’s Sigma Frame blog, but to this post in particular: On Sanctification. The context is discussing the way sex in marriage sanctifies the people and the relationship. However, as you might expect, there is a huge problem with the false mythology of American feminism actively preventing…
JTMEE: Chapter 6
We continue with the Beatitudes. 4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Bailey notes that, while we understand the concept of hunger and thirst physically, few of us have actually experienced much of either compared to what might be more common in Jesus’ day. He recounts having…
JTMEE: Chapter 5
This chapter begins another section of the book, two chapters on the Beatitudes. Bailey immediately offers another structural outline. First, there is Luke’s version, laid out in couplets that match ABCD,ABCD — positive blessings and then negative woes. Sandwiched in the middle is an extended comment on facing persecution for the sake of following Jesus….
JTMEE: Chapter 4
This chapter begins with a summary of Herod as a complex man. Ethnically Arab (Nabatean), he was born into the Idumean kingdom after Hyrcanus had forcibly converted them. He married into the Hasmonean family to seize the throne of Judea. His first language was Greek, and his politics were quite Roman. As a younger man,…
JTMEE: Chapter 3
I must admit this chapter troubled me just a little. Bailey praises someone I believe caused more trouble than good, Desmond Tutu. Let’s be honest: There was certainly nothing wrong with ending apartheid. It was what came with it that dragged South Africa back toward the Stone Age, and Tutu had a hand in that….