The "elect lady" who is making a rare appearance, if not a debut, in the Bible lesson this week seems to be bringing more confusion than clarity to the matter. Dummelow has a fairly lengthly discussion on who or what the lady is and comes to no conclusion, only deepest uncertainty. The Oxford Companion to the Bible appears confident in its assertion that 2 John is addressed "to a community".
It is true Mrs. Eddy refers to the elect lady in Retrospection and Introspection (90: 10), but this is only in passing. Why include in the Bible lesson a citation this puzzling, especially since there is no peg in Science and Health on which to hang it? What possible lesson lies in its inclusion? What is really going on here? It would be interesting to know who is on the lesson committee and their qualifications, if any, for the job.
An insidious possibility has been suggested in an earlier entry, i.e., that the AMDG boys have long had more than their camels' noses in the tent and wish to subtly adumbrate and promote their own elect lady.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Wow! Is there any CS out there writing the way you are! Clever title and right on blog as several people I know are confused about that reference.
Thanks,
If Mary didnt say it ain't so!
Case in point for reading the lessons from yesteryear available from the Bookmark.
Boy, did I enjoy this blog! Fresh, creative, original, lively.
Many thanks to you, talented writer...
Whether or not you intended it, your blog is making the periodicals look passe/yawn-yawn/stale/uninspiring to read.
I'm loving this blog!
(A daily visitor from California)
To the previous commenter: Yes, guess you don't miss all those beautiful photos, fancy typography and the worldly comments and advice from movie stars and others rich and famous? I certainly don't!
I second what the gentleman or lady who commented above said. Nor do I miss what's currently in the old perios!
In George Lamsa's translation of the Bible (direct from the ancient Aramaic) the verse II John 1:1reads: "The minister to the mother church and her children, those whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also those who have known the truth," and the last verse: "The children of your elect sister church greet you."
Also interesting are the comments in the Interpreters Bible and the Interpreters One Volume Commentary on the Bible. The "elect lady" and her "elect sister" appear to definitely be churches or congregations.
Post a Comment