tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post7186404856533631836..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: If Jesus only knewJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-86641176899752704192015-12-02T00:21:24.516-08:002015-12-02T00:21:24.516-08:00Golly! is she 'outed' or what!? */;DGolly! is she 'outed' or what!? */;DAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01638921407378257033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-40538354137715375092015-11-28T16:06:28.378-08:002015-11-28T16:06:28.378-08:00No, I haven’t read Kierkegaard, so I’m not qualifi...No, I haven’t read Kierkegaard, so I’m not qualified to talk about that. I was merely relating the story to my own experience. But I thank you for the reference!Marshall Masseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18371519122299607819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-84970652192434029732015-11-27T08:45:22.269-08:002015-11-27T08:45:22.269-08:00Marshall, your comment drew me to Kierkegaard'...Marshall, your comment drew me to Kierkegaard's book, <i>Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing: Spiritual Preparation for the Office of Confession</i>. (You're probably not surprised.) I've just gone skimming through the book and found many points of contact with the woman's experience in Simon's house, and with your comment. For example, the very end of chapter 3: "[God] does not reward the impressive with admiration. The reward of the good person is to be allowed to worship in truth."Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-51932932274487011412015-11-27T06:36:32.094-08:002015-11-27T06:36:32.094-08:00“Sustained by her faith, she crashed through barri...“Sustained by her faith, she crashed through barriers too numerous to list, all in order to express her love. That sounds very costly to me.”<br /><br />It sounds very single-minded to me, in the best possible sense of that word. (And we might recall other passages in the NT that exalt “singleness” and condemn “double-mindedness”. I think this woman is an example of what that is all about.)<br /><br />“No doctrinal tests, no bait-and-switch, just immediate and radical affirmation.”<br /><br />Yes. And given the tendency in so many quarters of the church to equate “faith”, <i>pistis</i>, with belief in certain teachings and ideas, this gives me great pause. Could the early Friends have been right in equating “faith” less with belief and more with faithfulness and follow-through?<br /><br />Thanks for a good posting.Marshall Masseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18371519122299607819noreply@blogger.com