Theology beacon dictionary of theology
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- NIDNTT;
- Works, 5:210; 6:52 ff.
- Dictionary of Biblical Theology, rev.;
- For Further Reading: Stibbs, The Meaning of the Word "Blood" in Scripture; Denney, The Death of Christ; Morris
- For Further Reading: Kittel, 7:1024-66; Robinson, The Body; Robinson, The Christian Doctrine of Man.
- For Further Reading: Stedman, Body Life; Palms, Decision magazine, May 1975, 8ff; Richards, A Theology of Christian Education
- The Bible Speaks, 228-33;
- For Further Reading: Wiley, The Epistle to the He- brews, 166-69. "
- BREAKING OF BREAD.
- One Body in Christ, 169-83;
BITTERNESS. See hardness of heart. BLAME, BLAMELESS. Our concept of sin determines our concept of blame, either blameworthiness or blamelessness. Because wilfulness is a necessary element of guilt-incurring sin, no blame attaches to involuntary transgression. The words are of great importance to our ideas, not only of sin and guilt, but also innocence, perfection, integrity, and performance. In the consideration of "blame" and "blameless" such related factors as foreknowledge and forethought, ignorance and forgetfulness, culpability and responsibility, would all demand attention. The ethical concept of sin postulates a proper and clear distinction between sin wilfully committed and errors springing from human infirmity, or lack of knowledge. Hence it is entirely scriptural to describe Christians living obediently and with pure intention of pleasing the Lord as "blameless but not faultless." Due to the Fall we shall never in this life be free from the infirmities of human nature. Grace can make us clean and well-pleasing to God (Phil. 4:18; Heb. 13:21), but does not make us infallible. We may become "completely His" (2 Chron. 16:9, nasb), "guiltless" (Job 9:20-21, nasb), "innocent" (Gen. 44:10, nasb, cf. KJV), "blameless and harmless" (Phil. 2:15), and be kept "blameless" until the day of Christ (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Pet. 3:14). Blamelessness therefore is a matter of the heart, according to the measure of our knowledge of the Lord's expectation of us. Hence Asa was "blameless" (2 Chron. 15:17, nasb) and "completely His" (16:9, nasb). Many persons are described as "blameless" according to their light (Job 1:1; 9:20-21; Gen. 6:9; 17:1; Luke 1:6; 1 Cor. 1:8). Sometimes the emphasis is "completeness," at other times "integrity" or "perfectness." "Blameless" can mean "above reproach" (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:7; Titus 1:7, all nasb). It is noteworthy that the idea is related to the unblemished sacrifices presented in OT worship, and is applied to the life of the believer as being pleasing and acceptable to God, especially in relation to the Parousia (1 Cor. 1:8; Col. 1:22). Blame is also apportioned to responsibility (Gen. 43:9); or related to bringing holy things into discredit (2 Cor. 6:3; 8:20); it may be a synonym for "condemned" (Gal. 2:11). See sin, mistakes, guilt, responsibility. For Further Reading: NIDNTT; Chapman, The Terminology of Holiness; Taylor, A Right Conception of Sin. T. Crichton Mitchell BLASPHEMY. The English word "blasphemy" is transliterated from the Greek word blasphemia, which means slander, reviling, railing, language of reproach against God and man (Matt. 27:39; BLESS, BLESSED, BLESSING—BLOOD 79
Mark 14:64; Eph. 4:31). It is to speak of God or divine things impiously or irreverently (Mark 3:29; Rev. 16:9, 11, 21). In modern English the term is used only in reference to God. But in the NT blasphemy is reproachful or slanderous speech against either God or man (e.g., "evil spoken of"—Rom. 14:16). It is included in lists of sins of the most heinous type (Mark 7:21-22). Its intentional aim is to harm another person's good name or reputation, as in the case of the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 4:13; 10:30). In reference to God the word takes on more serious meaning, including deprecations in His name (Ps. 74:10-18; Isa. 52:5, Rev. 16:9). Under Mosaic law blasphemy against God was punishable by death by stoning (Lev. 24:11-16). Naboth and Stephen suffered this fate though falsely accused (1 Kings 21:9-13; Acts 6:11; 7:58). Our Lord was charged with blasphemy on three counts at His trial. His words about the temple of His body were maliciously misinterpreted (Mark 14:58). He was scorned and railed against when He claimed messianic powers (Matt. 26:63-66). Under NT grace, all manner of blasphemies against God the Father, His Son, and man may be forgiven, upon sincere repentance, said Jesus. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is "an eternal sin" (NIV) and has no forgiveness whatsoever (Mark 3:28-29). This sin should not be confused with the "sin unto death" (1 John 5:16) nor the sin of apostasy (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-30). Jesus limits the unpardonable sin to the intention of attributing the work of the Holy Spirit done in Christ to the power of Satan. See profanity, speech, unpardonable sin. For Further Reading: Vine, ED; Wesley, Works, 5:210; 6:52 ff. John B. Nielson BLESS, BLESSED, BLESSING. Those words primarily derive from baruk in Hebrew and eudokia in Greek. In some instances the word means to enrich, prosper, protect, multiply, and obviously has temporal overtones (Gen. 12:2-3; 22:17; Deut. 28:3). The blessing was sometimes a hereditary benefit (Gen. 27:30), and sometimes was given because of obedience and faithfulness (1 Sam. 2:20; Luke 24:50). In other cases to bless meant to praise, to thank, and/or to congratulate (Judg. 5:2; 2 Sam. 14:22; Ps. 72:15; 103:1). A blessing is sometimes a benediction (Num. 6:22-27; Deut. 23:5; Luke 24:50-51; Rev. 1:3). Again, to be blessed is to be happy, to be joyful, to be fulfilled (Ps. 128:1-4; John 13:17; Titus 2:13; Jas. 5:11). To bless often is to invoke God's blessings upon, as Jesus blessed the loaves and fish before distributing them (Mark 6:41) and as He blessed the bread before the two disciples in Emmaus (Luke 24:30), who may have recalled the original blessing prior to feeding the 5,000. And this blessing we are to invoke before the distribution of the elements in the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 10:16). More importantly, and often in the NT, the word eudokia is associated with grace, the gift of God's redemptive love. This seems to be forecast in Prov. 10:22: "The blessing of the Lord, it mak-eth rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." To "bless" others would mean to manifest God's grace toward them (Luke 6:28). There is no doubt of the blessing of grace when the Greek verb is first used in Acts 3:26: "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Then comes Paul's hope of the ministry of God's grace: "I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Rom. 15:29). Paul certainly refers to the supreme blessing of God's grace in Gal. 3:14 and in Eph. 1:3. Another Greek word translated "blessed" is makarios, which though sometimes meaning happy or favored (as in Luke 1:45), more often signifies divine approval. One thinks particularly of the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12), which register more of divine sanction and promise than of happiness. The ultimate approval of God and the ultimate happiness of the creature is stated in Rev. 20:6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection." In the NT two related Greek words are translated "blessed." One, eulogemenos, always applied to the creature as blessed by God. The other, eulogetos, invariably is applied to God himself. It is interesting to note that both these words are applied to Christ, since He unites two natures in one Person (cf. the Greek of John 12:13 with Rom. 9:5). See happiness, grace, benediction. For Further Reading: "Blessing," Dictionary of Biblical Theology, rev.; "Blessedness," The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. George E. Failing BLOOD. This is a key word in understanding the redemptive message of the Bible. Its meaning is essential to an understanding of the OT sacrifices. More significantly, the word "blood" carries a primary theme in understanding the work of Christ. Vincent Taylor has pointed out that the blood of Christ is mentioned in the writings of the NT nearly three times as often as the cross of Christ, and five times as frequently as the death of Christ (The Atonement in NT Teaching, 177). Obviously a careful interpretation cannot be avoided if we would have any semblance of NT Christianity. As interpreted by contemporary writers, the term carries two meanings. The Blood as Life. With reference to the blood of the sacrifices of the OT and to the blood of Christ in the NT, some scholars state that by "blood" life is meant rather than death. Among such writers are G. Milligan, B. F. Westcott, Vincent Taylor, Lindsay Dewar, and C. H. Dodd. The following statements from Vincent Taylor represent the thought of the authors just mentioned. In commenting on the teaching of Paul and his use of the term "blood" with reference to the death of Christ, Taylor writes: 'To explain the allusions to 'blood' as synonyms for death is mistaken" (op. cit., 63). In commenting on the Epistle to the Hebrews, he expresses a similar idea: "It will be found, I think, that when he uses the term 'blood' his main emphasis is upon the idea of life freely surrendered, applied, and dedicated to the recovery of man" (op. cit., 123). Wesleyan writers, and evangelicals generally, find it difficult to accept this concept of life as being the primary meaning of "blood." The Blood as Death. From a biblical perspective the emphasis is on death, not life. As J. A. Robinson writes: "To the Jewish mind, 'blood' was not merely—nor even chiefly—the life-current flowing in the veins of the living: it was especially the life poured out in death; and yet more particularly in its religious aspect it was the symbol of sacrificial death" (Sf. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, 29). Johannes Behm also supports this view: "The interest of the New Testament is not in the material blood of Christ, but in His shed blood as the life violently taken from Him. Like the cross . . . the 'blood of Christ' is simply another and even more graphic phrase for the death of Christ in its soteriological significance" (Kittel, 1:174). James Denney, in his classic work, The Death of Christ, comments on Heb. 9:12-28: "There is the same sacrificial conception in all the references in the epistle to the blood of Christ. He entered into the most holy place with ... His own blood (9:12). The blood of Christ shall purge your conscience from dead works (9:14). We have boldness to enter into the holiest in the blood of Jesus (10:19). His blood is the blood of the covenant with which we are sanctified. ... In all these ways the death of Christ is defined as a sacrificial death" (215). Wesleyan scholars have followed the second meaning of "blood," that it means death, or life poured out. In summary it can be said that while the Hebrew word dam (blood), used 362 times in the OT, carries various meanings, its most common use, says Leon Morris, is to denote "death by violence" (The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 13). The institution of the Passover, the ceremonial law and the sacrificial system, and the prophetic concept of suffering and death all stand for life laid down or taken in death. In the NT the Greek word aima (blood) is also most frequently used to refer to violent death, or life given or laid down for others. The great NT themes of propitiation (Rom. 3:25), justification (5:9), redemption (Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9), reconciliation (Eph. 2:13; Col. 1:19-20), cleansing (Heb. 9:11-14), sanctification (1 John 1:7; Eph. 5:25-26), victorious living (Rev. 12:11), are all directly bound to the shedding of blood, sacrifice, and death. The valid conclusion is that the phrase "blood of Christ" is, like the word "cross," a specific expression for the sacrificial and redemptive death of Christ. See cross, crucifixion, atonement, sacrifice.
The Platonic idea of man as an immortal soul slipped into an oppressing bodily envelope is found in neither the OT nor the NT. Throughout Scripture man is a body-soul unit. In his body man has his true existence, and in his body he will ultimately come to heaven or hell (Matt. 10:28). Disembodied spiritual existence is not a biblical goal; man's hope is not a Platonic immortality but a resurrection of the body. It is in Paul's Epistles that the theological significance of the body is developed. Life after death continues for the believer as conscious existence with Christ (2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:23; cf. Luke 23:43), but the Christian's final expectation is the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:50-58). The present body is the "outer" man and is mortal (2 Cor. 4:16; Rom. 8:10); but the Christian knows by faith that he is destined to be clothed in the res-
The NT knows no identification of man's body with sin. While our bodies with their desires are one source of temptation (Jas. 1:14) and may lead to sin (Rom. 6:12) and must therefore be kept in subjection (1 Cor. 9:25-27; Rom. 8:13), they may be set free from sin (6:6-7), yielded to God (v. 13; 12:1), and sanctified (1 Thess. 5:23), so that in them we may glorify God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). See flesh, soul sleep, intermediate state, immortality, resurrection of the body, man.
All persons and all functions of the church are believed to be integral and indispensable parts of the whole. Therefore the "supreme task of every Christian's life is to discover his gift and put it to work. ... If anyone does not do this the whole body will suffer" (Ray C. Stedman, Body Life, p. 131). It takes the whole church, he adds, to do the work of the church. As an attempt to be faithful to the apostle's doctrine of the Church, the "Body Life" movement has much to commend it. However, Paul equally insisted on authoritative leadership and ordained, well-organized functionaries. Also the contemporary movement is in danger of overemphasizing the gifts of the Spirit to the neglect of the fruit (or graces). Gifts without fruit tend to divide; the smooth interfunctioning of the gifts can only be assured by the fruit as enumerated in Gal. 5:22-23. See church, gifts of the spirit, fruit of the spirit, koinonia, body of christ. For Further Reading: Stedman, Body Life; Palms, Decision magazine, May 1975, 8ff; Richards, A Theology of Christian Education, 244-83. FOREST T. BENNER 81 BODY OF CHRIST. This phrase in the Greek NT (fo soma tou Christou) is used to indicate the whole community of Christians which constitutes the extension of our Lord's earthly incarnation. It connotes the many-faceted relations between Jesus as Lord of all those who belong to Him—their relation to Him as members, and their relations to one another in Him. The term is symbolic of the mutuality and solidarity of all who are born into His life and governed by Him as their ever living Head. Christ is embodied in His Church. This analogy may be taken too literally, but it cannot be taken too seriously. (It is taken too literally when it becomes definitive of Christ's resurrection.) Within the solidarity of the members of His Body there is no distinction of race, sex, learning, or social status. As the new people of God there is a mutual helpfulness, wherein each member, each joint and ligament, makes its contribution to the growth of the whole toward the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. Within the one Body, the Spirit apportions His gifts to each member in such a fashion as enables each to be nourished by the whole and the whole by each of its interdependent parts (Rom. 12:4-6; 1 Cor. 12:7-12). Christ is a "one" who includes within His resurrection Body "the many" as a corporate personality. Therefore, believers are exhorted to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1), for it is not right to take the Body of Christ and join it to a harlot (1 Cor. 6:15). The Church may then become the means of Christ's work in the world. It is His hands, His feet, His tongue, and His voice. In His resurrection life in this age He still needs a pure, clean body as His instrument to gospelize a lost world. The vibrant personalities of redeemed and sanctified human servants of God make a powerful impact upon the imaginations and minds of men. Every type of person, and every gift man has, can find its place in the total work of God. He who turns to God can remain no longer neutral. The Church must ever be that fellowship wherein people find God's righteous will and His outreaching grace. See church, body life, resurrection of christ. For Further Reading: Davidson, The Bible Speaks, 228-33; Wiley, CT, 3:108-10. ross E. price BOLDNESS. In its biblical context, boldness is the confident and courageous assumption of privileges provided by grace. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16, rsv). Wiley explains it as "saying all." That 82 BONDAGE—BRIDE, BRIDEGROOM is, to come boldly is to come at the invitation of God—with confidence in the request—then, saying all you wish, ask with confidence for what you need. A biblical boldness exercises the claims and privileges of faith, implying a trust in the object of one's faith (cf. Eph. 3:12; Heb. 10:19; 1 John 4:17). Such boldness/confidence is to be distinguished from a brash, cocky, self-confident, egotistical attitude. The exercise of a spiritual privilege implies that the believer is putting his will (and his faith) into action, and such an exercise is a bold move. For it means that man is speaking to God or using a privilege from God. Such a dialogue between God and man can only be interpreted as boldness, for man has no human right to do such. All privileges are initiated by God. Boldness before men (e.g., Peter and John, Acts 4:13) is not humanistic courage but a gift of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 10:19-20). Its source is God, not man. The context of the boldness of the apostles was the fact that they had been with Jesus. But Jesus is also the basis for boldness in our approach to God (1 Tim. 2:5). Through Him we claim positively the privileges of the covenant. See prayer, faith, intercession, advocate. For Further Reading: Wiley, The Epistle to the He- brews, 166-69. " C. Neil Strait BONDAGE. Bondage is unwilling and unhappy servitude. The fundamental bondage experienced by fallen human beings is slavery to sin. "Every one who commits sin," Jesus said, "is a slave to sin" (John 8:34, rsv; cf. 2 Pet. 2:19). Sin brings one under its power and reduces its victim to abject helplessness by the tyranny of its guilt, the irresistibility of its pull, and the grip of its habit. Because of sin, law becomes a form of bondage (Gal. 4:24-25; 5:1; cf. Acts 15:10). The physical bondage of disease and weakness also is a consequence of sin (Rom. 8:18-23). Outside of Christ, people are in bondage to fear (v. 15; Heb. 2:14-15). A form of sin's power is bondage to appetites and vices. Historically, bondage has been not only an internal problem but sociological as well, for men have been in bondage to other men, either through ownership, as in outright slavery, or through economic oppression. However, not all bond service is bondage. The bonds of matrimony need not be miserable servitude. Paul delighted to call himself a slave of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1; et al.). His ear was pierced with the mark of eternal fealty (Exod. 21:1-6; Deut. 15:17). It is love which prevents bonds from being bondage, and turns them instead into perfect freedom. See servant service, slave (slavery), freedom.
It is clear that the early Christian community and Jesus himself made the identification between the Messiah and the Bridegroom. Jesus' statement to John's disciples describes himself as the Bridegroom (Mark 2:19). In the parable of the marriage of the king's son, Christ takes the place of the heavenly Bridegroom (Matt. 22:1-14). The same identification is also found in the parable of the 10 virgins (25:1-13). In his testimony to Jesus, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Bridegroom and himself the friend of the Bridegroom (John 3:29). The metaphor of bride as the Church is fully developed in the letters of Paul. In 2 Cor. 11:2 he compares the church at Corinth with a bride and Christ with the Bridegroom and himself with the person who will present the bride to the Bridegroom. A further development of this metaphor appears in Eph. 5:22-32. The marriage bond between Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church is set in analogy to the divinely ordained union between Adam and Eve (cf. Gen. 2:24). As in the parables of Jesus, the actual marriage is to be a future event in which the bride will be presented "holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27). This eschatological union will be the occasion for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9). The announcement in v. 7 indicates that BRITISH-ISRAELISM—BUDDHISM 83
the time for this union has come and that the preparation of the bride is complete. The Marriage will be followed by the Marriage Supper (v. 9). While the metaphor of the Bride is used for the Church prepared for this union, individual members of this community are invited to attend the Marriage Supper. John's visions conclude with the invitation "come," the longing of the Bride for her union with the Bridegroom as well as an invitation to those who are not yet a part of her to drink the water of life (Rev. 22:17). See second coming, church. For Further Reading: Best, One Body in Christ, 169-83; Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 246-50. Alexander Varughese Directory: sites -> default -> files -> publications publications -> Table of Content forward introduction publications -> Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies Georgia Institute of Technology publications -> Housing Counseling Research in Chicago publications -> Communicating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Audiences publications -> New Brunswick Info Sheet on First Nations Child Welfare publications -> Paap’s Electronic Newsletter 14 November 2008 Volume 11 Number 22 towards ‘smart’ subsidies in agriculture: lessons from recent experience in malawi publications -> Information support of pedagogical process for the children experiencing difficulties with acquisition of preschool educational programs publications -> Asus’ ZenFone ar has Google’s augmentted and virtual reality baked in — but not combined publications -> School Readiness and Early Grade Success Consultation Memo Atlanta, ga Download 6.66 Mb. Share with your friends:
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