The Burning Question

Most of you do not sit around reading Bible Commentaries...I know this. However, if you have spent any time teaching the Bible to people you may have spent some time comparing commentaries...it is an occupational hazard to those of us who teach the Bible 'professionally.' And the choice of a good commentary series is very important, because the price tag for such a set is typically very high. A few years ago, a 'new' series came out that quickly became my favorite. It is called the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series, and features the writings of Augustine, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Athanasius and many other writers from the first few centuries of Christian thought which have been collected in these volumes.

There is something I find very comforting about hearing from these writers, who were so much closer historically to the time of Christ. Somehow I can't get as excited about someone's perspective from my own generation. Because most of these writers only left scraps of writing behind, the editors of this commentary series have grouped their writing by chapter and verse, which offers an excellent overview from a variety of early scholars.

One of the things I find most interesting from our recent discussions is this...I Corinthians 14, which today would be viewed as a much more controversial chapter than I Corinthians 15 is left virtually untouched. While the early Fathers offer almost no commentary on I Corinthians 14, they go to voluminous lengths in discussing I Corinthians 15. While we might file the questions addressed in this chapter under that deep theological category of 'I Don't Know', these early scholars go to great lengths to discuss such things as...what version of ourselves will be resurrected? Will we be 'with' our spouses when we are resurrected? What is the difference between our physical bodies and our spiritual bodies (v. 44)? How long is the twinkling of an eye (v. 52)?

Things that we might simply throw up our hands and say 'I don't know' to, Paul and the early Church Fathers spend lots of time addressing. So instead of throwing up our hands, lets spend some time looking through their eyes...why might this have been so important to them? Why spend so much time discussing things which seem to be so minute? See you next Sunday as we ramp up toward the end of I Corinthians...