One last case for subversion, following our discussion at House Church this past Sunday..."The apostle Peter subverts hellenistic imagery when he writes about the cataclysmic spiritual events surrounding God's judgment in the Noachian flood. 'God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.' (II Peter 2:4)" -- quote from Word Pictures, by Brian Godawa
What is important to realize is that the word translated as "hell" in this English translation is not the usual Greek word, gehenna, but tartarus, a well-known Greek mythic location written about by Plato:
"The very wicked are cast for ever into Tartarus, the traditional place of punishment in Hades surrounded by a brazen wall and encircled by impenetrable darkness. Here, they received terrible torture (Republic 626)."
The Greek poet Hesiod, writing around 700 B.C., described Tartarus as the underworld pit of darkness and gloom where the Olympic Titan giants were banished following their war with Zeus. I think it would be much the same as a reference to "sin city" being universally recognized here in America as a reference to Las Vegas.
If this is truly another case of subversion by a New Testament writer...how can we or should we subvert the culture today in the greater cause of Christ? How can we be in, but not of, the world? How can we somehow quote the Benny Hill's of our day, and maintain a viable witness as a light for Christ?
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