thoughts?
anyone have any thoughts on this passage from 1 Peter 3:... particularly the spirits in prison bit and the noah bit....
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c] 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom[d] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge[e] of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
4 Comments:
Here's me thinking out loud...
Through the Holy Spirit, Christ was also present in the days of old, with Noah, as he built his ark and as God waited, preaching to those spirits now imprisoned in hell. The water which once saved eight, now saves all who are baptized. Of course now we can get into the argument of baptism. Which I will pass on. Being raised Episcopal, ministering in the Baptist church, and now attending a Brethren,...let's just say the jury is still out. Any one else?
It's easy...Jesus preached to spirits in prison while Noah built the ark.
Huh?
Serious thought re: the nephilim -
Towards the bottom of the link there was something about the myth of the demi-god, meaning the offspring of minor gods and human women. That's also a pretty common feature of Greek mythology; I believe Hercules and Achilles were demi-gods, and both were charged with a sort of Messianic quest, which (for Achilles at least) eventually ended in a sort of sacrificial death.
So go with me on this -
In "The Everlasting Man" G.K. Chesterton has this idea that most myths can be considered as pointing to Christ, and C.S. Lewis, in, I think "The Abolition of Man," talks about the Corn King myth, which he sees as a Christ archtype. So, following in that vein of thinking, I think we can see shades of Christ in the Nephilim myth.
The Nephilim sleep with human women, who in turn give birth to giants, "heroes" who accomplish mighty deeds on behalf of a larger group. I remember reading somewhere that some Biblical scholars think that Goliath might have been a descendant of a Nephil/human union, and he was the champion of the Philistines.
Now think about the virgin birth, very obviously the union (albeit non-sexual) of God and a human woman. This child becomes the champion of his people (Messiah), and in God's fantastic tradition of making already cool things so much more cool than we could ever imagine, he becomes the champion for all creation. To do this, he dies a sacrifial death, then, like the Corn King, is ressurected. In this context of demi-god myths, I think the virgin birth (and, by proxy, immaculate conception) might have even deeper meanings than we usually associate with it. It's like God redeemed the profane practice that was a direct result of the fall (fallen angels abusing creation) and caused it to become the salvation of all mankind. Interesting connections...
Man, I feel like I'm back in Torrey.
The NASB seems to speak it in a much clearer way, and the NOW does change things a bit, because is now when Peter wrote it or when Christ was 'there'. But it brings the question to me about pre flood and after the flood. because the eight people seem to be those that were saved on the arc, not when christ proclaimed to the spirits in prison. it's just getting my head around the idea of salvation before Christ. was it beleiving and having faith in the promises of God? Believing in the promise he made to Abrham, to Noah after the flood...his promises of a Savior, a messiah...of his second coming?
Post a Comment
<< Home