flat

July 2, 2018

Not enough oil (Mt 25:9-25:9)

“But the wise ones

Replied.

‘No!

There will not be enough

For you

And for us.

You had better go

To the dealers

To buy some

For yourselves.’”

 

ἀπεκρίθησαν δὲ αἱ φρόνιμοι λέγουσαι Μή ποτε οὐ μὴ ἀρκέσῃ ἡμῖν καὶ ὑμῖν· πορεύεσθε μᾶλλον πρὸς τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ ἀγοράσατε ἑαυταῖς.

 

This parable story is unique to Matthew.  Jesus continued with this story.  The wise bridesmaids replied (ἀπεκρίθησαν δὲ αἱ φρόνιμοι λέγουσαι) that they would not give the foolish ones any oil with a flat “no (οὐ).”  They said that there would not be enough oil for both groups of them (Μή ποτε οὐ μὴ ἀρκέσῃ ἡμῖν καὶ ὑμῖν).  Instead, they suggested that they go to some oil dealers (πορεύεσθε μᾶλλον πρὸς τοὺς πωλοῦντας) to buy some oil for themselves (καὶ ἀγοράσατε ἑαυταῖς).  I am not sure what oil dealers would be open in the middle of the night.  This seems like the wise ones gave a very self-righteous rude response.

February 22, 2016

The earth around us (Eccl 1:4-1:7)

“A generation goes.

A generation comes.

But the earth remains forever.

The sun rises.

The sun goes down.

The sun hastens to the place

Where it rises.

The wind blows to the south.

The wind goes around to the north.

Round and round goes the wind.

On its circuits

The wind returns.

All streams run to the sea.

But the sea is not full.

They continue to flow

To the place where the streams flow.

There they continue to flow.”

This is a stunning appreciation of creation. Generations of humans come and go, but the earth remains forever in a static flat world concept. The sun rises and sets every day. There was no thought that the earth was moving around a static sun. The wind blew in from the north to south and then around and around again. The wind, as we know, blows in various directions. The streams do run to the sea, and not vice versa. However, the seas never seem to fill up because there is osmosis. No matter what, the streams continue to flow to where they want to go, usually downhill because of gravity. Thus this poetic expression of creation uses the scientific assumptions of its day, not those of the later scientific age.