John Mark Hicks Keith StanglinΩ Letter and Spirit

Keith Stanglin’s Letter and the Spirit of Biblical Interpretation: Some Reflections

When Theologians write a short paper presenting CONCLUSIONS it takes a lot of work to post the ALWAYS-repudiation of the Word of God. I will add more Scripture and TRUE history which they quote in error.

Keith D. Stanglin, The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation: From the Early Church to Modern Practice (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018). 274 pages.

Presentation at the 2019 Christian Scholars Conference in Lubbock, Texas.

John Mark Hicks: I welcome this book on several levels.

For me, and for others who have worked vocationally in historical theology, it is a welcome reacquaintance with past figures. I found myself renewing friendships with Gregory of Nyssa, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Calvin of Geneva, and even the Dutch Remonstrants whose influence was much greater than their numbers.

In addition, the purpose of this nostalgic journey
is the REHABILITATION of the SPIRITUAL sense of Scripture
or theological hermeneutics.

Yes, theologians would not get paid unless they declared God's Spirit a CRIPPLE. Leonard Allen says that the Father-Son relationship is made INTELLIGIBLE by the aid of Another God to enable God's Spirit

John Mark Hicks: Keith Stanglin Letter and Spirit Stanglin,
following Paul, calls it the “letter” and the “spirit,” or the literal and spiritual, senses of Scripture.
        The spiritual sense seeks theological understanding
        beyond, though not irrespective of, the literal sense,
            especially where the literal sense is equated
            with the authorial intent of the human writer.

Didn't Read Paul, I see.

The Letter and the Spirit 2 Corinthians 3

Letter, Flesh, etc identifies the LAW OF MOSES
Spirit, The Faith, The Gospel is the New Testament.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves;
but our sufficiency is of God;
2 Cor 3:5 Who also hath made us able ministers

(not of the Old Testament)

(but) of the new testament;

not of the letter,

but of the spirit:

for the letter killeth,

but the spirit giveth life. 2 Cor 3:6

In Acts 2:38 repentance AND Baptism is asking God for the remission of sins. Even a godly person has eyes and ear blinded. This happened to the Hebrews at Mount Sinai when they rejected God. The Literal Text is God inspired and free from human input--IF you are a Christian, a Disciple, a Student who attends the School of Christ. If you despise the Word God sends strong delusions so that you MUST believe your own lies. The MARK of delluded theologians is that they PREACH that when Paul commanded that we SPEAK that which is wriitten for our learning, they SEE Paul commanding that we "SING out of the Blue Book.:

Heb. 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, [Church of Christ]
        which are written in heaven, [on the book of life]
        and to God the Judge of all,
        and to the SPIRITS of just men made PERFECT,
Col. 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
        and hath translated us [carry away]
        Into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Jesus said that His kingdom does not come with observation meaning RELIGIOUS OBSERVATION defined as the Lying Wonders of Delusional professionals.

By DEFINITION the tiny flock of lost spirits Jesus was sent to save OUT of the World will NOT be in attendance when the Senior Preaching Person claims that THE CHURCH puts new POWER into the Word of God.

In 1 Peter 3:31 Paul says that BAPTISM SAVES us because we REQUEST A good conscience, consciousness or the ability to read BLACK text on BROWN Paper.

God ALWAYS put's His WORD into the MOUTH of A Moses or A Jesus: A prophet like unto Moses.

John 6:62 What and if ye shall see the SON OF MAN ascend up where he was before?
John 6:63 It is the SPIRIT that quickeneth;
the flesh [History] profiteth nothing:
the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are life.

Spirit literally means WIND or a Puff of Air: Spirit is figurative or a parable to HIDE from the wise or sophists meaning speaking your own words for sale, singing or playing instruments.

Rhetoric commentary
‘Vexed at this, and thinking life intolerable at the price, he is said to have ventured to propose a law,

LETTER: that if any one deprived a one-eyed man of an eye, he should lose both his own in return, that the loss of each might be equalized’.

SPIRIT: This is a case of epieikeia, the spirit of the law rectifying the imperfection of the letter. Rhet. I 13. 13--19.

The epiekeia or the SPIRIT of the law is

Epieikeia A .reasonableness. 2. . equity, opposite strict law, 3. . of persons, reasonableness, fairness, Charity , 2 Cor 10:1,

2Cor. 10:1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness [spirit] of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

G1932 epieikeia ep-ee-i'-ki-ah From G1933 ; suitableness, that is, (by implication) equity, mildness:—clemency, gentleness.

THE LAW is also the same as THE FLESH

2Cor. 10:2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence,
        wherewith I think to be bold against some,
        which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2Cor. 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Cor. 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, [lifeless instruments]
        but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

-Epiekes b. . opposite to dikaios, [personal righteousness] fair, equitable,
        not according to the LETTER of the law.
         in a moral sense, reasonable, fair, good, capable, logical
        “logos” Pl.Ti.67d;
-psu_kh-ē , hē,
“hē ps. pneuma” Xenoph. ap. D.L.9.19; kardia psukhēs kai aisthēsios arkha]
2. the spirit of the universe, “ps. eis to meson tou kosmou theis” Pl.Ti.34b, cf. 30b
II. in Hom., departed spirit, ghost . psukhēn ouk akros poor-spirited, Id.5.124;

-dikaios A. in Hom. and all writers, of persons, observant of custom or rule, Od.3.52; esp. of social rule, well-ordered, civilized,
2Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: [Almost no one can confess that]
        and where the Spirit OF the Lord is, there is liberty.
         [My words ARE Spirit John 6:63: Can't confess that either]
2Cor. 3:18 But we all,
        with open face beholding as in a glass [that which is perfected] the glory of the Lord,
        are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [not without help!}
        even as by the Spirit of the Lord. [songs and sermons prove that they cannot confess that]

2Pet. 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; [don't believe that either]
        whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, [can't obey that either]
        as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, [they deny that]
        until the day dawn, [not without songs and sermons]
        and the day star arise in your hearts: [can't confess that either: baptism or not]

Both of these concerns are germane to my own work, and I noted a kinship between Keith’s interest and my teaching over the past thirty-seven years.

This interest commits Stanglin to an exercise in “retrieval exegesis” (211) or “retrieval theology” (11). By this, he intends to “provide critical understanding of and appreciation for both premodern and modern exegesis” in search of “a balanced and fruitful interaction between the letter and the spirit” (11).

I applaud this goal, and in pursuing it, Stanglin highlights the spiritual while not vacating the literal sense.
        In other words, one agenda of the book is to sanction theological interpretation
        and propose it as a healing balm for the woes of the splintered and chaotic practice
        of modern historical-critical exegesis.

Peter outlawed Private Interpretation or Further Expounding which would DESPISE God's Spirit. The Church of Christ is defined inclusively and exclusively in the PROPHETS. Jesus made the prophecies CONCERNING ME more certain. Peter said that those who do not speak that "left memory" is a false teacher. A passage means what it means in context. If a passage is a PARABLE that, says Jesus, is proof that God HIDES from the wise or SOPHISTS. Sophists sell learning at retail using rhetoric, singing, playing instruments or acting,.

MARKS OF ANTI-LOGOS (Regulative Principle) AND ANTI-CHRIST

private interpretation

Hdt. 1.78 When Croesus saw this he thought it a portent, and so it was. [2] He at once sent to the homes of the Telmessian interpreters,¹ to inquire concerning it; but though his messengers came and learned from the Telmessians what the portent meant, they could not bring back word to Croesus

Keith characterizes it in this way:
        “the Scriptures display a fundamental unity
       that allows this kind of typological and intertextual
         play within the bounds of this grand story of redemption” (31).

Keith meant to say that there are many TYPES or TUPOS in Scripture.

Keith means that there are several copies of a DOCTRINE in many sources. Paul said that he taught the same things in all of the churches.

The SPIRIT is the UNDERSTANDING of the BLACK text: when yo understand the SPIRIT of the Declaration of Independance, you cannot dispose of the LETTER. You know the SPIRIT only by reading the LETTER. Any Greek kid in Corinth would have understood that: only the false prophets claimed to understand the SPIRIT (meaning) of a sealed envelope without reading the LETTER. Of course, like Tel-evangelists the literate knew that they opened the sealed envelope and peeked.

One of the parts of education for all important people at the time was RHETORIC:

Rhetoric of Aristotle commentary

1.13.14 If then it be thus impossible to determine all these particular and exceptional cases, and yet there is a necessity for legislation,
        the law must be expressed in general terms;
        so that if a man wearing an iron ring lift his hand (to threaten) or strike another,
by the written law (the letter of the law) he is liable (to the penalty), and has committed a crime,
        but in truth and in fact he is not guilty of a crime,
        and herein (touto, in this fair interpretation of the act) lies equity’.

1.13.15 If then equity be such as we have described it, it is plain what sort of things (i.e. charges, imputed crimes) are equitable (i.e. suitable for equitable treatment), and the reverse, and what sort of men are not equitable’.

And hence to the end of the chapter we have an analysis of the popular objects of equitable treatment,
        and the characteristics of it, or of the absence of it,
        the negative which may be inferred from the positive, in these subjects.

17—18. ‘And to look (in interpreting the offence and the amount of the penalty), not to the law, but to the legislator, and not to the mere words (the letter) of the law, but to the mind (the intention) of the legislator’

‘Vexed at this, and thinking life intolerable at the price, he is said to have ventured to propose a law,

LETTER: that if any one deprived a one-eyed man of an eye, he should lose both his own in return, that the loss of each might be equalized’.

SPIRIT: This is a case of epieikeia, the
spirit of the law rectifying the imperfection of the letter. Rhet. I 13. 13--19.

The epiekeia or the SPIRIT of the law is

Epieikeia A.reasonableness. 2. . equity, opp. strict law, 3. . 2.. equity, opp. strict law of persons, reasonableness, fairness, Charity , 2 Cor 10:1,   II.. personified, Clemency, Plu.Caes.57. merciful indulgent consideration, remembers only the benefits and forgets the injuries; remembers kindnesses received, forgets those that it has bestowed
2Cor. 10:1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness [spirit] of Christ,
        who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

G1932 epieikeia From G1933 ; suitableness, that is, (by implication) equity, mildness:—clemency, gentleness.

THE LAW is also the same as THE FLESH

2Cor. 10:2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence,
        wherewith I think to be bold against some,
        which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2Cor. 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Cor. 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, [lifeless instruments]
        but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Example of Epieikeia (spirit)
Isocrates. [34] For this law-suit difiers so greatly from other private suits in this respect that, while the latter are of concern to the litigants only, in this private law-suit common interests of the city are likewise at stake. In trying this case you are bound by two oaths: one is the customary judicial oath which you take in all ordinary cases, and the other is that oath which you swore when you ratified the covenant of Amnesty. If in render an unjust verdict in this case, you will be violating not only the laws of the city, but also the laws common to all men. Consequently, it is not fitting that your votes should be based upon favor, or upon mere equity, nor upon anything else than upon the oaths you took when you made the covenant of Amnesty.

Irenaeus knew that everyone reads the text against the background of a hypothesis,
which norms what the text can mean or gives boundaries to the meaning of a text.

THIS IS DECEPTIVE: Irenaeus is speaking of unclear PARABLES

http://www.pineycom.com/FathIrenaHerII.html#P7131_1850249

For, if this be not done, both he who explains them will do so without danger, and the parables will receive a like interpretation from all, and the body [veritatis corpus] of truth remains entire, with a harmonious adaptation of its members, and without any collision [of its several parts]. But to apply expressions which are not clear or evident to interpretations of the parables, such as every one discovers for himself as inclination leads him,
For in this way no one will possess the rule of truth;
but in accordance with the number of persons who explain the parables will be found the various systems of truth, in mutual opposition to each other, and setting forth antagonistic doctrines, like the questions current among the Gentile philosophers.

Belgic Confession Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God

We know God by two means:First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: God’s eternal power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.All these things are enough to convict humans and to leave them without excuse.

Second, God makes himself known to us more clearly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for God’s glory and for our salvation.

2. According to this course of procedure, therefore, man would always be inquiring but never finding, because he has rejected the very method of discovery. And when the Bridegroom comes, he who has his lamp untrimmed, and not burning with the brightness of a steady light, is classed among those who obscure the interpretations of the parables, forsaking Him who by His plain announcements freely imparts gifts to all who come to Him, and is excluded from His marriage-chamber. Since, therefore, the entire Scriptures, the prophets, and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously, and harmoniously understood by all, although all do not believe them; and since they proclaim that one only God, to the exclusion of all others, formed all things by His word, whether visible or invisible, heavenly or earthly, in the water or under the earth, as I have shown from the very words of Scripture; and since the very system of creation to which we belong testifies, by what falls under our notice, that one Being made and governs it,-those persons will seem truly foolish who blind their eyes to such a clear demonstration, and will not behold the light of the announcement [made to them]; but they put fetters upon themselves, and every one of them imagines, by means of their obscure interpretations of the parables, that he has found out a God of his own. For that there is nothing whatever openly, expressly, and without controversy said in any part of Scripture respecting the Father conceived of by those who hold a contrary opinion, they themselves testify, when they maintain that the Saviour privately taught these same things not to all, but to certain only of His disciples who could comprehend them, and who understood what was intended by Him through means of arguments, enigmas, and parables. They come, [in fine, ] to this, that they maintain there is one Being who is proclaimed as God, and another as Father, He who is set forth as such through means of parables and enigmas.

Irenaeus uses hypothesis in connection with the pagans.
Irenaeus Against Heresies Book I

For if he has named the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia, according to THEIR HYPOTHESIS, he has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he further declares, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." But, according to HYPOTHESIS, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation [out of all the Aeons], and was of later date than the Word
For, since Logos, and Monogenes, and Zoe, and Phoµs, and Sorer, and Christus, and the Son of God, and He who became incarnate for us, have been proved to be one and the same, the Ogdoad which they have built up at once falls to pieces. And when this is destroyed, their whole system sinks into ruin,-a system which they falsely dream into existence, and thus inflict injury on the Scriptures, while they build up THEIR own HYPOTHESIS.

4. Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense. In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind of HYPOTHESIS they fancy, and then endeavour to support 127 them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon THAT HYPOTHESIS, which has, in fact, been but newly constructed; and many others are led so far by the regularly-formed sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may not have composed them. Of this kind 128 is the following passage, where one, describing Hercules as having been sent by Eurystheus to the dog in the infernal regions, does so by means of these Homeric verses,-for there can be no objection to our citing these by way of illustration, since the same sort of attempt appears in both:-

hupotithēmi set before one, offer, suggest, propose to oneself as a task, make up one's mind, adopt as a policy, propose to oneself as a subject of discussion or argument, assume as a preliminary, establish as a preliminary, premise

after deciding in your own minds,

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book I 2. Thus it is that, wresting from the truth every one of the expressions which have been cited, and taking a bad advantage of the names, they have transferred them to their own system; so that, according to them, in all these terms John makes no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ. For if he has named the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia,

and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia, according to THEIR HYPOTHESIS , he has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John.

But that the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he further declares, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." But, according to THEIR HYPOTHESIS, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation [out of all the Aeons], and was of later date than the Word.

Received through catechism, baptism, and liturgy, the church wears the Regula Fidei
        as a set of glasses through which Scripture is read,
        and with this lens even the illiterate
        are able to discern between the illegitimacy of the Gnostic hypothesis
             and the truth of the received narrative

http://www.pineycom.com/Irenaeus.Demonstration.of.Apostolic.Preaching.html

3. Now, that we may not suffer ought of this kind, we must needs hold the rule of the faith without deviation,⁷
        and do the commandments of God, [
For in things that are, as they are, we believe; and believing in things that are, as they ever are,
        we keep firm our confidence in them.

Since then faith is the perpetuation of our salvation, w
       w e must needs bestow much pains on the maintenance thereof,
         in order that we may have a true comprehension of the things that are. [[[[[[[[[[[[
        Now faith occasions this for us; even as the Elders, the disciples of the Apostles, have handed down to us.

First of all it bids us bear in mind that we have received baptism for the remission of sins,
        in the name of God the Father,
        and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
                who was incarnate and died and rose again,
and in the Holy Spirit of God. And that this baptism
        is the seal of eternal life, and is the new birth unto God,
        that we should no longer be the sons of mortal men,
        but of the eternal and perpetual God;
        and that what is everlasting and continuing is made God;¹¹ and is over all things that are made,
        and all things are put under Him; |73 and all the things that are put under Him are made His own;
        for God is not ruler and Lord over the things of another,
        but over His own;¹² and all things are God's;
        and therefore God is Almighty, and all things are of God.

4. For it is necessary that things that are made should have the beginning of their making from some great cause;
        and the beginning of all things is God.
For He Himself was not made by any, and by Him all things were made.
And therefore it is right first of all to believe that there is One God, the Father,
         who made and fashioned all things, and made what was not that it should be,
        and who, containing all things, alone is uncontained.¹³ Now among all things is this world of ours, and in the world is man: so then this world also was formed by God.
Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Mark 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
Luke 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Tim. 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
1Tim. 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Titus 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Heb. 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

5. Thus then there is shown forth One God, the Father, not made, invisible, creator of all things; above whom there is no other God, and after whom there is no other God.

And, since God is RATIONAL, therefore
        by (the) Word [not the Man Jesus] He created the things that were made; and God is Spirit, and by (the) Spirit He adorned all things: as also the prophet says:

By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by his spirit all their power. Since then the Word establishes, that is to say, gives body and grants the reality of being, and the Spirit gives order and form to the diversity of the powers; rightly and fittingly is the Word called the Son, and the Spirit the Wisdom of God.Well also does Paul His apostle say:

One God, the Father, who is over all and through all and in us all. For over all is the Father; and through all is the Son, for through Him all things were made by the Father; and in us all is the Spirit, who cries Abba Father, and fashions man into the likeness of God.⁴

Now the Spirit shows forth the Word,
         and therefore the prophets announced the Son of God;
            and the Word utters the Spirit,
            and therefore is Himself the announcer of the prophets,
and leads and draws man to the Father.

6. This then is the order of the rule of our faith, and the foundation of the building, and the |75 stability of our conversation:

God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God,
        the creator of all things: this is the first point²¹ of our faith.

The second point is: The WORD of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord,
        who was manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying
        and according to the method of the dispensation of the Father:²²
           through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times,
            to complete and gather up²³ all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible,²⁴
             in order to abolish death and show forth life and
            produce a community of union between God and man.

One God And One Mediator

And the third point is:
        The Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied,
        and the FATHERS learned the things of God,
        and the righteous were led forth into the way of righteousness;
        and who in the end of the times was POURED out in a new way upon mankind in all the earth,
        renewing man unto God.

7. And for this reason the baptism of our |76regeneration proceeds through these three points:

God the Father bestowing on us regeneration through His Son by the Holy Spirit.
For as many as carry (in them) the Spirit of God are led to the WORD, that is to the Son;
and the Son brings them to the Father; and the Father causes them to possess incorruption.

Without the Spirit it is not possible to behold the Word of God,
nor without the Son can any draw near to the Father:

for the knowledge of the Father is the Son,
and the knowledge of the Son of God is through the Holy Spirit;
and, according to the good pleasure of the Father, the Son ministers and dispenses the Spirit to whomsoever the Father wills and as He wills.

Although Mathison claims the apostolic fathers believed the church not the individual, is the interpreter of scripture, he provides no proof: "Like Irenaeus, Clement recognizes the necessity of regula fidei (creeds) as the interpretive context of Scripture and the church as the interpreter of scripture, and he explains this relationship further in [book 7] chapter 17; but throughout this chapter it is the Scripture itself that is considered the criterion of truth." (Keith A. Mathison, The shape of Sola Scriptura, 2001, p24) Here is what Clement of Alexandria said that Mathison refers to. It is obvious that although a reference is clearly made to apostolic tradition, no where is the novelty that the church is the interpreter of scripture as Mathison so desperately imagines:

Third, I cannot fail to comment on Alexander Campbell, who takes up four pages in Stanglin’s narrative (169-172). I think Keith is fundamentally correct.
Campbell embraced nuda scriptura,
which seems to undermine the Irenaean function of the Regula Fidei.

LOGOS

And, since God is rational, therefore by (the) Word He created the things that were made;¹⁶
and God IS Spirit, and by (the) Spirit He adorned all things: as also the prophet says:

By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by his spirit all their power.¹⁷ Since then the Word establishes, that is to say, gives body ¹⁸ and grants the reality of being, and the Spirit gives order and form to the diversity of the powers;
rightly and fittingly is the Word called the Son,
and the Spirit the Wisdom of God.Well also does Paul His apostle say:

One God, the Father, who is OVER all and through all and in us all.¹⁹ For over all is the Father; and THROUGH all is the Son, for through Him all things were made by the Father; and in us all is the Spirit, who cries Abba Father,²⁰ and fashions man into the likeness of God.⁴

^{Eph. 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in you all.

Eph. 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace
according to the measure of the gift of
Christ}

Now the Spirit shows forth the Word, and therefore the prophets announced the Son of God;
and the Word utters the Spirit, and therefore is Himself the announcer of the prophets,
and leads and draws man to the Father.

Campbell does not have a regulated reading in the sense of a Rule of Faith
         external to the text of Scripture,
        but he does read Scripture with a hermeneutic
        regulated by an inductive sense of God’s narrative
        which Campbell thought was helpfully summarized in the Apostles Creed.

FALSE AGAIN!

Christian Union.--No. III. by Christian Union, pp. 189-192.
Alexander.Campbell.Christian.Baptist.Union.and.Creeds.html

I promised, in my last number, to give a short account of the origin of creeds as distinguished from the word of God in the gospel. This I do, the more effectually, to evince the deception that is practised upon the world and the delusion under which it labors on this subject.

The first creed of which we are informed, as distinguished from "the faith which was once delivered to the saints," is presented to us under the imposing but false title of "The Apostles Creed,"
        which is so often repeated by the Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians as of divine origin.

John.Mark.Hicks.Resourcing.Alexander.Campbell’s.Trinitarian.Christian_System .One.html

Christian Union.--No. III. by Christian Union, pp. 189-192.

Christian union can result from nothing short of the destruction of creeds and confessions of faith, as human creeds and confessions have destroyed christian union. When ever the setting aside of creeds and confessions shall be attempted, christians will give to the world, and to angels and to themselves, proof that they do believe in the word of God.

NOTHING can reconcile the different sects in religion to relinquish their sectarian names and creeds for the name of christian and the word of God,
        but a clear proof that their names and creeds
        are not only unscriptural,
         but are subversive of the christian character,
        and in their consequences prevent the world believing in Jesus Christ.

In my two former numbers I have shown, in some degree, the truth of these things, and feel sure that every tender-hearted christian cannot fail to feel much affected by the considerations there exhibited.

I promised, in my last number, to give a short account of the origin of creeds as distinguished from the word of God in the gospel. This I do, the more effectually, to evince the deception that is practised upon the world and the delusion under which it labors on this subject.

All sects may have something good among them;
        but that good is common property,
        and ought not to be limited by sectarian barriers or conditions.
God makes it the duty of every Christian to oppose every sectarian name and creed,
        and they have a divine right to do so;
        but none have a right to oppose the name of Christ or his oracles.
He makes it the duty of all who are built upon the Lord Jesus Christ by faith in him,
         for his name's sake to exercise tenderness and forbearance towards
        each other in points of conscientious differences,
        but never to divide or form new SECTS or CREEDS.

I shall say something about the origin, and growth, and effects of creeds hereafter, in promoting orthodoxy, &c., beginning with what has been falsely called "the Apostles' Creed." I will then address the clergy particularly on their duty in these United States

The first creed of which we are informed, as distinguished from "the faith which was once delivered to the saints," is presented to us under the imposing but false title of "The Apostles Creed," which is so often repeated by the Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians as of divine origin.

Dupin, in his Ecclesiastical History of the first century, than whom a more correct and impartial historian has not lived, though of Catholic profession, makes it abundantly evident that this creed was not composed by the apostles. Saint Jerome says that the faith of the creed was an apostolic tradition, and was not written on paper by the apostles. "The fathers of the three first ages,"

Dupin observes, "disputing with heretics,
        do not pretend to say that the creed was composed by the apostles,
         but that the doctrine comprised in the creed is that of the apostles."

"We find," he farther remarks, "in the second and third ages of the church as many creeds as authors, and the same author sets the creed down after a different manner in several places of his works, which plainly shows that there was not then any creed that was reputed to be the apostles, nor even any reputed or established form of faith except that which was written in the word of God. St. Jerome exhibits two different creeds, and Tertullian made use of three different creeds in three several places; all of which creeds are different from the Vulgate." So much for the origin of the first creed, which is rung upon all the changes so often every Sabbath by Catholics and Episcopalians as apostolic.

Restoring God's House: Ecclesiology in Churches of Christ

Alexander Campbell, Millennial Harbinger, 4th ser., 6

Henry Greww

http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol8/iss3/8

Leaven, Vol. 8 [2000], Iss. 3, Art. 8

(1856): 701.

For Campbell, the rule of faith is the internal dynamic of the narrative itself. This inscripturated narrative functions as a canon within the canon and renders the Rule of Faith as an external summary unnecessary, though it might be helpful as a rehearsal of facts. In this sense, we might say, he read Scripture through his own inductively inferred rule of faith.

Tom Olbricht: Campbell commenced the address by declaring the need to "take all our measures directly and immediately from the Divine standard." (Note 1)

To be avoided, however, is a human interpretation of that standard.
He therefore immediately implied the desirability of setting out guidelines which avoided human construals.

Note 1: Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address, in Historical Documents Advocating Christian Union, ed. Charles Alexander Young, ed. (Chicago: The Christian Century Company, 1904) 71.

Also, Scripture, according to Campbell, is subject to “all the rules of interpretation which we apply to other books” (Millennial Harbinger, 1832, 111).

2 Pet 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven
        WE heard, when
        WE were with him in the holy mount.

2 Pet 1:19 WE have also a more sure word of prophecy;
        whereunto YE do well that ye take heed,

This hermeneutical commitment, along with his linguistic and hermeneutical optimism, grounded his pursuit of the restoration of the ancient order towards the goal of ecclesial unity.

2Cor. 1:13 For we write none other things unto you,
         than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
2Cor. 3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
2Cor. 1:13 For we write none other things unto you,
        than what ye read or acknowledge;
        nd I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
2Cor. 3:14 But their minds were blinded:
        for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away
        in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2Cor. 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read,
        the vail is upon their heart.

Eph. 3:4 Whereby, when ye READ, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Col. 4:16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
1Th. 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
1Tim. 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

While Scripture’s proper meaning is singular, it is sometimes “literal” and sometimes “figurative” (parabolic, allegorical, typological).

Campbell is willing to name this “figurative” meaning as “spiritual,”
but he fears the word carried the baggage of “Origen”
where “every word” in the Bible had “a spiritual sense.”

https://etimasthe.com/2017/09/20/the-three-levels-of-interpretation-of-scripture/
Perhaps the most well-known of the early ‘systems of interpretation’ was Origen’s three levels of interpretation of Scripture. Origen (c. 185—254 A.D.) was probably the most impressive Christian theologian of the third century A.D. However, in later periods his views came to be seen as dangerously unorthodox, and he was eventually (and posthumously) condemned by the Second Council of Constantinople in A.D. 553.

Stanglin grounds the legitimacy of theological hermeneutics
        in the historic practice of the church that has lived under the Rule of Faith
        (analogia fidei) for almost two thousand years,
        the unity of Scripture (analogia scripturae),
        and the primacy of the literal sense to which any spiritual sense is tied.

Keith also rejects several significant modern presuppositions, including
(1) the neutrality of reader and
(2) the single sense of the text limited to the intent of the HUMAN AUTHOR

For example, Stanglin suggests the spiritual sense of Scripture
is not merely an application of the text
but “in some sense meant to be found in the text”

http://www.pineycom.com/Isaiah.55.Word.Spirit.html

Spirit is never and can never be a god: SPIRIT is figurative or a parable to show how god always puts His WORDS into the MOUTH of A Moses and lastly Jesus. God did the same for the prophets but not FACE TO FACE.

John Calvin speaking for all known pre-Charismatic history and for Paul who made sure that we knew that the SPIRIT was the Spirit OF God or the Spirit OF Christ and not a third "god."

John Calvin Continuing Revelation

1. The temper and error of the Libertines, who take to themselves the name of spiritual, briefly described. Their refutation.

(a). The Apostles and all true Christians have embraced the written Word. This confirmed by a passage in Isaiah; also by the example and words of Paul.
(b). The Spirit OF CHRIST [Christ's OWN Spirit] seals the doctrine of the written Word on the minds of the godly.

(2) Refutation continued.

a) The impositions of Satan cannot be detected without the aid of the written Word. First Objection. The Answer to it.

3. Second Objection from the words of Paul as to the letter and spirit. The Answer, with an explanation of Paul's meaning. How the Spirit and the written Word are indissolubly connected.

1.The fanatics wrongly appeal to the Holy Spirit

Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness. For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit,

reject all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call the dead and deadly letter. But I wish they would tell me what spirit it is whose inspiration raises them to such a sublime height that they dare despise the doctrine of Scripture as mean and childish.

If they answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, their confidence is exceedingly ridiculous;

since they will, I presume, admit that the apostles and other believers in the primitive Church were not illuminated by any other Spirit. None of these thereby learned to despise the word of God, but every one was imbued with greater reverence for it, as their writings most clearly testify.

And, indeed, it had been so foretold by the mouth of Isaiah. For when he says,

"My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever,"

he does not tie down the ancient Church to external doctrine, as he were a mere teacher of elements; he rather shows that,

under the reign of Christ, the true and full felicity of the new Church will consist in their being ruled not less by the Word than by the Spirit of God.

Hence we infer that these miscreants are guilty of fearful sacrilege in tearing asunder what the prophet joins in indissoluble union.

Add to this, that Paul, though carried up even to the third heaven, ceased not to profit by the doctrine of the law and the prophets, while, in like manner, he exhorts Timothy, a teacher of singular excellence, to give attention to reading, (1 Tim. 4: 13.)

This is Paul's unique word for worship in Spirit and in Truth: give attention or give heed. This is the same word in Hebrew used by David when he "worshiped" and sang songs upon his bed and meditated in his heart.

And the eulogium which he pronounces on Scripture well deserves to be remembered, viz., that

"it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect," (2 Tim. 3: 16.)

What an infatuation of the devil, therefore, to fancy that Scripture, which conducts the sons of God to the final goal, is of transient and temporary use?

(217) and, at the same time, it is an interpretation or “appropriation”
(217). I PRESUME this meaning is intended
by the divine author and discerned by the human reader.

When SPIRIT is poured, falls etc. the result is WORDS.

"Since being filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ dwell within both produce the same results, a spirit-filled Christian is one in whom the Word of Christ dwells. A Spirit-filled Christian is a Christ-conscious Christian. A Spirit-filled Christian is consumed with learning everything he or she can about Jesus and obeying everything that Jesus said. That is what it means to 'let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.' To be filled with the Spirit is to be totally and richly involved in all there is to know about Jesus Christ." (MacArthur, John, Charismatic Chaos, p. 259, Zondervan).

GREEK SPIRIT
4151. pneuma, pnyoo´-mah; from 4154;
        CURRENT OF AIR
        i.e. BREATH (blast) or a breeze;
        by ANALOGY or FIGURATIVELY, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul,
        (by IMPLICATION) vital principle, mental disposition, etc.,
        or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy Spirit: —
        ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind. Compare 5590.
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy SPIRIT,
        and began to SPEAK with other tongues,
        as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Eph. 6:19 And for me, that UTTERANCE may be given unto me,
         that I may open my MOUTH boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

The READER is not passive but is the means by which God opens up NEW meaning
so that a kind of “this is that” appears “when ’that’ is something new
and apparently far removed from the original ‘this’” (217).

The Inspired Prophets Wrote: Jesus was a Prophet when He made these prophecies "concerning me" more certain. We "prophesy" when we READ the text. After Israel fell into Instrumental-Trinitarian-Perverted Idolatry, Moses prophesies of Jesus:

READ Or teach that which is written.

Theological hermeneutics, then,
is where ecclesially-formed, [Church formed means Preacher-formed]

believing readers co-create meaning with the text
                (1) within liturgical life of the church,
              (2) in the confidence of the sacramental function of Scripture,
                (3) the transformative presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promised that I will return as the PARACLETE. Jesus returned at Pentecost and poured out what ye see and hear. 1 John 2 says that the NAME was Jesus Christ the righteous in His glorified STATE of Holy Spirit (never a person)

Romans 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
        YE present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
        which is your reasonable service.

ēn logikēn latreian humōn:

Rătĭōnābĭlis , e, adj. ratio (post-Aug.; = rationalis, which is in better use), I. reasonable, rational: he pure milk of reason, id. 1 Pet. 2, 2: “sententia vera et rationabilis,”
Sententĭa , ae, f. for sentientia, from sentio, I. a way of thinking, opinion, judgment, sentiment; a purpose, determination, decision, will, etc.
I. Transf., of words, discourse, etc., sense, meaning, signification, idea, notion, etc.
1. In gen., a thought expressed in words; a sentence, period: dum de singulis sententiis breviter disputo

Greek rational worship demands:

logi^k-os , ē, on, (logos)
A. of or for speaking or speech, merē l. the organs of speech, Plu.Cor.38:
logikē, hē, speech, Opposite. mousikē, Opposite phantasia” expressed in speech,
II. possessed of reason, intellectual, “meros” Ti.Locr.99e, al.; “to l. zōon”
        dianoētikai, Mind Opposite. ēthikai, Arist.EN1108b9.
        And:
        Ethi^k-os , A. “ēthos” 11) moral, Opposite. dianoētikos, Arist.EN1103a5,
al.; ta ēthika a treatise on morals,
2. dialectical, argumentative, hoi l. dialogoi
    logical, l. sullogismoi, Opposite. rhētorikoi, Rh.1355a13.
    peri logikōn title of work, Opposite to phusikon, to ēthikon,

And Phusikos is the opposite of logikos
phu^sikos , ē, on, A. natural, produced or caused by nature, inborn, native,
II. of or concerning the order of external nature, natural, physical, “hē ph. epistēmē”
2. “ho ph.” an inquirer into nature, natural philosopher,
4. Adv. “-kōs” according to the laws of nature,
phu^sikos is the Opposite of logikōs,
III. later, belonging to occult laws of nature, magical, ph. pharmaka spells or amulets,

Revelation 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Revelation 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Revelation 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries [pharmaka] were all nations deceived.
Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

John says that they will be cast alive into the lake of fire.

Opposite Enthousi-astikos , ē, on, A. inspired, “phusis” Pl.Ti.71e; esp. by music, Arist.Pol.1340a11; “hē e. sophia” divination, Plu.Sol.12; “e. ekstasis” Iamb.Myst.3.8; “to e.” excitement, Pl.Phdr. 263d: Sup. -ōtatos Sch.Iamb.Protr.p.129 P. Adv. “-kōs, diatithenai tina” Plu.2.433c: Comp. “-ōteron” Marin.Procl.6.
Sophia , A.cleverness or skill in handicraft and art, in music and singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol.13.52, Pi.O.1.117, in divination, S.OT 502

[

Logos , Opposite. kata pathos, Arist.EN1169a5 or personal experiences

Opposite Pathos A. that which happens to a person or thing, incident, accident, where this incident took place, unfortunate accident,
2. what one has experienced, good or bad, experience
II. of the soul, emotion, passion (“legō de pathē . . holōs hois hepetai hēdonē ē lupē” Arist.EN1105b21), “sophiē psukhēn pathōn aphaireitai”

Sophia , A. cleverness or skill in handicraft and ar,t in music and singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol.13.52, Pi.O.1.117, Ar.Ra.882, X.An.1.2.8,
in divination, S.OT 502 (lyr.

Opposite Poiein to excite passion, Arist.Rh.1418a12; V. Rhet., emotional style or treatment, to sphodron kai enthousiastikon p. Longin.8.1; “pathos poiein” Arist. Rh.1418a12; “

Opposite matēn , Dor. mata_n ma^, Adv. random, false, dreams
Opposite human reasoning.
Opposite muthos, as history to legend,
intelligent utterance.....

Opposite phōnē, 3. any articulate sound,

4. of sounds made by inanimate objects, mostly Poet., “kerkidos ph.” S.Fr.595; “suriggōn” (flute) E.Tr.127 (lyr.); “aulōn” rare in early Prose, “organōn phōnai” Pl.R.397a; freq. in LXX, “hē ph. tēs salpiggos” LXX Ex.20.18; ph. brontēs ib. Ps.103(104).7;

kerkis , “histois kerkida dineuousa” E.Tr.199 (lyr.); “kerkisin ephestanai” Id.Hec. 363; “phōnē kerkidos” S.Fr.595; kerkidos humnois ib.890 (lyr.); “kerkidos aoidou” 2. tympanum or half-tympanum, IG42(1).102.89, 112

Opposite Organon , to, (ergon, erdō) hard work A. instrument, implement, tool, for making or doing a thing, engine of war,
3. musical instrument, Simon.31, f.l. in A.Fr.57.1 ; ho men di' organōn ekēlei anthrōpous, of Marsyas, Pl.Smp.215c ; aneu organōn psilois logois ibid., cf. Plt.268b ; “o. polukhorda” Id.R.399c, al.; “met' ōdēs kai tinōn organōn” Phld.Mus.p.98K.; of the pipe, Melanipp.2, Telest.1.2.

Plat. Sym. 215c Why, yes, and a far more marvellous one than the satyr. His lips indeed had power to entrance mankind by means of instruments; a thing still possible today for anyone who can pipe his tunes: for the music of Olympus' flute belonged, I may tell you, to Marsyas his teacher. So that if anyone, whether a fine flute-player or paltry flute-girl, can but flute his tunes, they have no equal for exciting a ravishment, and will indicate by the divinity that is in them who are apt recipients of the deities and their sanctifications. You differ from him in one point only—that you produce the same effect with simple prose unaided by instruments. For example, when we hear any other person—

Opposite inarticulate noise (psophos）

psoph-os , also of musical instruments, lōtou, kitharas, E.Ba.687, Cyc.443; of a trumpet, Paus.2.21.3.

prose, Opposite poiēsis, Id.R.390a; Opposite. psilometria, Arist.Po.1448a11; Opposite. emmetra, tō l. touto tōn metrōn (sc. to iambeion）“
pezoi, Opposite poiētikē,

pezos , ē, on, (v. pous) : 2. of verse, unaccompanied by music, “kai peza kai phormikta” S.Fr.16 ; pezō goō: aneu aulou ē luras, without the lyre
2. without musical accompaniment (cf. 11.2), “pausai melōdous' alla p. moi phrason” . Pl.Sph.237a.

STOP the melody but let me explain!

phrazō , S.Ph.25, etc.: poet. impf. explain (opp. legō, which means simply speak, say), phrason haper g' elexas declare, explain what thou didst say,
II. Med. and Pass., indicate to oneself, i.e. think or muse upon, consider, ponder,

Lego l. ti to say something, i. e. to speak to the point or purpose, to explain more fully,
to recite what is written, labe to biblion kai lege Plat., etc.:—but the sense of Lat. lego, to read, only occurs in compds., analegomai, epilegomai.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (anapauo)

373. anapano, an-ap-ow´-o; from 303 and 3973; (reflexively) to repose (literally or figuratively (be exempt), remain); by implication, to refresh: — take ease, refresh, (give, take) rest.
3973. pauo, pow´-o; a primary verb (“pause”); to stop (transitively or intransitively), i.e. restrain, quit, desist, come to an end: — cease, leave, refrain.

Stop the: Melōd-eō ,A. chant, sing, Ar.Av.226, 1381, Th.99:—Pass., to be chanted, “ta rhēthenta ē melōdēthenta” Pl.Lg.655d, cf. Chamael. ap. Ath. 14.620c; to be set to music, Cleanth. ap. Phld.Mus.p.98 K.; ta melōdoumena diastēmata used in music, Plu.2.1019a.

pauō , Il.19.67, etc. ;
Stop the: lupas ōdais p. E.Med.197 (anap.), etc. ; p. toxon let the bow rest, Od.21.279

Stop the: 2. c. acc. pers. et gen. rei, hinder, keep back, or give one rest, from a thing, p. Hektora makhēs, ponoio Akhilēa, Thamurin aoidēs,

Stop the: 3. c. pres. part., stop a person from leave off doing . . , hoth' hupnos heloi, pausaito te nēpiakheuōn when he stopped playing
Stop the: later paēsomai （ana-) Apoc.14.13
Stop the: of one singing or speaking, 17.359, Hdt.7.8.d : generally, Med. denotes willing, Pass. forced, cessation.
Stop the rhapsōd-os , o(, A. reciter of Epic poems, sts. applied to the bard who recited his own poem, professional reciters, esp. of the poems of Homer, Hdt.5.67, Pl.Ion 530c, etc.: also rh. kuōn, ironically, of the Sphinx who chanted her riddle, S.OT391
(Prob. from rhaptō, aoidē; Hes.Fr. 265 speaks of himself and Homer as en nearois humnois rhapsantes aoidēn, and Pi.N.2.2 calls Epic poets rhaptōn epeōn aoidoi:
Stop the orkheomai , 2. represent by dancing or pantomime,
III. Act. orkheō , make to dance (v. Pl.Cra.407a), is used by Ion Trag.50, ek tōn aelptōn mallon ōrkhēsen phrenas made my heart leap

Rev 14.13] I heard the voice from heaven saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them."

Spiritual worship or Reasonable worship is the Word of Christ only.
So, rational or spiritual worship is EXCLUSIVE of music which disables the mind.
Rational worship is of the reason or intellect.
Spiritual worship os Opposite to "sermonizing" or "moralizing which is:

Ethi^k-os , A. “ēthos” 11) moral, Opposite. dianoētikos, Arist.EN1103a5, al.; ta ēthika a treatise on morals,

The Word of God is the only thing that can transform OUR spirit into the likeness of Christ's spirit:

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:
        but be ye transformed (metamorph-oō )by the renewing of your mind,
        that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
        and perfect, will of God.
Rom. 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:
         but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind
         that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

2Cor. 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
         transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Cor. 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Cor. 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Such readers, INHABITED by the indwelling SPIRIT,
listen to HEAR how “this is that” and see what is NOT explicitly there.

We call that HALLUCINATION.

God put His WORD into the MOUTH of the MAN Jesus of Nazareth: Spirit is figuratiive or a Parable. Keith Stanglin assumes that neither God nor His BREATH and the WORD Jesus made visible and audible was TOO IGNORANT to say what He means. That amounts to blasphemy.

In His glorified STATE Jesus is Holy Spirit: Father and son abide IN those who keep His commandments in the same sense that those who keep God's Commandments ABIDE in the Father and Son. IN or EIS does not mean INSIDE OF. The Dove reresented SPIRIT rested UPON and not INSIDE of Jesus. The SPIRIT SPOKE. Spirit is breath and NEVER a person.

It seems to me that Stanglin’s proposal could use more emphasis on these three points,
        particularly the hermeneutical role of the SPIRIT.
        Though these three points are present in one form or another,
        his proposal is more epistemological than sacramental or liturgical.
        Nevertheless, the SEED of a fuller sacramental and liturgical picture are present in his work.

hermêneuô [hermêneus] I. to interpret foreign tongues, Xen. II. to interpret, put into words, give utterance to, Thuc., etc. 2. to explain, Soph., Plat.

iglôssos , Att. di-ttos , on, speaking two languages,, diglôssos, ho, interpreter,
II. double-tongued, deceitful, LXXSi.5.9, al.

THEOLOGIANS BY DEFINITION ARE INTERPRETERS OF APOLLON SUCH AS HERMES.

hermêneus 1 [Hermês, the messenger of the gods]

Hermês Hermes, the Lat. Mercurius, son of Maia and Zeus; messenger of the gods (diaktoros); giver of good luck (eriounios, akakêta ); god of all secret dealings, cunning, and stratagem (dolios); bearing a golden rod (chrusorrapis ); conductor of defunct spirits (psuchopompos, pompaios ); tutelary god of all arts, of traffic, markets, roads (agoraios, empolaios, hodios, enodios ), and of heralds. His bust, mounted on a four-cornered pillar, was used to mark boundaries. --Proverb., koinos Hermês shares in your luck! Theophr.: cf. hermaion.

hupophêtês , ou, ho, ( [phêmi] ) suggester, interpreter, expounder, esp. of the divine will or judgement, e.g. priest who declares an oracle, Il.16.235; Mousaôn [Rev 18:22] hupophêtai, i.e. poets,

mousa , The nine muses, music, song playing the lyre or harp, liberal arts, accomplishments

By way of illustration, permit me to probe one of Keith’s examples. Might “” in the Lord’s Prayer refer to Eucharistic bread?

No. We live by BREAD. However, the bread for the Lord's Supper was in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This bread is to show forth or preach the DEATH of Jesus which shuts the mouth of everyone else.

Tertullian thought so (On Prayer, 6).[1] In fact, Tertullian preferred what he called “the spiritual understanding”—Jesus is the bread of life who “authoritatively ranked” his body “as bread” when he said, “This is my body.”

Tertullian also wrote.
God's Spirit and God's Word and God's Reason, the Word of
the Reason and the Reason of the Word, and both of these Spirit,
Jesus Christ our Lord, has marked out for the new disciples of the
new covenant a new plan of prayer. For it was right that in this
case, too, new wine should be stored in new bottles and a new
patch be stitched on to a new garment.¹ For everything that was
aforetime has either been transmuted, like circumcision, or supplemented,
like the rest of the Law, or fulfilled, like prophecy, or
made perfect, like faith itself. The new grace of God has renewed
all things from carnal to spiritual by the subsequent addition of the
Gospel, the fulfiller of all older antiquity: for in it our Lord Jesus
Christ is approved as God's Spirit and God's Word and God's
Reason—Spirit in view of his power, Word in view of his teaching,
Reason in view of his intervention.

Tertullian an inventor of trias: But, first, I shall discuss His essential nature, and so the nature of His birth will be understood. We have already asserted that

God made the world, and all which it contains,
by His Word, and Reason, and Power.

It is abundantly plain that your philosophers, too,
regard the Logos-that is, the Word and Reason-
as the Creator of the universe.

And we, in like manner, hold that the Word, and Reason, and Power,
..........by which we have said God made all,

have spirit as their proper and essential
substratum, in which
the Word has in being to give forth utterances,
..........and reason abides to dispose and arrange,
..........and power is over all to execute.
We have been taught that
He (reason) proceeds forth from God,

and in that procession He is generated;
so that He is the Son of God,
and is called God from unity of substance with God. For God, too, is a Spirit.

Even when the ray is shot from the sun,
..........it is still part of the parent mass; the sun will still be in the
    ray, because it is a ray of the sun-
..........there is no division of substance,
but merely an extension.

Thus Christ is Spirit OF Spirit, and God OF God, as light OF light is kindled.

The material matrix remains entire and unimpaired,
though you derive from it any number of shoots possessed of its qualities;

so, too, that which has come forth out of God
is at once God and the Son of God, and the two are one. In this way also, as He is Spirit of Spirit and God of God,

He is made a second in manner of existence-in position, not in nature;
and He did not withdraw from the original source,
but went forth.
This ray of God, then, as it was always foretold in ancient times, descending into a certain virgin, and made flesh in her womb,
..........is in His birth God and man united. Campbell, Thomax, Trinity The relationship of Word to God was the same as the relationship of a word to a thought. And so this is the most common understanding among the church fathers. The the word is the SON of the speaker as FATHER then there is ot problem trying to sort out how a LITERAL son of god could be equal with the Father or of the same age.
1st. A word is a sign or representative of a thought or an idea,
and is the idea in an audible or visible form.
It is the exact image of that invisible thought
which is a perfect secret to all the world until it is expressed.

2d. All men think or form ideas by means of words or images; so that no man can think without words or symbols of some sort.

3d. Hence it follows that the word and the idea which it represents,
        are co-etaneous, or of the same age or antiquity.
........It is true the word may not be uttered or born
        for years or ages after the idea exists,
........but still the word is just as old as the idea.

4th. The idea and the word are nevertheless distinct from each other, though the relation between them is the nearest known on earth.
........An idea cannot exist without a word,
nor a word without an idea.

5th. He that is acquainted with the word, is acquainted with the idea,
        for the idea is wholly in the word.

By putting together the above remarks on the term word,
we have a full view of what John intended to communicate.
As a word is an exact image of an idea,
so is "The Word" an exact image of the invisible God.

As a word cannot exist without an idea, nor an idea without a word,
        so God never was without "The Word,"
        nor "The Word" without God;

or as a word is of equal age, or co-etaneous with its idea,
        so "The Word" and God are co-eternal.

And as an idea does not create its word nor a word its idea; so God did not create "The Word," nor the "Word" God.

Keith asks, “Did Jesus or Matthew intend” eucharistic bread? “Does it matter?” (240). I appreciate the controls Keith suggests on theological interpretation. They give theological interpretation a wide berth, perhaps too wide for modern historians. But I don’t think too wide for ecclesial theologians.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread cam just after the Passover: neither were common meals so why try to TWIST it into something which allows the CHURCH to IMPROVE on the Words of Jesus and Paul.

Luke 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it,
        and gave unto them, saying,
        This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying,
        This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1Cor. 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

In terms of the Lord’s prayer, “bread” is literally present,
and Eucharistic bread does not subvert or contradict the literal meaning.
Further, “bread” is an important theme in redemptive history, which often has a double sense.

Luke 14:15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things,
he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Luke 22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luke 22:30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Manna, for example, is both physical and spiritual nourishment
since Christ is the spiritual food Israel consumed in the wilderness,
according to Paul.

God gave LITTERAL Bread but Jesus gives SPIRIT bread because "MY WORDS are SPIRIT and life." Eathing the Word is a common expression and reading the WORD is literal and the singular Pattern for the Assembly. All you need is someone who can READ that which is written for our learning.

John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
John 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
         Moses gave you not that bread from heaven;
        but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,
        and giveth life unto the world.
John 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them,
        I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
        and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
John 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father:
        so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven:
        not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
John 6:59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
John 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
John 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
John 6:63 It is the SPIRIT that quickeneth;
        The flesh profiteth nothing:
        the word that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are life.

Eucharistic bread in the Lord’s Prayer is not only consistent with the RULE OF FAITH
but, given the liturgical context of its practice,
points us toward the Eucharistic bread.

The Rule of Faith or the Regulative Principle is well documented in Scripture, Taught by Jesus, witnessed by the Signs and Wonders and "Left for our memory" and READING. I understand the panic driving theologians to justify eating up the widow's living, but APT elders are commanded to Teach that Which is written for our LEARNING and excise anyone who disputes that.

If we read the Lord’s Prayer in this way as part of the LITURGY of the church
where it is recited just prior to the distribution of the bread and wine,
we see spiritual interpretation doing its good work.

Jesus performed all of the LITURGY: the kingdom does not come with acts of liturgy. Jesus is with the twos or threes where the SCRIPTURES are read and explained as required.

It illustrates how the church legitimately CO-CREATES meaning
that is beyond the explicit statements in the text.

Much of the entire list of books now bound in one book are forms of parallelism. The pagan THESIS is defined if you simply READ. Then God provides through men like Paul the ANTITHESIS. The folly and fallacy was invented by THEOLOGIANS FOR SALE. Early writers understood that the only way to prevent, in the words of Paul, "Super Apostles" from claiming the authority as CO-CREATORS OF GOD.

Psa. 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psa. 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Psa. 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
1Cor. 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
1Cor. 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Rev. 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

IF YOU decide to use the Lord's Prayer in connection with the LORD'S SUPPER that is YOUR invention and does not alter the recorded text.

Matt. 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

If you pray for the kingdom come that is consistent with false teachings which repudiates Jesus. He and others preached the gospel OF the kingdom which is the good news of the church or assembly which is a Safe House protecting believers from anything a theologian wants to sell

Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
        That there be some of them that stand here,
        which shall not taste of death,
        till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Matt. 6:11 Give us this day our DAILY bread.

g740. artos, ar´-tos; from 142; bread (as raised) or a loaf: — (shew-)bread, loaf.

1Cor. 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
        neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
        but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

g106. azumos, ad´-zoo-mos; from 1 (as a negative particle) and 2219; unleavened, i.e. (figuratively) uncorrupted; (in the neutral plural) specially (by implication) the Passover week: — unleavened (bread).

1Cor. 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying,
        This cup is the new testament in my blood:
        this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Cor. 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,
        ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
1Cor. 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread,
        and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily,
        shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

It illustrates how SCRIPTURE IS MULTIVALENT and capable of NEW MEANING in new situations irrespective of the human author’s intent.

That statement alone is enough to get you BURNED. Leonard Allen says that the Father and Son are not INTELLIGIBLE unless a Holy Spirit god props them up,.

having or susceptible of many, interpretations, meanings, or values.

"visually complex and multivalent work". Having MANY meanings

comedrink.html

"Biblical Greek. Here the meaning is always religious. leitourgia in the OT is limited to priestly and Levitical administration. In the LXX it renders chiefly the Hebrew abhodha (5656) (from abad (5647)) which signifies service to God, specially undertaken by priests and Levites (e.g. Num.8:25; Lk.1:23; Heb.8:6; 9:21). In Christian Greek there is the additional meaning of brotherly beneficence operating in the local church, seen as a sacrifice to God.

"St. Paul speaks of himself being 'offered,' as upon an altar (Ph.2:17), and Epaphras as sacrificing almost his life to supply the Philippians' lack of leitourgia (2:30). He uses the word to indicate the almsgiving of Corinthian believers (II Cor.9:12). St. Clement speaks of leitourgia of each Christian apparently in the context of the Eucharist (41:1), and later in connection with the bishop's office.(44:3,6).The placing of the word leitourgia in the context of the Eucharist so early in Christian history naturally raises the question whether this term, having a strong sacrificial sense in Biblical Greek, does not figure in the same context in the NT. Is not Paul referring thereby to the offertory gifts at the Breaking of Bread

Christ has gotten a more excellent 'liturgy' than that of the old priests (Heb.8:6), and the liturgy may be the Eucharist. The verb leitourgew is used of the church at Antioch. It may well mean that 'when they were offering the liturgy to the Lord and fasting,' the Holy Ghost made His will known. (Christian Words, pp.389-90)

2.a. The service or ministry of the priests relative to the prayers and sacrifices offered to God: (Lk.1:23; Heb.8:6; 9:21), (for abhodha (5656), Num.8:22; 16:9; 18:4; II Chr.31:2É); hence the phrase in Phil.2:17, explained s.v. qusiaÉ (THAYER)

...leitourgein is used for a fellowship of prayer, which is indirectly described as a spiritualized priestly ministry. (KITTEL, Vol.IV pp228) Notes from Resource

If you use the Lord's Prayer about DAILY BREAD to teaching about the UNLEAVENED bread:

But is the spiritual meaning in the text? In one sense, yes, because it is situated within a grand story that gives such meaning to bread. And we might surmise that the divine author
intended it as a meaning inherent in the text.
But in another sense, it is NOT, but that is okay.

The CHURCH—as a faithful READER—is called to CO-create meaning with THE TEXT
for the sake of the formation of the people of God into the image of God.

2Pet. 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you;
        in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2Pet. 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
        and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2Pet. 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
        walking after their own lusts,

empaig-ma , atos, to, A.jest, mocking, delusion, LXX Is.66.4; magikēs empaigmata tekhnēs ib.Wi.17.7

Paizō , prop., play like a child, sport, “tē de th' hama Numphai . . agronomoi paizousi

4. play on a musical instrument , h.Ap.206: c. acc., “Pan ho kalamophthogga paizōn” Ar.Ra.230; dance and sing, Pi. O.1.16.

5. play amorously, “pros allēlous” X.Smp.9.2; “meta tinos” LXX Ge.26.8; of mares,

http://www.pineycom.com/Isaiah.66.html

2Pet. 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
         for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pet. 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pet. 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pet. 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pet. 3:8 ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pet. 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pet. 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pet. 3:11 ¶ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pet. 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pet. 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pet. 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pet. 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pet. 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pet. 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pet. 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
1John 1:1 ¶ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
1John 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
1John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

This is Scripture’s sacramental function within the liturgical life of the church.

Given God’s history with God’s people
        and given the confession of the Rule of Faith
        and its practice within the church,
       the TEXT itself gives rise to meaning beyond the HUMAN author’s INTENT.
       The church HEARS the word of God,
                understands its depth and profundity,
          and performs it liturgically and ethically.

Stanglin’s contribution identifies an overlapping harmony between modern and premodern interpretation though differences remain. There is a common ground between the methods where they might mutually enrich each other. The exploration of this common ground while recognizing how the differences entail quite distinct hermeneutical practices will be an ongoing task of the contemporary church.

[1] E. Evans, Tertullian’s Tract on Prayer (London: S.P.C.K., 1953) 11-13.

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