Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
If you throw out the concept of the economy of God you might as well throw your entire Bible out with it
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Before this, you're quoting my post so I'll respond as if the "you" in this sentence refers to me. Nowhere in my writing did I say to throw out the concept of the economy of God. I said to throw out Lee's concept. Instead I offered mine, "Give to those who have no means to repay you in this age" which is surely just as Biblical as "God's plan to dispense Himself into His chosen people".
First, it was a core teaching of Jesus, repeated over and over. Love your neighbour as yourself. Give, and it will be given to you. Second, it was repeated by the disciples. It is better to give than to receive. How can you say that you love your neighbour if you don't share? Third, it was done, even in a focused way, by those same disciples. In his account in Galatians 2, after Paul describes himself as the openly recognized "apostle to the gentiles", he's told by the Twelve to "remember the poor".
How many footnotes did that get, even after he replies that he was eager to do this very thing? Paul's mission to the gentiles is tied to reconnecting them with the poor of Jerusalem, and this enthusiastically affirmed by Paul, and yet how many conferences did WL give on this matter, even though it was being presented as the "central lane of God's New Testament economy" in Paul's own account?
Talk about throwing out the Bible! WL's concept of God's economy is like asking someone after watching a western movie, what it was about, and hearing, "It was about men with hats riding horses". True enough - the whole movie, you could see men, hats, and horses. But by insisting that was the unique and central theme, it necessitates ignoring a lot else! In this case, pray-reading and repetitive shouting get lots of attention, and the poor are not remembered but instead dismissed.