Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
What I am saying is that there is not some exclusive lock on the use of the term zoe with respect to God's life only. And none of the verses that you mention refer to what is the zoe discussed as being "God's life." That God provided it to us does not simply make it God's life or make God's life = zoe.
|
Zoe to the Greeks meant life in its idealized state. OBW is correct when he says it's more that just the life-energy that makes God living. It also includes all the behavioral and social results that spring from being related to God.
Lee got hung up on "life" as some kind of energy force emanating from God to us. It is that, but it's more than that. My observation is that focusing on "life" the way Lee did has advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage is that it suggests that the virtues of God are conveyed to us naturally through grace.
One disadvantage is that it tends to depersonalize God and even separate God's Person from his life, making "life" a kind of unconscious force, a way of accessing God's power while avoiding his personality.