Heading off to worship at CPC shortly, and relieved to be having my coffee to a drizzle this morning instead of the recent heat wave. I had intentions of posting earlier this week when I returned from my first ever dental filling, but the blogging platform, like my mouth, was swollen and unrecognizable. The whole experience started with me entering a small room and being hailed by a frightening looking nurse with a thick Russian accent. I probably should have made a run for it then.
Other highlights of the past week include a visit (still underway) from J's parents, seeing and teaching alongside an old master teacher on Friday, Monopoly with O&K, and an end-of-year staff meeting at CPC. I translated the parable of the sheep and the goats yesterday, one of the most chilling passages in the New Testament. As I finish Matthew, and especially as I read it while attending CPC, I'm sure of a few things:
1) The case that Gehenna was only a dump can't be taken from the New Testament. I've read (unconfirmed) recent literature that suggests this whole idea is an unfounded fantasy of 19th century, but I'm certain anyone reading beyond chapter 7 can't see it in Matthew.
2) Whatever Gehenna or pur aionion might be, damnation (which I dwell on in this blog far more often than I do in regular life) is a real danger which is really addressed, not some incidental literary device or superstition that creeps into the language of the teacher.
I'm also reading Il 4, Livy, Paradise Lost, and the Summa Contra Gentiles.
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