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A response to Yoel's post which I forwarded to the apologetics list.
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Date: 24 Jun 97 04:56:48 EDT
To: Apologetics <apologetics-list@mcu.edu>
Subject: Flour Power
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From: 73222.3431@CompuServe.COM (Bill Ramey)
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Yoel Haalmoni writes:
>I said that Paul in Hebrews 9:22, while discussing the temple
>sacrificial system says "without the shedding of blood, there is no
>remission of sins". He did say this, no?
>Well, in the case of the epah of flour (Lev 5:11-13)
>1. There is no shedding of blood
>2. There is remission of sins.
>So, the statement in Hebrew 9:22 "without the shedding of blood there
>is no remission of sins" is FALSE!!!!!
Actually, the statement in Hebrews 9:22 is true:
NIV -- In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed
with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
RSV -- Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood,
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
KJV -- And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission.
Note the qualification "nearly everything," "almost everything," or "almost
all things." (I checked multiple versions to make sure that the
qualification is not a paraphrase peculiar to one translation). The writer
of Hebrews asserts that almost all things are purified by blood, not that
everything is purified by blood, and being a Jew writing to a Jewish
audience, it's not very likely that he would imply that there were no
exceptions to blood purification in the OT.
In order to derive a contradiction between Hebrews 9:22 and Leviticus 5:11,
Hebrews 9:22 would have to assert:
1. (x)[Sx & Rx) -> Bx]
This reads "for any x, such that x is a remitted sin, then x is accompanied
by bloodshed." This would lead to a formal contradiction, because from
Leviticus 5:11 we can derive:
2. (Ex)(Sx & Rx & ~Bx)
(Note: I'm using "E" here in lieu of the actual character used in logical
notation, which resembles a backwards capital "E" without serifs.)
This reads "something is a remitted sin that is not accompanied by
bloodshed." Obviously, this asserts that there is at least one exception
to the universal rule of statement (1).
But Hebrews 9:22 asserts that _almost_ all things are purified by blood.
So we can derive:
3. (Ex)(Sx & Rx & Bx)
4. (Ex)(Sx & Rx & ~Bx)
(2) and (4) are identical, and the conjunction of (3) and (4) does not
yield a contradiction; hence there is no contradiction between Hebrews 9:22
and Leviticus 5:11.
Another problem with the "flour power" argument is that it commits the
fallacy of accident by misapplying a general rule to specific
circumstances. The substitution of flour for blood sacrifice by the poor
does not mean that flour can substituted _in toto_ for blood sacrifice, any
more than scrip can be substituted _in toto_ for money. The OT system of
sacrifice was based on blood purification, and the use of flour as an
expedient substitute hardly vitiates this fact.
Finally, there is an irony in all of this. We're supposed to believe that
the sacrificial use of flour makes the whole Christian scheme of blood
redemption fallacious--if flour saves us, then blood doesn't have to and
"Jesus fulfills nothing." But flour, like blood, is not without its
symbolic significance: "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who
comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never
thirst.'" (John 6:35, RSV)
Bill Ramey
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