Rule of "Audience" (Was re: The Rich Man)

Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Tue, 02 Feb 1999 08:30:57 -0800 (00917994657, 2.2.32.19990202163057.008938c0@midwest.net)


At 07:20 PM 2/1/99 -0000, Matthew Bell wrote:


>> EDWARDS
>> Matt, I've said this before, but that won't stop me from saying it again.
>> The rule of asking to whom the passage was written (or to whom the saying
>> was given) doesn't work very well.
>
>Matthew Bell
>No, the principle works fine. One considers whom is being spoken to, believers
>or non-believers and applies what is being said to the relevant group
>considering the context in which it is written. With the rich man the
>individual is not a disciple of Christ so therefore what is said to him applies
>to those who are not disciples of Christ.
>
TILL Hmmm, let me see if I have this right. If one is not a disciple of Christ, he will have to sell all he has and give it to the poor, but if one is a disciple of Christ, then he can lay up for himself all the wealth he can. Is that about it? Carter accused me of having tucked my tail and "ran" [sic] on this issue, and so I sent a preliminary posting to open the thread again. I've heard zilch from him since then, so I wonder if he has tucked his tail and run. Anyway, I posted a list of questions for him to answer that would give us a basis for reopening the discussion, but I've gotten no answers yet. Bell made a comment about that posting, and I sent a reply suggesting that he may want to answer the questions. Apparently he doesn't. Farrell Till Skepticism, Inc. jftill@midwest.net