Comments on: Good Will toward Men http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/ A Mormon Blog Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:38:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Kerry Shirts http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19217 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 22:37:11 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19217 Thank you! I have linked to it from my Backyard Professor blog. Now yer gonna get thousands looking at it – GRIN!
I have browsed it a bit. GREAT work…… very nice and useful. Thank you you three gents for all your hard work on that. I know you have been hinting about it for years. It’s nice to see it come to fruition.

Best,
Kerry

]]> By: Kevin Barney http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19216 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:40:09 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19216 Kerry, regarding my book, see here.

]]> By: Kerry Shirts http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19215 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:48:58 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19215 Nice to read your work, as always Kevin. Has your new book on the New Testament Greek notes come into print yet? I smell a Christmas present if it has……
Always enjoying reading you.
Best,
Kerry

]]> By: J. Stapley http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19214 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:35:55 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19214 I still envision the angels singing…

This is exactly what I was thinking while reading the post. Kind of funny, actually. There are certain things like the scriptures used in Handle’s Messiah that are indelible in my conceptions of them

Thanks for the write-up. Fascinating.

]]> By: Hellmut http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19213 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 14:55:08 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19213 Fascinating question, Kevin.

What is beyond dispute is that God blesses somebody with peace. We are uncertain, which kind of men the blessing applies to. In particular, we are unsure about the good will qualifier.

Lets turn it on its head and look for the men who had peace and those who didn’t. If God made this promise then the consequences ought to be observable.

Jesus teaches us how to obtain peace. Those who live by the sword, shall die by the sword. Disciples have to turn the other cheek and walk the second mile.

Gandhi has put that claim to the test. In our age, national liberation struggles have regularly resulted in tyranny. Democracies require a broad middle class and an educated populace. The glaring exception is India, which established a democracy against all the odds.

Of course, India has horrible problems including communal massacres. When one puts the Indian experience into a comparative perspective, however, then one realizes that the violence is normal in countries on a similar level of economic development. The success of democracy is extraordinary.

The reason may well be the non-violent nature of the Indian liberation struggle. Approaching their suppressors with good will, India obtained more peace than her peer countries.

The Gandhi movement conducted a “good will to other men” experiment that generated more peace.

]]> By: Proud Daughter of Eve http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19212 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 14:47:56 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19212 A lot of that was a bit over my head. Theologically speaking, I prefer the KJV version because Christ was sent for all of us, not just a special few with whom God may be pleased. I’m sure He is pleased with us at times but Christ’s sacrifice was made so all of God’s children could return to him.

Just because a reading is the earliest doesn’t make it the most correct. Things get lost, misheard and mistranslated even before they see print.

]]> By: smb http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/02/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19211 Sun, 03 Dec 2006 06:09:07 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/good-will-toward-men/#comment-19211 Nice post and kindly sentiment. Almost hear the stamp of Essene particularism in the genitive reading.
One could still have a semi-universalist reading and see it as a statement that “men of ill will” would not be particularly excited to see Jesus born (I think of Herod, and perhaps so did the angels). In that reading, how you respond to the event in a sense describes the level of your good will.
re: Universalism, Joseph Sr was also universalist, as were many in the early Republic’s frontier, seeking to liberate themselves from the perceived fetters of Calvinism.

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