Thanks! Though IMO Hebrews 11 is not a list of heroes qua heroes as we like to see them - they're only "heroes" within the context of their service to God - as Paul would say, they're examples of larger spiritual truths, not independent superheroes. But in our culture it is common with people like WSC or Thatcher to define them as good and then defend them accordingly with appreciating and putting their flaws in clear perspective....e.g the Great Man in History.
Agreed in part: in the context of Hebrews 11, they are examples of what the author is arguing at the close of Heb 10: it is possible to live by faith. The writer uses the history of God’s faithful people in the old covenant to encourage his readers to run the “foot-race” of faith. He wants them to draw encouragement to press on in faith and obedience towards the final goal from the certainty of their being “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” His main point seems to be that encouragement needs to be drawn from what we see in these believers from the past, namely, their “witness to the nature and possibilities of faith.” Beyond a shadow of a doubt, their lives show that it is possible to live by faith. As the British biblical scholar Donald Guthrie has noted: “Although the writer is not urging the readers to dwell in the past, he is deeply conscious of the influence of the example of other men” and women for good—and for ill. But, now note Hebrews 13:7 where we have people cited whose lives we are to emulate. Without arguing for a modern understanding of heroism divorced from divine grace, we can nevertheless speak about heroes of the Faith.
Thank you Dr.! Agreed - though IMO maybe I would use Examples or Witnesses of the Faith - God's power makes all possible! But every OT reader would also remember that each named screwed up. I guess my friction point is avoiding our tendency to modern read-back, which would then distort and misname the list of faithful... my own foible... o:
Thanks! Though IMO Hebrews 11 is not a list of heroes qua heroes as we like to see them - they're only "heroes" within the context of their service to God - as Paul would say, they're examples of larger spiritual truths, not independent superheroes. But in our culture it is common with people like WSC or Thatcher to define them as good and then defend them accordingly with appreciating and putting their flaws in clear perspective....e.g the Great Man in History.
Agreed in part: in the context of Hebrews 11, they are examples of what the author is arguing at the close of Heb 10: it is possible to live by faith. The writer uses the history of God’s faithful people in the old covenant to encourage his readers to run the “foot-race” of faith. He wants them to draw encouragement to press on in faith and obedience towards the final goal from the certainty of their being “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” His main point seems to be that encouragement needs to be drawn from what we see in these believers from the past, namely, their “witness to the nature and possibilities of faith.” Beyond a shadow of a doubt, their lives show that it is possible to live by faith. As the British biblical scholar Donald Guthrie has noted: “Although the writer is not urging the readers to dwell in the past, he is deeply conscious of the influence of the example of other men” and women for good—and for ill. But, now note Hebrews 13:7 where we have people cited whose lives we are to emulate. Without arguing for a modern understanding of heroism divorced from divine grace, we can nevertheless speak about heroes of the Faith.
Thank you Dr.! Agreed - though IMO maybe I would use Examples or Witnesses of the Faith - God's power makes all possible! But every OT reader would also remember that each named screwed up. I guess my friction point is avoiding our tendency to modern read-back, which would then distort and misname the list of faithful... my own foible... o: