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Sunday, June 20. 2010

Abba the Dad

"Abba," the Aramaic word for "father," was sometimes used by Christ as a term for his true Father in heaven.


Jesus spoke Aramaic, almost certainly knew enough Hebrew to study the texts, and may have known some Greek too. Greeks, like the Romans, were all over the place. Must have been like that multicultural bar scene in Star Wars.


His use of "Dad" for God was transformational.


I do not view God as having any gender, but I love the way Christ spoke of God as his Dad. Real Dads, however much they may aspire to be role models and to be strong and reliable supports for their kids, are only human and thus always deeply flawed.


Yes, I greatly enjoyed Bruce's Father's Day post early this morning, especially the music. Jew, Christian, Moslem - whatever. If that song doesn't bring a tear, you have a problem. "Only you created tears, and only you can wipe them away forever."

Posted by Bird Dog in Our Essays, Religion at 12:00 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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Methinks, LORD Jesus could speak in any language He chose, including tongues of angels.

That He spoke Aramaic and Hebrew and Greek of the day benefited His audience who understood those languages.

Our Father ain't limited in power and niether's His Dearly Beloved.

It's not unusal fer folks to limit God, thinking He must be limited like them.
#1 Leag on 2010-06-20 12:28 (Reply)
Sounds right to me.
#1.1 bd on 2010-06-20 12:38 (Reply)
Jesus' use of "Father" for G-d was not transformational - it was a commonplace of Jewish prayer.

One of our earliest prayers was written by the sage supposed to have been Jesus' teacher: Rabbi Akiva. It's a string of sentences that all start with the phrase:

Our Father, Our King.

The "transformation" was the gentile church's backwards reading of this formula to justify a more pagan Jesus-as-godhead.
#2 Ben-David on 2010-06-20 13:17 (Reply)
Some knew God as Father in Isaias's day.

For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name.
Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance.
They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary.
We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name.
Isaias 63:16-19

Yall need to go to Christ's Church more often.

Christ's Church ain't gentile or jew but a new creation.

The Trinity or Godhead of Our Heavenly Father's Holy Catholic Church is Our Father, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
#2.1 Leag on 2010-06-20 13:53 (Reply)
Am I wrong again? Sheesh. I need to shut my dumb mouth.
#3 bd on 2010-06-20 16:39 (Reply)

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