Welcome back, hope you had a good time with family.
Excellent points here about faith in it’s dimensions. Seems we need a spiritual ruler to properly gauge it….is it: “weak”; “little”; “no(ne)”; or “great”; or just “unbelief”.You conclude: “Those who do this are in unbelief for they discount the truth, God’s Word, and operate pragmatically in all things. Which are you my brothers and sisters?”
We should all look hard at that question.
BTW the idea that they had “little faith” seems on the surface to conflict with: “ On the other hand, those who walk by faith, minister by faith have faith as a “mustard seed,” κοκκον σιναπεως, which literally says, “a kernel of mustard.” This is pretty small, but it is real. It is definite”
I guess one could think of a “little” faith that was actually “weak”, like a AA battery that is still putting out some volts but not a full 1.5v charge and therefore ineffective…
Maybe it is simpler just to read it as “unbelief” as it is in the Geneva Bible and the KJV. Since even with a kernel of “real” faith they could have moved mountains. Sounds like a lack of faith or unbelief to me. I think that was your conclusion.
BTW…not to open any can of worms, but I am not sure I would characterize the majority texts as “Some”. Seems this may be one case where they got this correct, or am I missing something?
“Some Greek manuscripts have a different word here, which is form of the word ἀπιστία, which would make the rendering, “because of your unbelief.””
by Mike Ratliff
1 He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. Luke 17:1-6 (NASB)
There are many parallels between what is…
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Rainbow Trout 