Friday, February 29, 2008

Third Race - Kerygma Petrou

As I've said before, if I were planting a church I would call it "Third Race" (see Aristides, Apology for more info). That is derivative of the fact that the new covenant community is a cosmopolitan community made up of Jews, Gentiles, Barbarians, Scythians (and Democrats too). Paul mentions this in Eph. 2.12 that formerly the Ephesians were "alienated from the citizenship of Israel and aliens from thecovenant of promises not having hope and without God in the world". A similar theme, more positively put, appears in the Kerygma Petrou, frag. 2: "So then learn in a holy and righteous manner that which we deliver to you, observe, worshipping God through Christ in a new way. For we have found in the Scriptures, how the Lord said, 'Behold, I make with you a new covenant, not as the covenant with your fathers in mount Horeb.' He had made a new one with us: for the ways of the Greeks and the Jews are old, but we Christians who worship him in a new way as a third race" (trans. J.K. Elliott).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awesome, I just read Aristides' Apology for the first time monday night.