Author: Denise Simion, ALM Harvard University Bible Study: 4 th & 6 th Commandment Formation for Life: Just Peace and 21 st Century Discipleship Background Information on Lesson Series Using the insights from the Lord’s Day Alliance 2009 Sabbath Symposium this series of lessons seeks to uncover scriptural truths regarding how the connection between the Fourth Commandment’s instruction regarding keeping holy the Sabbath and the Sixth Commandment, you shall not murder, challenges us to embrace a culture of life. Jesus illustrates his concern for life in many of the healing miracles, but the radical extent of this commandment is seen when he diagnoses how anger and disparagement lead to God’s judgment because of the ways in which they kill the spirit. All readings, unless otherwise cited, are from: Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking and Twenty-First- Century Discipleship. PICKWICK Publications: 2013. Lesson 1: Formation for Life (Venite) We learn that we are all created in the image of God but do we treat and interact with one another as such? How should you behave with others who are different than you? Have we “lost a focus on holy living”? What is the process of Christian formation and how does that link to just peacemaking and human rights? Focus Reading FORWARD Author: Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary INTRODUCTION Authors: Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary; Rodney L. Petersen, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance; Timothy A. Norton, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance INTRODUCTION TO PART ONE: JUST PEACEMAKING PRACTICES AND FORMATION FOR LIFE Author: Timothy A. Norton, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance Suggested Readings CHAPTER 1: HOLISTIC, INTERACTIVE CHARACTER FORMATION FOR JUST PEACEMAKING Author: Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary CHAPTER 2: REDEEMING IMITATION: VIRTUE FORMATION BY MIMETIC COMPASSION IN COMMUNITIES
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Author: Denise Simion, ALM Harvard University
Bible Study: 4th & 6th Commandment
Formation for Life: Just Peace and 21st Century Discipleship
Background Information on Lesson Series
Using the insights from the Lord’s Day Alliance 2009 Sabbath Symposium this series of lessons seeks to
uncover scriptural truths regarding how the connection between the Fourth Commandment’s
instruction regarding keeping holy the Sabbath and the Sixth Commandment, you shall not murder,
challenges us to embrace a culture of life. Jesus illustrates his concern for life in many of the healing
miracles, but the radical extent of this commandment is seen when he diagnoses how anger and
disparagement lead to God’s judgment because of the ways in which they kill the spirit.
All readings, unless otherwise cited, are from: Formation for Life: Just Peacemaking and Twenty-First-
Century Discipleship. PICKWICK Publications: 2013.
Lesson 1: Formation for Life (Venite) We learn that we are all created in the image of God but do we treat and interact with one another as
such? How should you behave with others who are different than you? Have we “lost a focus on holy
living”? What is the process of Christian formation and how does that link to just peacemaking and
human rights?
Focus Reading
FORWARD
Author: Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary
INTRODUCTION
Authors: Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary; Rodney L. Petersen, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance; Timothy A. Norton, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance
INTRODUCTION TO PART ONE: JUST PEACEMAKING PRACTICES AND FORMATION FOR LIFE
Author: Timothy A. Norton, Co-Executive Director, Lord’s Day Alliance
Suggested Readings
CHAPTER 1: HOLISTIC, INTERACTIVE CHARACTER FORMATION FOR JUST PEACEMAKING
Author: Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary
CHAPTER 2: REDEEMING IMITATION: VIRTUE FORMATION BY MIMETIC COMPASSION IN COMMUNITIES
Lord’s Day Alliance: Bible Study 4th & 6th Commandment; Lesson 1
Author: Denise Simion, ALM Harvard University
Authors: Scott R. Garrels, Adjunct Professor in the School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary; Kevin S. Reimer, Dean and Professor of Psychology, Fresno Pacific University; Warren S. Brown, Director, Travis Research Institute and Professor of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary
CHAPTER 6: CHRISTIAN FORMATION FOR JUST PEACEMAKING AS WE PRACTICE THE SABBATH
Author: Jeffrey Gros, Distinguished Professor of Historical and Ecumenical Theology, University of Memphis
Opening Prayer
Scripture Readings: Ecclesiastes 7:9; Matthew 5:21 -25; Ephesians 4:26-27
Reflection
The fourth commandment instructs us to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus, 20:8)
and later the sixth commandment orders that “you shall not murder” (Exodus, 20:13). Richard Mouw
recounts his childhood and his early memories of hearing the Ten Commandments being read during the
worship service and likens attending service to a “re-gathering on Mount Sinai”. These commandments
are normally looked at in isolation but to focus on the interconnectedness gives new insight into our
spiritual formation and growth. As we heard in the scripture reading, Jesus elaborated on the
commandment “Do not murder” to include that any anger against one another is equivalent to this
commandment.
Timothy Norton quotes Mildred Norman Ryder, “We who work for peace must not falter. We must
continue to pray for peace and to act for peace in whatever way we can, we must continue to speak for
peace and to live the way of peace; to inspire others, we must continue to think of peace and to know
that peace is possible.”
Jeffrey Gros writes that even though “No party or policy can be identified with the Christian gospel. Yet,
at the same time, the Christian vocation to peacemaking calls for engagement in the messy process of
politics and policy judgment.” This implies that the one who is called into just peacemaking must have a
strong spiritual formation and solid foundation. Using various sources Gros concludes that, “Religious
illiteracy is a major problem for all U.S. Christians.” And that in order to bring about true change, “our
task is to build into the life of our churches experiences of dialogue, peace building and analysis of and
response to the conflicts we experience in our world, and experiences of prayer for and with our
perceived enemies.”
Glen Stassen has spent considerable time developing the ‘four dimensions of interactive holistic
character ethics’. Stassen’s research is lengthy and incorporates outside research from various
Lord’s Day Alliance: Bible Study 4th & 6th Commandment; Lesson 1
Author: Denise Simion, ALM Harvard University
disciplines to define and rationalize these dimensions as the foundation for the persona needed for
successful just peacemaking. These four dimensions are as follows:
• Emotions and loyalties – as experienced in engagement with persons in different social contexts
• Critical perception of the social context – as it helps or hurts people
• Basic convictions – as embodied in narrative or historical drama
• Reasoning – that relates moral guidelines to emotional responses
We are all familiar with our attachments to specific groups and we tend to gravitate toward people and
places that we have similarities in, however, we are challenged to step out of our comfort zone and
engage with people in various contexts. “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are
not the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than
others? Do not even the pagans do that?” (Matthew, 5:46-47, NIV).
Gros writes, “As Christians, it is important to continue to approach political rhetoric and even religious
political rhetoric with a healthy hermeneutics1of suspicion.” He explains this is needed because “we
have come to expect that political and legal elements in society will use religious rhetoric instrumentally
to further cultural ends that may, indeed, not represent the consensus of religious persons. Nor will they
represent the biblical truths about society that some will read in God’s revelation in Jesus Christ,
whether derived from Scripture or from an interpretation of natural law.”
Stassen and others refer to research, past and current, that demonstrates that we learn through
mimicry and our ability to determine the correct response for a given situation is in many respects a
learned behavior. Paul calls upon the Corinthians to “imitate” him (1 Corinthians 4:16) and continues his
call to mimicry when he writes “be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1). He applauds the Thessalonians
ability to emulate and how they became models to all believers,
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering,
you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so
you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The
Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia –
your faith in God has become known everywhere.
(1 Thessalonians 1:6-8, NIV)
It is through this mimicry or imitation that we can learn compassion for all. Paul’s writings continue to
call upon each of us to rely upon one another and to continue to learn and grow in faith by continually
guiding one another.
1 Hermeneutics: the theory of text interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and
philosophical texts. The terms hermeneutics and exegesis are sometimes used interchangeably. Hermeneutics is a wider
discipline that includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics, last