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There are only two references to Jesus' baptism outside the Gospels, and one of them appears in today's lesson (Acts 10:34-38). It is significant that this reference is closely related to a discussion of service -- how Jesus went about doing good.
In college, I majored in philosophy. My favorite subject was Plato. There can be no doubt that Plato was a gifted thinker. He was full of good ideas and he expressed them in a brilliant manner. However, Dudley Zuver, in The Universe Is My Hobby, raises questions about the quality of Plato's personal life. Zuver uses such terms as "bad-tempered," "a bore," and "a snob" to describe him. Although Plato wrote a brilliant treatise on the intricacies of politics, he was a dismal flop in the only political job he actually undertook. Zuver concludes that Plato was blind to the one thing that was crystal clear to every Jewish prophet: "that evil can never be overcome by good ideas, but only by doing good."
The accent is on the verb "doing."
Jesus did more than share bright ideas about "the good." He practiced what he preached. He overcame evil by "doing good" -- not by talking about it I should do the same since my baptismal vow contamed a contract to "order my life after the example of Christ."
-- Randolph
There are only two references to Jesus' baptism outside the Gospels, and one of them appears in today's lesson (Acts 10:34-38). It is significant that this reference is closely related to a discussion of service -- how Jesus went about doing good.
In college, I majored in philosophy. My favorite subject was Plato. There can be no doubt that Plato was a gifted thinker. He was full of good ideas and he expressed them in a brilliant manner. However, Dudley Zuver, in The Universe Is My Hobby, raises questions about the quality of Plato's personal life. Zuver uses such terms as "bad-tempered," "a bore," and "a snob" to describe him. Although Plato wrote a brilliant treatise on the intricacies of politics, he was a dismal flop in the only political job he actually undertook. Zuver concludes that Plato was blind to the one thing that was crystal clear to every Jewish prophet: "that evil can never be overcome by good ideas, but only by doing good."
The accent is on the verb "doing."
Jesus did more than share bright ideas about "the good." He practiced what he preached. He overcame evil by "doing good" -- not by talking about it I should do the same since my baptismal vow contamed a contract to "order my life after the example of Christ."
-- Randolph
