/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

Among early Christian proponents of atoning almsgiving, Luke 11:41, along with 1 Pet 4:8, is one of the most oft- cited texts among the writings that came to be called the “New Testament” in support of the notion that the practice of ἐλεημοσύνη can cleanse sin. In Jesus’ conversation with an unnamed Pharisee at a meal hosted by that Pharisee, Jesus responds to his host’s astonishment that he does not wash before the meal by saying:

Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but the inside of you is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give alms with respect to the things within, and see, everything is clean for you (πλὴν τὰ ἐνόντα δότε ἐλεημοσύνην, καὶ ἰδοὺ πάντα καθαρὰ ὑμῖν ἐστιν). (11:39-41)

Both the narrative setting of Jesus’ exchange with his host, a Pharisee, and the woes against the Pharisees and the scribes that follow in verses 42 to 52 (cf. the collusion of “the scribes and the Pharisees” in v. 53) indicate that audience of the statements in verses 39 to 41 (and therefore the recipients of the command to give ἐλεημοσύνη in v. 41) consists of Pharisees.

English translations of Luke 11:41, perhaps reflecting a concern lest the text be read to suggest that almsgiving itself purifies, have often struggled over the phrase τὰ ἐνόντα δότε ἐλεημοσύνην, generally preferring to view the construction as a double accusative of object- complement so that Jesus enjoins giving as alms the things inside (e.g., ESV: “But give as alms those things that are within”) or giving alms in expression of what is truly within those commissioned to give (e.g., CEB: “Therefore, give to those in need from the core of who you are and you will be clean all over”).51 Yet careful attention to the narrative context suggests that translations like the ESV (“give as alms those things that are within”) make little sense, since Jesus has just said in verse 39 that the inside of the Pharisees is full of greed and wickedness (τὸ δὲ ἔσωθεν ὑμῶν γέμει ἁρπαγῆς καὶ πονηρίας). How can greed and wickedness be given as alms?

>>718092

A far better understanding of the construction τὰ ἐνόντα δότε ἐλεημοσύνην views τὰ ἐνόντα as an accusative of respect, resulting in the rendering “give alms with respect to the things within.”52 In this sense, the practice of ἐλεημοσύνη alleviates the problem that is “within” the Pharisees— namely, greed and wickedness. The phrase that punctuates this conversation then reiterates the cleansing effect of merciful action on behalf of the needy: “Give alms with respect to the things within, and see, everything is clean for you.” That is, both the outside of the cup and the dish (since the Pharisees will continue to dine with clean vessels) and the inside of the Pharisees will then be cleansed through the practice of ἐλεημοσύνη.53 The inside- outside dichotomy in Luke 11:39- 41 does not contrast internal drives with the external manifestation of the Pharisees’ actions, as if the Pharisees do the right things for the wrong motivations, for Jesus’ ensuing speech in verses 42 to 44 makes clear that the Pharisees do not do the right things. Jesus’ contrast between the inside and outside of the Pharisees instead plays on the imagery of dining utensils and on a distinction between moral and ritual purity.54 The Pharisees are ritually pure but morally impure, and Jesus offers almsgiving as a means of purifying the greed and wickedness within them so they will be morally pure (which they are not) as well as ritually pure (which they are). T he “reward” offered to the Pharisees here through the practice of almsgiving is internal moral purity from greed and wickedness, their sin here being imaged as an impurity that needs cleansing. In this sense, Luke 11:41 is perhaps the one text in the New Testament that most clearly advocates the concept of atoning almsgiving, if “atoning almsgiving” is meant to describe merciful action on behalf of the needy that cleanses human sin.

>DESTROYS

stop that

Baptists destroyed

Too bad that becoming cleansed of sin doesn't make you spiritually alive.

>>718504

Well too bad "love covers a magnitude of sins" and that you hate what God Himself says