Eutychus and His Kin: January 7, 1977

When You’re No. VIII You Try Harder

Hello. I’m Eutychus VIII and you’re not.

This is the first time I’ve been published anonymously, or pseudonymously. Till now I have acknowledged personal responsibility for what I said in print. Now I have a pseudonym. Eutychus VIII: it has a nice look, doesn’t it? Especially that Roman numeral. Like Pius XI (how much better sounding than Achille Ratti), or Louis XVI (who was untenured by a guillotine).

Unfortunately, when a genealogy gets to VIII, it begins to go to seed. Consider Henry VIII. On family trees, like real trees, nuts are usually found at the end of the branches.

So don’t expect a lot from VIII.

What are my qualifications for being Eutychus VIII? I’m glad you asked.

In the first place, I have had many experiences similar to that of Eutychus recorded in Acts 20:9. Under the best and longest of preaching (though scarcely to be compared with that of St. Paul), as well as under the worst and longest of preaching, I have—as the King James Version puts it—“fallen into a deep sleep.”

To explain a bit more clearly, I have “grown more and more sleepy” (NEB), “sunk into a deep sleep” (NASB), “sunk into a deep sleep and”—mind you—“fallen sound asleep” (NIV), “become sleepier and sleepier until I finally went sound asleep” (TEV).

In fact, to be very truthful, which I shall always be when writing to you, “heaviness of sleep has, on occasion, proved too much for me, so I have sagged down in my sleep” (Berkeley). I have even, I confess, been “borne down with deep sleep and finally completely overcome by sleep” (Amplified).

What light these contemporary translations and paraphrases throw upon the original! How impoverished were our forebears without them! And if they can so illuminate the simple experience of falling asleep in church, think of how much more they can bring out the details of eschatology.

As you can see, another qualification I possess for writing this column is a serious interest in exegetical study.

May I mention yet another of my qualifications for being Eutychus VIII. Although I didn’t fall off the window ledge and actually die, I have, more than once, been awakened by my chin’s slamming into my chest (or breast. Thought you’d find out whether I’m a male or female Eutychus, didn’t you? I am a Eutychus person.) Whether it was my chin or the back of my neck—which seemed to be wrenched in the unsleeping process—something awakened me quite suddenly and I was mortified. (Note: derived from the Latin mort, meaning dead.)

But on those occasions, the preacher did not rush down to embrace me, as St. Paul did the real Eutychus, but rather transfixed me with his Jonathan Edwards stare.

Eutychus VIII, a pseudonym. I welcome this fresh experience. Now I can say things like, Harold Ockenga is a non-practicing septuagenarian, or Ray Stedman didn’t get any gifts for Christmas, or George Sweeting isn’t always moody, or Betty Elliot is a liberated woman, or Dick Halverson has talked to CIA agents.

And nobody will know who I am.

I’m Eutychus VIII. Don’t you wish you were?

EUTYCHUS VIII

To Hobble Like Jacob

I really appreciated what Virginia Owens had to say in “Prayer—Into the Lion’s Jaws” (Nov. 19). She brought new insight to a very needy area. She moved prayer back into a balance. She portrayed God as a most helpful invader who destroys those things we like to hang onto and reveals those things we never saw before. As she indicated, we may hobble around like Jacob did but at least we won’t have to pretend we know something we don’t. This is one of the best articles on prayer I’ve ever read. There is a real need for all Christians to stick their heads into the Lion’s mouth.

DENNIS CHRISTIANSON

Assistant Pastor

Springdale Community Church

Inchelium, Wash.

She writes that much literature on prayer coming from evangelicals is “false adverrising,” “folksy monologues with God written in a somewhat choppy, free-verse fashion”.… She warns us of the power of prayer—leading us, at best, into the jaws of the Lion! I find it interesting that not only doesn’t she mention the compassion, love, and saving grace of Jesus, she doesn’t once mention him by name.… Romans 5:8 speaks to us of the God of love, not a raging beast. If we can’t find rest in the God of all comfort, how can we claim to have entered into his rest, partake of his grace, or be co-heirs with Christ?

BARBARA HERRING

North Hollywood, Calif.

Many of us have not found prayer to bring catastrophe, but rather, we have found it to be the means of finding God as “our Rock and our Fortress.” It is unfortunate to see the picture of the ravenous lion on the cover and also repeated on one of the pages of the article.… If when we pray God reminds us of something that has been amiss in our lives—as suggested in the article—we can be thankful for the new insight, and if we can make amends, our lives and the lives of others are enriched. In these days when Christians may have rough sailing ahead, prayer must become to us a priceless and beautiful privilege—enabling us to ride through every storm rejoicing in his presence which becomes more meaningful and precious when the need is greatest.

MARJORIE M. CAMPBELL

Wilton, Conn.

Virginia Owen’s article on prayer is a masterpiece!

MARGARET BENEFIEL

Ashland, Ore.

What Sign Stars?

I must say I was disappointed to find astrology in Ernest Martin’s article, “The Celestial Pageantry Dating Christ’s Birth” (Dec. 3). If one will take the time to consult Cassuto’s excellent commentary on Genesis, he will discover the biblical and true sense in which the heavenly bodies serve as signs.

KENNETH L. BARKER

Professor of Semitics and Old Testament

Dallas Theological Seminary

Dallas, Tex.

Martin’s article is a welcome contribution to the apologetic task, presenting a quite plausible scientific/historical Möglichkeit. However, in this as in every attempt to “rationally” explain the biblical data (even through the eyes of faith!), one fact goes unnoticed. Our current astronomical terms derive directly from the Greek language. The Greeks, though limited, were accomplished in their study of the heavens, and it must be presumed that their technical vocabulary was sufficiently exact at all times (to avoid confusion). It thus should not be presumed that Matthew, writing under inspiration of God, should be so inexact as to call a planet a star! The scriptural account speaks of a star (άστήρ) alone in Matthew 2:2, 7, 9, 10—certainly not a planet, which in Greek was always noted as a “wandering star” (πλάυητες άστήρ) rather than simply a “star” (cf. Jude 13). Thus in no way could a planetary configuration be identified with the star of the East.

The simplest and most basic solution is and always has been to postulate a nova, the sole objection to this theory being the lack of extra-biblical historical confirmation of such. Yet for that matter, we have no confirmation aside from Scripture of the visit of the Magi or the Massacre of the Innocents, but we are not to presume from this that they did not occur! I for one would prefer to accept the biblical narrative of the Star as it stands, and reserve plausible suppositions for apologetic purposes.

MAURICE A. ROBINSON

Raleigh, N.C.

What About Forgiveness?

I cannot fault Mr. Kinlaw (“Of Equal Opportunity and Other Bureaucratic Intrusions,” Nov. 5) for desiring to put examples of Christian morality before the students in Christian colleges and universities. But does this mean they can ignore that most Christian of all virtues—forgiveness? Besides, his attitude strongly supports the double standard under which women have had to suffer for so long. When was a man ever dismissed or not hired on the basis of fathering a child outside of wedlock? Women are tired (and justly so) of being disciplined for the same act that a man can commit with impunity. One more point concerning his article: The result of “recognizing gender differences and treating people for what they are, male or female” has invariably resulted in restrictions and less opportunity for women. Most colleges are administered primarily by men, and their interpretation of what is “female” is subject to error. The result of such errors is sin—sin because it is destructive to the wholeness of both men and women.

GAIL L. RINDERKNECHT

Springfield, Ohio

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