[B-Greek] OIKONOMIA

Dave Smith (REL110, 211,212) rel21x at charter.net
Wed May 17 19:42:46 EDT 2006


Mitch,

What is reference in Justin? Is it one of the Apologies or the Dialogue?
OIKONOMIA is usually an administration, but St. Paul uses the term in
context with mystery (Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:25, 26), or the way God
administers the the two ages, this age/world and the age/world to come.
According to St. Paul, before this era and the revelation given to the
Apostles, it was not understood, thus it was a mystery. The gospel/Christian
age may be considered a transitional administration, having one foot in this
age and one in the age to come.  The word only appears about 5 times in the
Apostolic Fathers.. What you are seeing with Justin is his alleghorical
interpretation, somewhat of a precurssor to Origin. Justin loves the LXX,
and that is mainly what you will find in his writing: its pretty much his
only Bible. There are a few references in his writings to the Memoirs of the
Apostles, which some think are the gospels, but some say not. If he is using
gospel records, it is probably a free recollection and not a case of copying
from documents. The oral tradition was apparently rather lively, even 100
years after Jesus' ministry.

There may be a connotation of OIKONOMIA being a mystery, by association with
the language of Paul, but this is not the meaning of the word or what we
call the denotation.

Dave Smith
Hudson, NC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mitch Larramore" <mitchlarramore at yahoo.com>
To: "B Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 18:43
Subject: [B-Greek] OIKONOMIA


> Early Christian Doctrines, by J.N.D. Kelly, has this
> on page 68:
>
> ...Justin, when he argued that, for example, Leah and
> Rachel prefigured the Synagogue and the Church, or
> that the polygamy of the patriarchs was a 'mystery'
> (OIKONOMIA).
>
> How does OIKONOMIA mean "mystery"? Earlier (or later,
> I don't remember now) he refers to the Old Testament
> and the Jewish 'mystery' (OIKONOMIA) in the sense that
> I've heard it as "the Jewish dispensation" (as opposed
> to the Church dispensation). Is one meaning of
> OIKONOMIA 'mystery'? If so, in what sense?
>
> Mitch Larramore
> Sugar Land, Texas
>
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