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Concordia Theological Monthly

Publication Date

5-1-1957

Document Type

Article

Keywords

paradox, contradiction, justified, religion, salvation, theology, christian, kierkegaard

Submission Type

Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep

Abstract

Paradox" is an ancient word and an honorable one. The Greeks applied it to anything that seemed contrary to public opinion or strange and marvelous. In this latter sense the term occurs in the New Testament. It was heard on the lips of the multitude that saw the healing of the palsied man. "We have seen παοάδοξα today," they said in astonishment and awe (Luke 5:26). In Latin authors "paradox" came to mean an apparent contradiction. This is today its most common meaning in ordinary speech, although we must hasten to add that the Christian continues to feel in it the connotation of a depth which defies the consistencies of logic. We find the word defined in two ways, therefore, "as a statement or proposition which on the face of it is (a) apparently self-contradictory, or ( b) apparently incredible or absurd, or at least marvelous, because it is contrary to common sense in some wider or narrower sense .... "

Disciplines

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

Luke 5:26; Luke 9:60; Matthew 16:25; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Peter 2:16; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Exodus 25:19; Exodus 29:42; Exodus 30:6; Daniel 7:13; Colossians 2:9; Colossians 1:17-20;

Submission Cost

Free

Submission Audience

Laity; Ministers; Scholars

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