Stephen C. Shaffer

Not only did Ursinus not cite it, but the older English translations assumed it was a Bible quotation and mistranslated it. They had rendered it "For one who has died has been set free from sin" instead of the actual "a dead man does not bite."

There is only one use of δάκνει in the New Testament and it was in Galatians. νεκρος is used a lot, but none of its 9 occurrences looked anything like this quote.

45 minutes later, the internet was victorious as I learned it is a quote from Plutarch's Life of Pompeii, not the NT at all.

Medieval/Reformation greek is difficult to decipher at the best of times, but this had lots of miniscules in it that I was not as familiar with. After a lot of work and guesswork, I determined it said, "νεκρος γαρ ου δάκνει"

Sometimes Ursinus makes errors in quotes, so I looked for any NT match.

Translating Ursinus this morning and he makes a passing reference in Greek with no attribution. The old english translations assumed it was Romans 6:7 "For one who has died has been set free from sin" and simply quoted it and moved on.

However, that was not what the it said.

Cue 45 min. search

We are watching Prison of Azkaban (my youngest finished the book yesterday).

On this Independence Day, our family is watching a film about a man wrongly imprisoned without due process, and how the government played on people’s fear to justify terrorizing children in the name of “being seen to be doing something” about the problem.

Consistory Training Manual 2025

If you are interested, you can get access to the full pdf of this year's version below. It is "pay what you can," so you can have it for free or you can chip in a few bucks if you are able.

pages.penielpress.com/products/con...

I spent some time this spring creating a Consistory Training Manual for my own congregation, but I wanted to make it available to you. It is designed for use within the Reformed Church in America (RCA), but the biblical and theological work on elders and deacons could apply much more broadly.

When I talk to elders and deacons from congregations across the RCA, I often hear of the need for more training. It is hard and important work being on consistory, but - particularly for first-time consistory members - it can be overwhelming.

The weirdest part about watching funerals on tv shows is that, somehow, nobody actually has any family, only work friends their own age.

I don't know if this tracks with the literature, but it was helpful to me, because it gave me a question to ask when I am trying to deal with something difficult: "Am I trying to avoid pain or work through it by doing this?"

Both have their place, but I want to lean into healing as often as I can.

My spiritual director made a distinction in our conversation yesterday.
Defense mechanisms are things we use to avoid experiencing pain.
Coping mechanisms, when used correctly, are things that helps us engage and move through pain.
Isolation is a defense mechanism. Community is a coping mechanism.

Thanks. It is fascinating when some churches had 20+ year pastorates at the same time other churches had 6-7 pastors. I came up as a pastor influenced by Eugene Peterson, so I envisioned long pastorates as the norm and short as the exception. Just seeing empirical evidence to the contrary.

At 6.5 years in this church, I just learned that I am the third longest tenured pastor in the history of the congregation. I just saw the list of pastors at the 50 year anniversary and there were 12 people on it. The average pastor lasted 4 years, for a period of 50 years! I have so many questions.

Also, if loneliness and disconnection is the problem, another computer is not the solution.

The goal in Christian leadership is to facilitate faithful discernment of what God wills, not for me to win. I must trust that God has called and equipped the right people for this season and placed them in leadership. There are always exceptions, but to lead as a Christian is not to be in charge.

I lead a lot of meetings in a lot of different organizations. My job is to make sure we are on topic, we are all being heard, we are clear on what is happening, what is being decided and what the stakes are. It is a rare moment when I will directly inject my perspective.

So much of leading good meetings involves not getting what you want.

Many people think that if they lead the meeting, they must be driving everything in their preferred direction. This is poor leadership, particularly within church or christian school settings.

It’s rarely a good sign when I feel the need to pack my copy of Robert’s Rules in my bad before a meeting.

Be someone who builds today, instead of breaks.

There is a lot of important work to be done in this area and there is hope and peace in Christ, but -- oh boy -- is it exhausting and neverending work.

A disturbing percentage of my work in leadership is helping clean up the aftermath of people's emotional dysregulation. This is true in every sphere in which I lead. I want to teach, to mold, to guide, to collaborate, but mostly I deal with anxious people struggling to deal with it all.

In church leadership, character matters more than charisma.

Every time we flip that around, we harm the flock of Christ.

The original Hebrew obviously doesn't have this "Roman Triumph" angle to it. The word there likely refers to God's preeminence and enduring through time (hence "Glory" or Strength"). However, there use of Triumphator in latin is an interesting contextual translation.

This creates a whole different set of images than "Glory" or "Strength." God as the victorious one who comes in triumph. However, when we recognize the similarities between the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of a Roman Triumph, then the Lord as the Triumphator becomes a richer image.

The title for God in 1 Samuel 15:29 is often translated in English as "The Glory of Israel" or "the Strength of Israel." However, in Ursinus' commentary on Q27 of the Heidelberg Catechism, he uses the word "Triumphator." This is the word for someone who is given a triumph in Roman society.

I don't know whether translators in the 1800s had access to the same level of manuscripts, but I suspect one of two possibilities. Either there is translation bias against Christian citing pagan authors or the translator was not particularly adept in Greek and so just skipped those larger sections.

It's both bizarre and frustrating how much previous English translations of Ursinus' Body of Orthodox Doctrine simply left out. In particular, Ursinus regularly quotes ancient pagans in support of his point, but this is mostly absent in the english translation.

If I think it is worth it for me to pause what I am saying to listen to them, these children might grow to understand that God is not bothered by their questions or concerns, but wants them to bring them to him. Welcoming children means modeling how we see Jesus treat them.

It is a simple thing, but the kids feel included and taken seriously. They are engaged and listening. Does it interrupt the flow of what I am saying? Yes. But it’s worth it because God is at work in these children’s lives too.