Tuesday, March 30, 2010

C.F.D. Moule on Greed (Col 3:5)

“If πλεονεξία meant ‘acquisitiveness’ in any form—simply the opposite of the desire to give—it would be possible to link it with the fact that the essence of idolatry (whether in a gross or a refined form) is the desire to get, the desire to use God for man’s ends, in contrast to true worship, which is man’s desire to yield himself to God’s service."

Moule eventually concludes that the meaning "is simply the less subtle one that the πλεονέκτης worships Gain as his god,” but his own more subtle observation is still worth pondering.

Quotations from C.F.D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon (Cambridge: 1962), 116-117.

1 comment:

Bob Kirk said...

Thanks for the great insight,
With appreciation,