Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Malachi wrote, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another.”
Malachi 2:10, NIV

“Father” is one of those generic words that we all understand to mean our male parent. Sometimes known as “Daddy,” sometimes as “Pop.” These days, we may have to qualify that by inserting “biological” or “adoptive,” but familial relationship is probably first in our thoughts, that is, a man who has begotten a child.
Actually, there are numerous ways the word “Father” can be used, including as a noun, or as a verb. One who is the founder, producer, or author is said to “father” that product or cause, especially if that person cares for or looks after something as a father might.
Father is an often used term in the Bible, as one might expect in a paternalistic society representative of Biblical times. Adam, of course, is noted as the first father. But, quickly, now, who is the most famous father in the Bible?
My pick is found in Matthew 6:9, and affirmed in Malachi 2:10. Surely you have heard the first reference, if not the second.
There is no doubt that He qualifies as the “founder, producer, or author” in the fullest sense. Isaiah 64:8 proclaims, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Jesus taught extensively of the Fatherhood of God. The Lord’s model Prayer begins, “Our Father . . .” (Mt. 6:9-13) The Latin reference to The Lord’s Prayer is “Pater Noster,” Our Father . . . (See language note.) Even at twelve years of age, Jesus referred to the Temple in Jerusalem as “My Father’s house. (Luke 2:49)
Jesus, The Son, reveals the Father to those whom He chooses. He tells the woman at the well, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (John 4:23)
How do we get we get words like “paternal” when our word is Father? Some of our ancestors took the “p” sound of Greek and Roman “pater,” and shifted it to the “f” sound. In German it became “fater.” Middle English “fader” eventually changed to “father.” We go back to our linguistic roots and say, “paternalistic” rather than “fathernalistic.” (My spell checker does not like that word!) By the way, “mother” derived from “mater” so we also get “maternalistic” on the feminine side.

When a male child is born, they ask, “How is the mother?”
When a man is married, they ask, “What did the bride wear?”
When a man dies, they ask, “How much did he leave the widow?”
And they say it is a man’s world?
Author Unknown

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Malachi wrote, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another.”
Malachi 2:10, NIV

“Father” is one of those generic words that we all understand to mean our male parent. Sometimes know as “Daddy,” sometimes as “Pop.” These days, we may have to qualify that by inserting “biological” or “adoptive,” but familial relationship is probably first in our thoughts, that is, a man who has begotten a child.
Actually, there are numerous ways the word “Father” can be used, including as a noun, or as a verb. One who is the founder, producer, or author is said to “father” that product or cause, especially if that person cares for or looks after something as a father might.
Father is an often used term in the Bible, as one might expect in a paternalistic society representative of Biblical times. Adam, of course, is noted as the first father. But, quickly, now, who is the most famous father in the Bible?
My pick is found in Matthew 6:9, and affirmed in Malachi 2:10. Surely you have heard the first reference, if not the second.
There is no doubt that He qualifies as the “founder, producer, or author” in the fullest sense. Isaiah 64:8 proclaims, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Jesus taught extensively of the Fatherhood of God. The Lord’s model Prayer begins, “Our Father . . .” (Mt. 6:9-13) The Latin reference to The Lord’s Prayer is “Pater Noster,” Our Father . . . (See language note.) Even at twelve years of age, Jesus referred to the Temple in Jerusalem as “My Father’s house. (Luke 2:49)
Jesus, The Son, reveals the Father to those whom He chooses. He tells the woman at the well, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (John 4:23)
How do we get we get words like “paternal” when our word is Father? Some of our ancestors took the “p” sound of Greek and Roman “pater,” and shifted it to the “f” sound. In German it became “fater.” Middle English “fader” eventually changed to “father.” We go back to our linguistic roots and say, “paternalistic” rather than “fathernalistic.” (My spell checker does not like that word!) By the way, “mother” derived from “mater” so we also get “maternalistic” on the feminine side.

When a male child is born, they ask, “How is the mother?”
When a man is married, they ask, “What did the bride wear?”
When a man dies, they ask, “How much did he leave the widow?”
And they say it is a man’s world?
Author Unknown
June 15, 2003