GOSPEL 13:1-14

On Dogma and Dogmatists

ON DOGMA AND DOGMATISTS

13 ¹“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive dogma, which depends only on people’s tradition. ²Do not let anyone judge you based on what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day ritual. ³The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath! ⁴The letter kills, but Spirit gives life. Neither religious markers nor their lack means anything—only insight expressing itself through love.

⁵What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have insight but has no deeds? ⁶Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

⁷If you rely on dogma and boast of your relation to God; if you know his will and approve of the good because you are instructed by dogma; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, because you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth in dogma—you, then, who would teach others, do you follow your own teaching? ⁸You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not cheat on their partners, do you cheat on your partner? You who boast in Rules, do you mock God by breaking them?

⁹Even to this day, when their Holy Book is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁰But whenever anyone turns toward Spirit, the veil is taken away. ¹¹Spirit is Lord, and where Spirit is, there is freedom. ¹²So all of us, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into an icon of Him with ever-increasing glory, which comes from Spirit. ¹³On the contrary, all those who rely on deeds of dogma are only operating under a curse.”

¹⁴Now, there were some clergy there sitting among the crowd. They got up and left, and began plotting how they might kill Jesus.

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ON DOGMA AND DOGMATISTS

13 ¹Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τοῦ δόγματος καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ²μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων· ³τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον· ⁴τὸ γράμμα ἀποκτέννει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζῳοποιεῖ. οὔτε περιτομή τι ἰσχύει οὔτε ἀκροβυστία ἀλλὰ γνῶσις δι’ ἀγάπης ἐνεργ-ουμένη.

⁵Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί καὶ ἀδελφαί μου, ἐὰν γνῶσιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; ⁶ἐὰν ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἀδελφὴ γυμνοὶ ὑπάρχωσιν καὶ λειπόμενοι ὦσιν τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς, εἴπῃ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν· Ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ, θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε, μὴ δῶτε δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος, τί τὸ ὄφελος;

⁷Εἰ δὲ σὺ ἐπαναπαύῃ δόγματι καὶ καυχᾶσαι ἐν θεῷ καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ δόγματος, πέποιθάς τε σεαυτὸν ὁδηγὸν εἶναι τυφλῶν, φῶς τῶν ἐν σκότει, παιδευτὴν ἀφρόνων, διδάσκαλον νηπίων, ἔχοντα τὴν μόρφωσιν τῆς γνώσεως καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐν τῷ δόγματι· ὁ οὖν διδάσκων ἕτερον σεαυτὸν οὐ διδάσκεις; ⁸ὁ κηρύσσων μὴ κλέπτειν κλέπτεις; ὁ λέγων μὴ μοιχεύειν μοιχεύεις; ὃς ἐν νόμῳ καυχᾶσαι, διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις·

⁹Ἀλλ’ ἕως σήμερον ἡνίκα ἂν ἀναγινώσκηται ἡ γραφή, κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν κεῖται·

¹⁰ἡνίκα δὲ ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψῃ πρὸς πνεῦμα, περιαιρεῖται τὸ κάλυμμα. ¹¹ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν· οὗ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα, ἐλευθερία. ¹²ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμενοι τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μεταμορφούμεθα ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν καθάπερ ἀπὸ πνεύματος. ¹³ὅσοι γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων δόγματος εἰσίν, ὑπὸ κατάραν εἰσίν·

¹⁴Ἦσαν δέ τινες τῶν γραμματέων ἐκεῖ καθήμενοι. ἐξελθόντες δὲ συμβούλιον ἔλαβον κατ’ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.