text:
Old News
Compiled by Lauren Horn
Thursday, November 19, 1964
Fehrenbach Bill Would Increase State School Aid Ceiling to $605
From the Post
Compiled by Lauren Horn
Thursday, November 19, 1964
Fehrenbach Bill Would Increase State School Aid Ceiling to $605
Assemblyman Edwin Fehrenbach (R), who has made specialty of legislation dealing with state aid to education, has already begun his 1965 effort to ease the local homeowner's school tax burden.
Three Local Seniors Receive Awards
Three local high school students will be presented 1964 Paragon Oil Student Incentive Awards on November 28. Receiving awards for their excellence in scholarship and citizenship will be Douglas J. Groome of 93 Pittsburgh Ave, a senior in Massapequa High School; Ronnie Frakel of 53 Daniel Road North, a senior in Plainedge High School; and Janet Entersz of 187 Atlantic Ave.,a senior in Berner High School.
Thursday, November 26, 1964
Spots School Fire; Nabs Fleeing Boy
Seventh Precinct police released a 15-year-old boy in his parents' custody last Staurday after he and two other boys were interrupted as they started a fire in a pile of leaves next to the Schwarting School. The trio was spotted by a nearby resident who collared the 15-year old for police.
Thursday, December 17, 1964
Praise Two Youths in Daring Rescue
R-O-L-L 'EM! The two new press units of the Tobay Printing Co. moved into action this week, doubling the capacity of the firm's Fairchild Color King. The new equipment enables the Massapequa POST affiliate to produce up to 32 tabloid, 16 standard, or 64 magazine size pages on newsprint or fine paper in a single run. As many as eight different colors can be run at one time—all this at speeds of up to 18,000 copies per hour, quarter folded and ready for mailing.
Thursday, April 10, 1958
Orchestra in Danger
The Massapequa Community Symphony Orchestra needs your support. New to the community, the orchestra must broaden its financial base in order to continue to offer top-notch cultural facility to the people of the area.
Thursday, June 12, 1958
Zone Board has Routine Hearing
The Town Zoning Board of Appeals and another routine meeting last Thursday night at which several local cases were heard.
November 10, 1977
Plainedge braces for vote to sell Picken, Southedge
Plainedge School District voters will queue next Thursday from noon to 10 p.m. at West, Eastplain and Southedge Schools to decide on whether or not to sell surplus school properties for housing and park development.
January 19, 1977
Ice inundates, immobilizes Pequas
The beauty of ice-encased trees belied the dangers and almost disaster conditions which descended upon Long Island on the back of a snowflake this week. In the Massapequa area, spotty power outages were the story; some residents lost electricity Friday night and were still out Tuesday night. Others who made it through the deep freeze over the weekend lost power Tuesday night when the snow, sleet, wind and freezing rain combined to attack once again.
June 22, 1978
Music group eyes summer tour
Eight Massapequa are members of the Long Island Youth Orchestra will be leaving Tuesday for an extended summer trip to a host of exotic countries around the world where they will present concerts.
August 24, 1978
Pequa school lunch price jumps inflationary 10 cents
Students in the Massapequa school system will pay an additional two cents for the A lunch during the 1978-79 term; the price will increase to 65 cents at the elementary level, and to 75 cents in the secondary schools.
December 10, 1953
Miraculously Escape Serious Injury in Merrick Road 3 Car Smash Up
A trip to church almost ended tragically last Monday night when Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Donnelly of 312 Brendon Ave., were involved in a messy three-car smash.
March 25, 1954
Cancer Drive Donation Raises 'Sword of Hope'
Cancer is man's cruelest enemy. Each year this vicious killer strikes thousands of persons throughout the nation—a number of the victims in Nassau County. The killer disease plays no favorites. It strikes young and old, men and women.
August 26, 1954
All Lower Grades Will Be On Double Sessions
The opening of school on September 8 will find double sessions the rule in all three districts serving the Massapequa area, except for the higher grades. All three districts hope to extend full sessions to the lower grades some time during the coming school year, but the move will only be a temporary one at best.
December 26, 1990
Burglary nets $25,000 in wedding rings
Thieves burglarized a jewelry store in Sunrise Mall, Massapequa, on Nov. 30, escaping with $25,000 worth of gold wedding rings.
March 13, 1991
PHS 'Senior Prom' preparations are underway
Plans are underway for the Plainedge High School Student Council's third Senior Prom for Senior Citizens. The prom will be held on Saturday, April 20, from 7:30-11p.m. at the high school gymnasium.


text:
STEUBENVILLE – Visiting Juvenile Judge Tom Lipps is expected to rule next week on several motions in the case of two Steubenville High School student-athletes who have been charged with rape.
Lipps, who has been brought in from Hamilton County to hear the trial, heard arguments Friday in the juvenile courtroom of the Jefferson County Justice Center on motions to close the trial to the public and media, move it to another county and for a continuance.
Trent Mays, 16, of Bloomingdale and Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, of Steubenville have been charged with rape in connection with an incident that allegedly happened Aug. 11-12. Mays also faces a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material for allegedly having a picture of the victim in an outgoing text message on his cell phone. Attorneys for both defendants have denied the charges.
Attorney Walter Madison, who is representing Richmond, withdrew a motion he had made earlier asking that the trial be held behind closed doors, saying he wanted to focus on the change of venue motion. But an attorney for the victim argued the trial should be closed.
Attorney Justin Wiater said he was entering a position statement and not a formal motion on behalf of the 16- year-old victim. He said the court should order the media not to release her name. Many media organizations have a policy of not publishing the name of a victim of sexual abuse.
"The least amount of information released is best," Wiater said.
Marriane Hemmeter, a special prosecutor appointed by the Ohio Attorney General's office, said the state's position on the issue has changed since a probable cause hearing held in October when the victim didn't testify. Hemmeter said the teen will take the stand in the trial, and because of that, the attorney general's office now wants the trial to be closed.
"The eye of the storm is this 16-year-old girl," Hemmeter said.
She said weight on the girl's shoulders is daunting, more so now with the national and even international media coverage of the case.
The attorney general's office has released copies of the transcript from the probable cause hearing in which the girl's name is mentioned. Hemmeter said the attorney general's office was required to release the transcripts under Ohio's public records laws.
Attorney Kevin Shook, who represented The Associated Press, ABC, CNN, CBS News, The New York Times and WEWS-TV of Cleveland during Friday's hearing, told Lipps closing the case will only increase the outside perception of a cover-up in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
"People will guess what the witnesses say," Shook said when discussing what could happen if the trial is closed. "Guessing is more dangerous than reality."
Kristen Andrews Wilson, who represented Ogden Newspapers and the Herald-Star, said there are rules and standards in courtrooms to make sure the truth – and not rumors – is presented.
"If the public can see the truth, it can limit speculation and rumors up to this point," she said.
Wilson said the trial will be an educational tool for parents and children about drinking, sex and the social media.
"The benefit to the public (for having an open trial) greatly outweighs any harm (as a reason for closure)." she said.
As for moving the trial to another county, Adam Nemann, one of two attorneys who are representing Mays, said witnesses won't testify because they feel threatened by the hacktavist group Anonymous. He said some of the witnesses are actually hiring attorneys.
"Witnesses do not want to walk past hundreds of people, some wearing masks, for fear of retribution if they testify of behalf of the defense's case," he said if the trial stays in Steubenville.
Moving the case to a larger county, such as Franklin County, would ensure a larger law enforcement presence, Nemann said.
Madison said even Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla has received a death threat over the case while trying to prove his point about threats. He said the sheriff's department is getting reports of people who feel threatened.
"All we have asked from day one is for a fair trial," Madison said.
Brian Deckert, another special prosecutor assigned to the case, said witnesses can be subpoenaed and forced to testify under the penalty of perjury.
As for moving the trial hours from Steubenville, he said, "It doesn't make sense and doesn't cure anything."
The trial is scheduled to start Feb. 13. Madison said he needs more time to prepare his case, citing trial strategy which he wouldn't discuss during Friday's public hearing.
Lipps told the attorneys he is concerned about getting the case resolved in a reasonable amount of time.
Madison said it is important to be properly prepared for trial because Richmond faces a lifelong reporting requirement if he is convicted of a sex crime.
Attorney Brian Duncan, who also represents Mays, said there is new discovery of possible evidence being presented by the attorney general's office.
Lipps said there could be something new all the time if the case is continued.
Hemmeter said the investigation and collection of witness statements were completed months ago.
Madison also filed a motion asking that the alleged victim be called the "accuser" during the trial.
"We don't know if she is a victim. It is just an accusation," he said.
Hemmeter responded by saying the attorney general's office is the accuser. She said the attorney general's office will call the alleged victim by her name.
Madison, who was retained as a lawyer in the case, wants the court to pay for an investigator to assist him in preparing for trial.
Madison claimed the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, the investigative arm of the attorney general's office, pulled agents off other cases and interviewed 86 witnesses in a week using a series of prepared questions.
"They got 86 people to cooperate in a week. I couldn't get that done in a year. I just want to kick some rocks over," he said.
Hemmeter said Madison was retained and courts don't have a history of paying for an investigator when a defendant pays for his or her own defense.
(Law can be contacted at email@example.com.)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Own your ow legal marijuana business
Your guide to making money in the multi-billion dollar marijuana industry
Historical Research on Drug Policy
General Historical Reviews
= Recommended Reading
New! The Reefer Madness Collection - Hundreds of examples of hilarious Reefer Madness from history.
New! - Medical Marijuana Throughout History - Pictures of more than 100 medicines that once contained cannabis extracts
The History of the Marijuana Laws in the United States by Charles Whitebread - A Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference. An excellent, and funny, history of how we got our current drug laws.
The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An Inquiry into the Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition by Professor Richard J. Bonnie & Professor Charles H. Whitebread, II -- The first major study ever done of the legal history of the marihuana laws.
The Drug Hang-Up, America's Fifty Year Folly, by Rufus King
The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1972. A good overall review of all the major drugs, and their history.
The Narcotics Bureau and the Harrison Act: Jailing the Healers and the Sick - - By Rufus King, From: 62 YALE Law Journal, Pages 784-7 (1953).
The History of the Opium and Cocaine Laws by David F. Musto, MD
The History of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 by David F. Musto, MD
From the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, 1972
Themes in Chemical Prohibition by William L. White, From: Drugs in Perspective, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1979
Not Thinking Like a Lawyer - The Case of Drugs in the Courts, by Steven Wisotsky
Excerpts from Smoke and Mirrors, by Dan Baum - A history of the drug war in modern times.
Historical Review of Opium/Heroin Production - by Alfred W. McCoy
Panic and Indifference, The Politics of Canada's Drug Laws. P.J. Giffen, Shirley Endicott and Sylvia Lambert. A few samples from a book which is an excellent discussion of the history of Canada's drug laws.
From Mr Sin to Mr Big by Desmond Manderson This is a synopsis of a history of the drug laws in Australia. It is a good demonstration of the racism behind the drug laws.
Are The Drug Laws Constitutional? A Historical Perspective From "Our Right To Drugs" by Thomas Szasz, Praeger Publishers, NY (1992):
History of Drug Use and Drug Users in the United States by Elaine Casey - From Facts About Drug Abuse - Participant Manual - The National Drug Abuse Center for Training Resource and Development , November, 1978
Important People in the History of Drug Policy - A collection of the writings and history of some of the more important people in the history of drug policy in the United States.
History of Marijuana in Canada
Drug Law Timeline - Some significant events in the history of our drug laws
A Summary of Historical Events
Federal Court Decisions on Drugs 1900 to Present, by Decade
Marijuana - The First 12,000 Years - by Ernest Abel
Prohibition in Oregon - Oregon State Archives 50th Anniversary Exhibit
Lindesmith v. Anslinger: An early government victory in the failed war on drugs - Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology; Chicago; Winter 1998; John F Galliher; David P Keys; Michael Elsner;
Contents | Feedback | Search | DRCNet Home Page | Join DRCNet
DRCNet Library | Schaffer Library | Historical Research
|Library Highlights
Major Studies:
Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
Major Studies of Drug and Drug Policy
Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding - The Report of the US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
Licit and Illicit Drugs
Historical Research
Short History of the Marijuana Laws
The Drug Hang-Up
Congressional Transcripts of the Hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
Government Publications
Frequently Asked Questions About Drugs
Basic Facts About the Drug War
Charts and Graphs about Drugs
Other References:
Medical Marijuana
Information on Alcohol
Guide to Heroin - Frequently Asked Questions About Heroin
LSD, Mescaline, and Psychedelics
Drugs and Driving
Children and Drugs
Drug Abuse Treatment Resource List
American Society for Action on Pain
Let Us Pay Taxes
Marijuana Business News
Reefer Madness Collection
Medical Marijuana Throughout History
Drug Legalization Debate
Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition
Marijuana, the First 12,000 Years
DEA Ruling on Medical Marijuana
Legal References on Drugs
GAO Documents on Drugs
Response to the Drug Enforcement Agency
|Drug Information Articles
Taking a drug test:
How To Pass A Drug Test
Beat Drug Test
Pass Drug Test
Drug Screening Tests
Drug resources:
Drug Abuse
Drug Addiction
Drug Rehab
Drug Rehabilitation
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Medical Marijuana
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text:
With the possibility of soybean rust decreasing yields, reducing crop stresses during the growing season will be more important than ever before.
Crop stresses come in many forms and at many different times. They are the reason Louisiana producers were not able to harvest 80,000 to 100,000 acres of soybeans in 2004. Weather was the main culprit, but other factors played a role. Crop stresses can be improper fertility, insects, diseases and many other things.
The reason crop stresses are so detrimental is that they individually or collectively reduce the genetic potential of the crop.
Variety selection is one of the most important decisions to be made in soybean production. Following variety selection is fertility. Fertilizer costs are high, but mining the soils is more costly in the long run. A successful soybean crop needs phosphorus, potassium, and several micronutrients.
Nitrogen is fixed from the existing environment and only in isolated situations is there any benefit to adding nitrogen to the crop.
Producers are using more inoculants at planting to insure adequate nitrogen fixation during the season. Inoculants should be used if a field has been out of soybean production more than three years and especially in a soybean/rice rotation.
Seed treatments on early beans also protect a young crop from early-season diseases.
Plant populations based on production practices also are important. Whether row spacings are wide or narrow and beds are flat or raised are very important.
Planting more beans on raised beds in Louisiana would correct some of the drainage problems we encounter yearly. Of course, narrow row beans are generally more successful where drainage is not a serious issue.
Most high-yielding fields over the past few years have raised beds, even if the rise is minimal.
In the sugarcane belt of the state, yields are very high (40 to 60 bushels per acre) compared to other regions of the state. Granted, some of the yields can be attributed to deep rich soils, but proper drainage, efficient pest control, and narrow row spacing are perhaps more important.
A producer in northeast Louisiana is using a 12-row hipper with every other gang removed to make 6-foot beds. He averaged over 60 bushels last year. Three rows on top of the bed, spaced at 18 inches, give him the advantage of narrow rows on a bed (the same concept of a sugarcane row). The producer says savings come from running less equipment through the field over a year.
He is in a cotton and corn rotation and plants two rows on top of the beds, which means he does not have to figure out which crop is going where at the end of the season — he has more time to watch the markets and adjust crop ratios.
There are other factors to consider. Weed control in beans has dramatically improved with the Roundup Ready technology. More recently, the advantage of using a pre- herbicide such as Valor is really paying dividends. Some producers who plant on narrow rows use Valor and follow it with a glyphosate product right before canopy closure. That finishes weed control for the season.
It is most important to kill the weeds before they are allowed to compete with the crop.
Volumes of data support the idea that weed control is most important in the first three to five weeks after crop emergence. Weeds reduce yields, because the they compete for light, water and nutrients.
From an insect perspective, the red shouldered stink bug has caused more problems than any other insect. According to Jack Baldwin, entomology specialist with the LSU AgCenter, the threshold has been reduced to 24 per 100 sweeps or six per 25.
We need more insecticides to control this insect efficiently. At present, Baythroid is really the only product labeled for control. The problem with red shouldered stink bugs is that after a spray, the populations are at threshold levels again within about five days. This could be a coverage issue, indicating that a ground rig or increasing GPA could be more effective.
Diseases, including aerial blight and cercospera leaf blight, should be controlled effectively to maximize yields. The two diseases can cause up to 80 or 90 percent yield loss in an untreated crop. Sound familiar? It has been reported from South America that Asian soybean rust can be just as devastating.
This brings up an important point. We have been dealing with diseases just as serious as rust but not as fast to spread. Rust spreads much quicker because it's wind-borne.
According to some U.S. soybean experts, under ideal conditions rust can travel 300 miles a day.
The 2005 Louisiana soybean crop will be challenging, but it will be fine as long as we approach the season armed with the latest scientific information available.
To put last year's crop in perspective, the southwest and south-central parts of the state got the raw end of the deal for the third consecutive year, but if you take out those regions, Louisiana would have averaged a little over 40 to 45 bushels per acre, which would have been a state record. In 2004, according to USDA, Louisiana averaged 30 bushels per acre.
David Y. Lanclos is the soybean, corn and grain sorghum specialist at LSU AgCenter. e-mail: email@example.com


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Dress swap benefits Relay
Hoping to save teens and their parents some money and find them beautiful dresses to wear to prom, one local Relay for Life team is again planning a Prom Dress Exchange.
"I think the last few years have been financially difficult on people either directly or indirectly, and they want to save and make money," said the event organizer Tiffany Fullenkamp. "This also gives them the opportunity to support a well known organization (the American Cancer Society) on a local level.
"Few families can say they have never been affected by cancer," she said. "It's everywhere and it doesn't discriminate. It sucks!"
Citing the American Cancer Society's slogan, Fullenkamp said they are hoping to "create a world with more birthdays" with Auglaize County's help.
The second-ever exchange specifically benefits the Rock Out for Cancer (R.O.C.) team in memory of Fullenkamp's younger brother, Jason Strauser, who died last spring after a seven-year battle with brain cancer.
Last year through the exchange the team raised more than $700 and they are aiming to raise even more from the event this year.
"Last year, we had amazing dresses and we are really trying to get the word out better so students and their parents can benefit from buying a slightly used dress at a great price," Fullenkamp said.
The event is planned for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 18, at the St. Joseph Parish Life Center in Wapakoneta, and this year they are partnering with Grandview Cleaners and Laundry to offer a 20 percent discount on the cleaning of any dress bought that day. A seamstress also will be on hand to talk to the girls about possible alterations to ensure a perfect fit.
Organizers are asking for a $10 non-refundable donation toward the team for each dress and $5 for each accessory that is sold. Owners of the dresses and accessories set their own prices and receive all of that money back to keep.
Donation slips also are available upon request for anyone wanting one for the 2012 tax year.
Items to be sold can be dropped off at the Parish Life Center from 9 to 10 a.m. the day of the sale. Either dresses or profits can be picked up from 2 to 2:30 p.m. after the sale. Items left are to be donated to local thrift stores.
Fullenkamp said the sale is a fun way for the team to raise money and provides an opportunity to sell those no longer needed fancy dresses, shoes, purses and jewelry to those who can use the little worn items and pay a fraction of what they would have cost retail.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the Greater Auglaize County Relay for Life event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, June 22, and conclude at noon Saturday, June 23, at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds.
For more information on the Prom Dress Exchange call Tiffany Fullenkamp at 419-738-3303 or search for Rock Out Cancer on Facebook.


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HTS Theological Studies
versão On-line ISSN 2072-8050
versão impressa ISSN 0259-9422
Herv. teol. stud. vol.68 no.1 Pretoria Jan. 2012
Ethics in Context: the Thessalonians and their neighbours
Abraham J. Malherbe
New Testament Studies, Yale University, United States. Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa
First Thessalonians was written within a few months, following the conversion of Paul's Greek readers, and reflects how his ethical teaching was part of his proclamation. Paul's preaching of the gospel, intimately connected with the kind of person he was, brought about a close personal relationship between him and his converts. Whilst he stood as a moral model for them, he nevertheless spoke for God, and thus, his ethical instruction was grounded theologically. His converts would have understood how moral dicta, with which they were familiar, were derived from philosophy, but not from religion, as Jews and Christians held. In the overtly paraenetic sections of the letter (ch. 4 and 5), Paul was at great pains to underline this connection, which was the main point he was making.
First Thessalonians lends itself to what I understand the interest of this conference to be, for three reasons: firstly, the letter was written soon after Paul's missionary activity amongst the recipients of the letter, and reflects that activity more clearly than is revealed in any of his other letters; secondly, the letter exhibits a pronounced interest in the recent converts' relationship to the environment which had formed them before they became Christians, thus, it exhibits interest in their neighbours and their thinking; thirdly, the letter is paraenetic in style and is largely so in content, and it is thus concerned with the moral formation of Paul's converts. These elements will be treated in the course of my article1.
The Letter
The autobiographical and historical narrative
We begin with a brief comment on the circumstances of the writing of the letter. The letter consists of five chapters, the first three of which are autobiographical and historical, and the last two contain practical advice, or paraenesis. Without the context of the historical narrative of chapters 1-3, which essentially describe Paul's founding of this church, we will not be able to appreciate the missionary dimension of Paul's ethical instruction in the letter.
Paul arrived in Thessalonica in the summer of the year AD 49. He left this place two or three months later, having spent only this short period of time founding the church. Finding himself in Athens, he sent Timothy, who had come from Macedonia, back to Thessalonica. He moved on to Corinth in early AD 50, where Timothy again caught up with him, bringing news about the church in Thessalonica. He wrote 1 Thessalonians soon after Timothy's arrival. He thus wrote the letter six to eight months after he first set foot in Thessalonica and about four months after he had left the city (Malherbe 2000:71-74).
The letter confirms this reconstruction. It reflects a young church, and is positive and intent on strengthening the recent converts. Paul uses passionate language, dripping with sentiment and pathos, especially when speaking of his desire to return to them. He recalls his efforts to overcome his enforced separation from them when Satan hindered him, leaving him a desolated orphan until Timothy returned with news that made him overflow with thanks and joy.
Paul writes in this way, not to defend himself for any reason, as is sometimes thought, but as I have argued in my commentary on the letter, to lay a philophronetic foundation for the practical advice he would give in chapters 4 and 5. He describes a relationship that he claims was extraordinarily close and personal from the first time he came in contact with them. It is only after that bond has been strengthened, by calling their short mutual history to mind, that he sets about to fill what was lacking in their faith (3:10), which turns out to be guidance on some aspects of their moral life. The function of this narrative, then, is not apologetic but has already extended to being paraenetic.
The occasion for writing 1 Thessalonians
I wish to focus on the two brackets to this historical narrative, and turn first to its end, 3:5-7, where Paul recounts the circumstances that led to the writing of this letter. At the end of his historical narrative, Paul expresses himself in contemporary conventional form when he plaintively remarks on the mutual desire to see each other face to face. This was an epistolographic feature of so-called 'letters of friendship.' More significant for our immediate purpose is Timothy's good news that Paul's recent converts 'always have a good memory of him' (3:6), which amounts to an expression of confidence that they still looked to him for guidance (3:6-7) (Malherbe 2000:206-208). Paul here uses a convention from the contemporary moral hortatory tradition, which described the ideal relationship between a recent convert to philosophy and his teacher, who had moved on after bringing his recent convert to conversion. An example is found in Lucian, where the convert, in this case a certain Nigrinus, is speaking:
Then, too, I take pleasure in calling his words to mind frequently, and have already made it a regular exercise: even if nobody happens to be at hand, I repeat them to myself two or three times just the same. I am in the same case with lovers. In the absence of the objects of their fancy they think over their actions and their words, and by dallying with these beguile their lovesickness into the belief that they have their sweethearts near; in fact, sometimes they even imagine that they are chatting with them and are pleased with what they formerly heard as if they were just being said, and by applying their minds to the memory of the past give themselves no time to be annoyed by the present. So I too, in the absence of my mistress Philosophy, get no little comfort out of gathering the words that I then heard and turning them over to myself. In short, I fix my gaze on that man as if he were a lighthouse and I were adrift at sea in the dead of night, fancying him by me whenever I do anything and always hearing him repeat his former words. Sometimes, especially when I put pressure on my soul, his face appears to me and the sound of his voice abides in my ears. Truly, as the comedian says, 'He left a sting implanted in his hearers.' (Nigrinus 6-7 [LCL, transl. A.M. Harmon])
Associated with this theme of remembrance of the teacher, indeed its presupposition is that the teacher had become the model or paradigm for the convert. The teacher could call on others to follow his example because he had attained a moral status that authorised him to make demands. By presenting himself as a model, he demonstrated three things:
- that his moral demands could be achieved
- that he showed in concrete terms what was demanded
- and that he made a commitment to continue acting in the same way.
Paul uses this convention elsewhere. For example, in 1 Corinthians 4:14-21, at the end of the introductory section of the letter, before he gives explicit directions on how to behave in certain circumstances, he claims a special relationship with his readers: he is their spiritual father, having begotten them through his preaching of the gospel to them, not on the basis of his personal attainment of moral superiority. His fatherhood in the gospel allows him to call on his children to become imitators of him. What that means, he says, Timothy his child will remind them of:
I exhort you therefore, brethren, be imitators of me. For this reason I sent to you Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus. (1 Cor 4:16-17)
Paul remains their paradigm in his absence. What is required is that they continue to remember him. Thus, Timothy returns to Paul from the Thessalonians and reports that they 'always have a good memory' of him, they are already doing what he wants the Corinthians to do (cf. 4:1, 10; 5:11).
We turn to the other bracket of the historical narrative. In 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7, he uses the convention in a manner quite different from 1 Corinthians. Here he reminds them of something they already know (vv. 4-5), the circumstances of their conversion:
For our gospel came to you not in word only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit and with a full conviction, fully in conformity with the kind of persons we proved to be amongst you for your sake; so you on your part became imitators of us [in Greek: and the Lord by receiving the word in deep distress and with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, with the result that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
The stress here is on the powerful manner in which the gospel had come to the Thessalonians and brought about their relationship with Paul. Unlike 1 Corinthians 4:15, where it is Paul who, through the agency of the gospel, begets them, thus creating a paternal relationship with his converts, in 1 Thessalonians the stress is otherwise. Here the stress is on the dynamic character of the gospel which brings about the intensely personal relationship between Paul and his converts, expressed in the inelegant but forceful piling up of personal pronouns. What Paul, in chapter 1, simply calls 'our gospel' (1:5) or 'the word of the Lord' that the Thessalonians in their turn preached (1:8), he repeatedly calls 'the gospel of God' in chapter 2 (vv. 2, 8, 9), which he had been entrusted with (2:4), and which God had emboldened him to speak (2:2). The Thessalonians had received that message from him for what it truly was, not a human word, but the word of God, which was at work in them, the believers. This is explained (ãÜñ) by their, on their part, having become imitators of God's churches in Judea when they suffered (2:13-14).
What is striking about Paul's description in 1:5-7, of how his gospel came to them, is that the gospel was not separated from the kind of person he was. They became imitators of him and the Lord when they accepted the word with much affliction mixed with joy (1:6). The reference here is likely to the self-giving of Christ who, he says in 5:9-10, died for us so that we might not experience God's wrath but be saved by Christ so that we might live with him.
For his part, Paul reminds his readers in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9 how he had ministered to them (see Malherbe 1970):
Although we might have made harsh demands on you as apostles of Christ, yet we were gentle in your midst; as a nurse who cares for her own children, so we, having tender affection for you gladly determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but our very selves, because we had come to love you. For you remember brethren, our labour and toil; working night and day in order not to burden any of you we preached the gospel of God to you.
In this self-presentation in chapters 1 and 2, the gospel comports to the kind of person he showed himself to be. In Paul's life the gospel had become transparent. For our immediate interest, what is notable is that Paul's ethical instruction is not separated from his mission preaching, that is, the initial offering of the gospel. The letter provides no evidence for a two-stage activity, the preaching of the kerugma and, subsequently, doctrinal and ethical instruction. The short time that he spent in Thessalonica, founding the church, could hardly have accommodated such periodised activities, nor could the social realities of the mission have included these. Paul was engaged in manual labour, stitching away at his tents whilst preaching in a relatively small space in which manufacture and sales were being conducted (Hock 1980; Malherbe 1987:15-20). He worked out of love for his hearers and to provide them an example of social responsibility (2:8; 4:11; 2 Th 3:8-9).
Paul worked at the same time that he preached, and there is no evidence of an earlier scholarly generation's surmise that kerugma was followed by moral catechesis. The imperatives with which he later urges his readers to please God (4:1-2) 'are not derived from an indicative' but 'had been part of Paul's initial preaching in Thessalonica' (Luhrmann 1990:249).2 The frequently repeated observation that several of Paul's letters comprise two sections, the first dealing with theological matters, which served as the basis for the second, devoted to ethics, does not apply to 1 Thessalonians, whose first part is historical and biographical. The lives of Paul and the Thessalonians were, from the beginning, interwoven by the preaching and receiving of the gospel and teaching on the moral life. Recollecting that earlier association has the philophronetic epistolary function of preparing Paul's readers for the directions in the second part of the letter.
The letter reflects Paul's concern about his converts' faith, his uncertainty about their social relations, whether or not they fully understood the reasons for his moral demands, whether or not they questioned the adequacy of their knowledge, and whether or not they were doing the right things and were making sufficient progress in their new walk. These are perennial problems experienced by recent converts to philosophy or religion, and to these the Thessalonians were no exception (see Malherbe 1987:36-52). It is no wonder, then, that Paul writes that it was out of his own need that he sent Timothy to find out precisely what conditions were like, and, most importantly, whether they still looked to him, as they initially had done, as their paradigm of gospel behaviour or not. And it is no wonder that receipt of the good news that they indeed did so, resulted in Paul's effusive expression of joy and gratitude (3:7-10).
A letter to a community
In the letter that he writes in response to Timothy's good news, Paul focuses on individuals as part of a larger community, which he describes in kinship terms. The letter is addressed 'to the of the Thessalonians, in God their Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' This is the only time that is used of the Thessalonians, and that, in an unusual way, circumscribed as 'in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' (1:1). To be 'in God' is unusual for Paul, and it is likely that 'in' is to be understood instrumentally, as it is in 2:2, 'we were emboldened by Ýí our God to speak to you.' Read thus, the church is created by God the Father, 'Father' being a designation of God as Creator, as in the creedal formulation in 1 Corinthians 8:6:
But for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
'Father' was used as early as Plato to describe the Creator and is Philo's favourite term for the Creator (Malherbe 2000:99-100). The God who brought the church into existence is then called 'our Father' in two passages which form an inclusio to the historical narrative (1:3; 3:11, 13). So, the community whose origin Paul describes has God the Creator as their Father, before whom they will stand at the Parousia of the Lord Jesus and all his saints.
Despite the kinship language with which the letter is replete, Paul does not replicate a hierarchical structure (Malherbe 1995). He certainly is not the authoritative paterfamilias, as in 1 Corinthians, but rather uses images to describe himself that are affective. Rather than claim the perquisites due an apostle, he claims to have been gentle like a wet nurse, a domestic employee crooning over her charges (2:7). When separated from his recent converts, he felt orphaned, desolate and lonely (2:17). And when he was with them and ministered to them, he did so like a caring father who gave individual attention to them conforming to their dispositions or emotional states, sometimes exhorting, at other times consoling, at others charging them to live in a manner worthy of God, who calls them into his kingdom and glory (2:11-12; cf. 4:1-2).
Paul uses the paternal metaphor to describe his responsible psychagogy, but he is never their father, and he nowhere in the letter calls them his children. He rather addresses or describes his converts as ['brothers'], thirteen times, the highest incidence of the term in all of his letters. The relationship between him and them and amongst themselves is that of siblings. Brothers constitute the church's gatherings (5:25-27). Remarkably, the moral advice in the letter is given in view of the relationship between the brothers:
- directions on sexual morality forbid transgressing against and wronging one's brother (4:6)
- advice on social responsibility is given within the rubric of brotherly love (4:9-12)
- the consolation after the death of some of them assures them that they will not be separated from each other at the Parousia (4:15; 5:10)
- he enjoins them to comfort each other with these words (4:17-18)
- they should provide the same pastoral care to each other that he has given them, giving attention to each other one on one (5:11), treating each other in ways appropriate to each person's disposition and emotional state as he had practiced (5:12-16; cf. 2:11-12).
The kinship language that Christians used of themselves did not escape the notice of their pagan neighbours. A century after Paul it drew the attention of Lucian of Samosata, who described the speed with which Christians aided people in need, and he cuttingly offered a reason for their behaviour:
Their first lawgiver persuaded them that they are all brothers of one another after they have transgressed once and for all by denying the Greek gods and by worshipping that crucified sophist himself and living under his laws. Therefore they despised all things indiscriminately and consider them common property ... (Lucian, Peregrinus 13 [LCL transl. A.M. Harmon])
Through their conversion they became brothers and sisters and adopted a communal life that distinguished them from the rest of society. Whilst Lucian is merely derisive, Caecilius, another pagan, playing on the much vaunted Christian love for each other, was downright vicious:
They recognize each other by secret marks and signs; hardly have they met when they love each other, throughout the world uniting in the practice of a veritable religion of lusts. Indiscriminately they call each other brother and sister, thus turning even ordinary fornication into incest by the intervention of these hallowed names. Such a pride does this foolish, deranged superstition take in its wickedness. (Minucius Felix, Octavius 9.2 [ACW, transl. G.W. Clarke])
To this slashing accusation, Minucius Felix the Christian apologist replies:
... it is true that we do love one another - a fact that you deplore-since we do not know how to hate. Hence it is true that we do call one another brother - a fact which rouses your spleen-because we are men of the one and same God the Father, copartners in faith, coheirs in hope. (Octavius 31.18; cf. Tertullian, Apol. 39)
These pagan criticisms reacted to the self-conscious way in which Christians attributed a special quality to their fellowship by describing themselves as brothers. Caecilius attributed this to pride. Paul pointedly enhanced the quality of the Christian communal life by emphasising the implication of what it meant to be brothers. According to 1 Corinthians, which repeatedly comments on relations with non-Christians, he tells his readers not to associate with a brother who is immoral, but allows social mixing with pagans who act in the same way (5:11-13). The presumption is that the Christian brethren live on a higher ethical level than their pagan neighbours. That also means that Christians are not to drag each other before pagan courts for judgement (6:1-2).
The fraternal relationship came into being with their obedience to the gospel, which according to 1 Corinthians 4:15 was the way Paul begat them. Adolf Harnack (1908), at the beginning of a long chapter in his Mission and Expansion entitled 'The Gospel of Love and Charity', explains the fraternal relationship in this way:
The preaching which laid hold of the outer man, detaching him from the world, and uniting him to his God, was also a preaching of solidarity and brotherliness . The gospel . is at bottom both individualistic and socialistic. (pp. 147-149)
One may question what Harnack means by detachment from the world. After all, in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 Paul cautions that refusing to associate with pagans guilty of the behaviour he condemns in Christians, would mean that they would have to withdraw from the world. What is apt, however, is Harnack's identifications of social as well as individual aspects of conversion.
Let me summarise up to this point. Paul begins the letter with a three chapter account of his relationship with his recent converts. The purpose of this narrative is to strengthen the bond between them to form the basis for the moral direction that will follow, in the final two chapters of the letter, which are usually described as paraenetic. The narrative in fact serves a paraenetic function. Paul uses a style adopted from the moral philosophers of his day in this autobiographical narrative, which culminates in an expression of joy that his converts still hold him as the moral example to whom they look for guidance.
But Paul did not develop this relationship with his converts in the way that moralists did. His relationship with his readers was effectuated by the gospel, the word of the Lord, which is not described in terms of its content, but totally according to its power and effect. Paul's gospel was not separated from the kind of person he showed himself to be, and in this section of the letter he establishes his bona fides as their moral instructor.
Paul does not, however, present himself as an authoritative teacher, but as a member of a fellowship of brethren whose Father is the Creator, who brought the church into existence. The conversion of the Thessalonians had both a personal and a social dimension. In a community who called themselves brethren, his moral instruction always had a communal dimension. The behaviour of Christians was later criticised by their opponents because of the exceptionalism they thought inherent in the Christians' description of themselves as brethren. The view of the little group of manual labourers in northern Greece, of themselves as the family of God, had implications for relationships within the fellowship and with society at large. Before examining two texts in which Paul addresses these issues, we need to give attention to the larger intellectual context of moral instruction.
Philosophy, religion, ethics and mission
Paul uses elements of the Hellenistic moral tradition to describe his ministry in chapter 2, his psychagogic techniques are derived from that same tradition, and so too, we shall see, is some of the language in which he couches the content of his moral directives in the letter.3 It has been demonstrated that Hellenistic Jewish moral instruction did not differ materially from that of the world in which it lived.4 Early Christians, too, shared this moral instruction, and the Church Fathers acknowledged the similarity of Christian teaching to that of the moral philosophers. For example, Musonius Rufus, Paul's Stoic contemporary, was widely respected amongst Christians and quoted extensively by Clement of Alexandria, who in fact is our main source for Musonius' lectures; and Seneca, another Stoic contemporary, was referred to by Tertullian as 'frequently our own.' Celsus, the arch opponent of Christians, charged that they shared their system of morals with the philosophers and that there was nothing particularly new or impressive in it, to which Origen agreed. Twentieth century scholarship has demonstrated that New Testament writers, especially those of the Pauline tradition, similarly belong to the philosophical landscape in matters of style, self-description and content (Malherbe 1992:267-270). Of course, they differed in significant ways from the philosophers as the latter differed amongst themselves.5
The most significant difference was their orientation to the moral life. For the philosopher, morality becomes possible when a person commits himself to live rationally, when he comes to his senses, expressed by Epictetus as turning to himself (Diatr. 3.23.16).6 Paul uses the same word in describing the Thessalonians' conversion, which has moral implications and provides the theological framework of the moral exhortation of the letter:
How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Th 1:9-10)
For Epictetus, the moral life is pursued as part of an intellectual enterprise, whereas for Paul, it is a religious service undertaken as one turns to God, the eschatological judge, from whose judgement his son will deliver the convert (cf. 5:9-10). This recollection of their conversion comes after the intensely religious description of Paul's encounter with the Thessalonians, and their ensuing relationship brought about by the gospel of God. Viewed in its cultural context, this religious introduction, to a letter that is essentially ethical instruction, is remarkable for the connection between religion and morality.
This connection, viewed as axiomatic by Jews and Christians, was not acknowledged as a matter of course by pagans, those people Paul describes as worshippers of idols, from amongst whom his recent converts came. He has them in mind when he writes the letter. This issue requires further attention.
It has been debated whether or not pagan religion had an essential connection with ethics (Malherbe 1989:61, 2000:241). That the debate has continued for some time proves that such a connection is neither abundantly clear nor obvious. There is much to commend what Edwin Judge has to say on the matter. He begins an article on the notion of religion with a provocative sentence: 'There was no understanding of "religion" in the ancient world of Greece and Rome. No conception as we now hold existed then ...' He points out that our vocabulary of 'religion' does not derive from the Greeks, but that much of it ('religion', 'superstition', 'piety', 'cult', etc.) comes from Latin, and that none of these are concerned with what we call 'religion'. Judge (2010) then describes the distinctiveness of a modern 'religion':
It has (a) an articulate view of the world as a whole, (b) a coherent set of rules for life, and (c) a communal identity that marks it off from other such complexes: 'creed', 'commitment' and 'community', or 'belief', 'behaviour ', and 'belonging.' None of these items featured in the so-called 'religion' of Graeco-Roman antiquity. One's daily sacrifice did not commit one to any doctrine or pattern of behaviour, nor define any communal life other than the general one. Each of these concerns lay rather with philosophy. (p. 266)
Lately, attention has been drawn to inscriptions from western Asia Minor which reveal a closer connection. Petitioners erected steles on which they confessed to a powerful god that they had sinned and been punished for their wicked deeds. The sins enumerated and repented of, such as perjury, dishonesty in business practices, adultery, and theft, are also condemned by Jews and Christians. I do not yet know enough about these inscriptions despite the excellent guidance I have received from Hans-Josef Klauck (2003), Walter Ameling (2011) and Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr (2011) to form a responsible judgment about the inscriptions. But eighty years ago A.D. Nock commented on the few of them available to him, that they were from the second century onwards to the fifth, and that the religious elements in them were Lydian and not Greek (Nock 1964:20-22). Since that time, a few earlier ones, one from the middle of the first century AD have come to light, but the bulk of them are from a later period and come from a relatively limited geographical area. Prudence suggests that the inscriptions require closer study before generalizations are ventured.
Judaism and Christianity
What is more important than such modern interpretations of the evidence, are explicit comments by Jewish and Christian writers, particularly the apologetic ones, on the matter of these inscriptions. After all, it is their writings that we seek to understand, as writings whose aim it was to articulate a Jewish or Christian self-understanding to a pagan world.
On the Jewish side, the Epistle of Aristeas may serve as an example. The work describes a banquet scene during which the translation of the Septuagint is celebrated. The Jewish wise men who had done the translation are asked essentially moral philosophical questions, about subjects such as gentleness, justice, courage, piety, to which they respond, always with a reference to God, who is described at the beginning of the scene as 'Almighty God, the Creator of all good things.' The king, who sponsored the translation, compliments them, as, for example, in Epistle of Aristeas 200-201:
When all had expressed approval and signified it by applause, the king said to the philosophers, of whom not a few were present, 'I think the virtue of these men is extraordinary and their understanding very great, for having questions of this sort addressed to them they have given proper replies on the spur of the moment, all of them making God the starting-point of their reasoning.' And the philosopher Menedemus of Eretria said, 'True, Your Majesty; for inasmuch as all things are governed by providence, and these men are right in holding that man is a creature of God, it follows that all power and beauty of discourse have their starting-point from God.
The Jewish apologist neatly combines the claims that Jewish moral teaching is philosophical and located in the teaching of God. There is an inextricable relationship between morality and religion, and therein lies Jewish exceptionalism.
Similar claims are made by the Christian apologists, such as Athenagoras, who claimed that Christian doctrines, taught by God , who is in charge of human affairs, instruct Christians to love their enemies (Suppl. 11-12). Their God is the Creator, who oversees history and will judge human actions (cf. Aristides, Apol. 15; Theophilus, Ad Autol. 3.15).
What the Apologists argue explicitly, is implicit in Paul's reminder in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, that the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols in response to his missionary message. The goal of their conversion is specified in two complementary infinitives: to serve the Creator with total allegiance, which implies a moral, sanctified life (see Rm 6:16-23), and to await his son from heaven, who will deliver them from eschatological judgement. These two implications become pronounced in Paul's ethical instruction in the letter.
It has been suggested that the similarity in content between pagan and Christian moral teaching may have been a factor in Christian mission. A.D. Nock thought that the moral standard derived from philosophy or religion made the task of the Christian missionary easier (Nock 1964:1.67). Not many people, however, were able to live up to them, whilst Christianity provided motives for good conduct (fear of God, devotion to Jesus, love of fellow Christians), and claimed great power to satisfy its requirements (Nock 1933:215-216, 218, 220).
K.-W. Niebuhr is less certain that the similarities aided Christian missions. Whilst he thinks that the confessional inscriptions from western Asia Minor witness to a religiously determined ethics, to a sense of the pervading daily presence of the god, he does not believe that this would have been of positive value for Christian missions. The presence of a god who requires confession of sins and acceptance of punishment in order to avoid further divine sanctions would be onerous rather than comforting. People familiar with a god so involved in their daily life were unlikely to have warmed to the idea of a divine presence that ordered the details of their relationships with each other (Niebuhr 2011:272-274).
Walter Ameling, on the other hand, thinks that Christianity was not morally distinct from those pagans and the Christian moral teaching was therefore the attraction. The similarities include a concern for forgiveness of sins and a proclamation of the greatness of God, which means that there was a fertile ground for missionary preaching (Ameling 2011:246-248).
In what follows we shall see that the content of Paul's ethical instruction had much in common with his environment. But whether that similarity was an attracting element or not is another matter. Such consideration is absent from his description of the Thessalonians' conversion in 1:5-7.
Introducing Paraenesis: 4:1-2
Paul introduces the last two chapters, usually thought to be the paraenetic section, in 4:1-2. Whilst he was with them, he had spoken to please God 2:4), and he had acted pastorally to the end that they conduct themselves worthily of God 2:12).
Now, by letter he continues in the same vein. He beseeches and exhorts the Thessalonians . They are to continue in the conduct in which he had instructed them, which they were in fact doing. To follow the teaching they had received from him is to please God . Paul uses conventional paraenetic markers to introduce this section of the letter [4:1-2]).
But his readers are addressed as [brothers], and the gentle appeal is given as he originally had given it . What formally and stylistically is a Hellenistic paraenetic letter, is made a Christian pastoral letter, and the ethical instruction is given pastorally.
What is significant for us is that the ethical instruction that follows is a continuation of Paul's pastoral care that he exercised from the beginning of the congregation's existence. They remembered what he had taught them and were putting it into practice, and from that perspective, there was no need to provide new content to his teaching. What, then, is the point of what follows? Paul provides clarification about this at the beginning of the first section of paraenesis.
On Sexual Morality: 4:3-8
The text is enclosed by two brackets, each making a statement about [sanctification] (vv. 3, 7), which also appears in connection with the major subject of the section, namely marriage (v. 4). The in the introductory statement, is explanatory, which has the sense expressed in the paraphrase, 'Well, to be explicit, God's will is this,' which is then identified as sanctification, which is in apposition to . So, the behaviour in which the Thessalonians had been instructed, in which they were still engaged and were pleasing God, is their sanctification, which is the real subject of verses 3-8, and is what Paul stresses.
K.-W. Niebuhr suggested that Jewish and Christian identity was not found in the content of their moral teaching, but in their claim that it was the will of God (Niebuhr 1987:70-72), to which W. Ameling objected that that idea would have meant little to pagans, who would have been astonished by the similarity to the ethics they had been taught by popular philosophy or religion (Ameling 2011:246). They are both correct with respect to 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. The content of the teaching is not unique, and the notion of the will of God, in which the readers had been instructed, was not clear to them, hence the need for Paul to provide the clarification.
here is a noun describing action (cf. 2 Th 2:13), not a condition 3:13). The action is that of Paul's readers (cf. v. 7 for God's action), which is specified in a series of infinitives marking a progression in thought. The first is a general prohibition against sexual immorality [4:3]), which, to the Jewish mind, is a vice characteristic of pagans, and was frequently associated with idolatry (Wisdom 14:13; cf. Rm 1:24, 26). It is natural that Paul would begin in this way in writing to readers who not too long beforehand had turned from idols to serve the living and true God (1:9). He would have had to make the connection between morality and religion very early in his instruction.
The second infinitive, 'that each of you learn to acquire his own wife,' defines the positive side of sanctification. The most likely meaning, I think, is that individuals should enter marriage in holiness and honour . The single preposition with the two nouns combines them, but , given the context, predominates. That is what stands out, not that they act in honour.
Musonius Rufus, Paul's contemporary, thought that sexual relations outside marriage were dishonourable (frag. 12), and others thought that one could marry for dishonourable reasons. Even within marriage, sensual pleasure was said to be short, in contrast to honour, kindness and affection (Mus Ruf, frag. 13; Plutarch, The Dialogue on Love 754; cf. Ps.-Arist., Concerning Household Management 3.23-25).7 What distinguishes Paul is that the marriage relationship is defined from a religious perspective, as sanctification, which is what would have been new to his Gentile converts.
Paul's positive statement on marriage, as sanctification, is accentuated by a negative antithesis, 'not in lustful passion like the pagans do who do not know God.' Paul's language, ('lustful passion' [cf. 4:5]) is derived from his Stoic contemporaries, who defined this emotion as an irrational or intemperate movement of the soul, a craving opposed to reason. One should discipline or train this emotion, according to Musonius, rather than indulge in extramarital sex (frag. 12) or hit on someone else's wife (frag. 7).
Whilst the actual behaviour that Paul inculcates, not to be lustful, is shared with his pagan contemporary, the cause of the behaviour to be rejected is ascribed differently. Paul does not attribute it to a psychological deficiency, a lack of discipline properly exercised by reason, but he instead interprets the condition theologically, as a result of ignorance of God. This is Jewish moral tradition (Wisdom 14:12, 22-27) that Paul also uses in Romans 1:18-32. The thought is clarified by 1 Peter 1:14-16:
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance , but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'
The sanctified life is a consequence of having turned from idols to serve a living and true God (1:9). Paul had subsequently taught his converts to live lives worthy of God who calls them into his kingdom and glory (2:12). The sanctified life, specified in the way Paul explains it in 4:3-8, is what is implied.
What would be striking to the Thessalonians' neighbours is not the prohibition against sexual immorality, but that the immoral action in view is against a 'brother.' Paul is not here concerned with sexual behaviour vis a vis the larger society but that within the community of [brothers], which is the family created by God the Father. Timothy probably informed Paul of a particular circumstance in the congregation that called for his instruction on the subject.
The reason for his demand, Paul says, is that God is an avenger of all these things. The moralists also held that the gods punished the covetous and watched over marriage (Musonius Rufus, frag. 14). Paul's thought is derived from the Old Testament and Jewish tradition. More immediately, Paul's reference is to what he himself had told them and charged them. They had accepted from Paul the expectation of a coming judgement (1:10), and he had charged them, during his ministry with them, to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of God who calls them into his kingdom and glory (2:12). He now relates that call explicitly to this particular moral behaviour: 'For God did not call us to impurity but in sanctification. The person who rejects this charge rejects no human but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to them' (v. 8), and the section ends with the threat that to reject his directions is to reject God who bestows his Holy Spirit.
What is remarkable about this passage on sexual morality, is how little is said specifically about behaviour: do not be be sexually immoral, marry, do not commit adultery. That was hardly new to the morally reflective person. What does stand out is how saturated the passage is with theological warrants for Paul's advice:
- sanctification, which is God's will
- knowledge of God
- God as eschatological judge
- God's call in sanctification
- God's gift of the Holy Spirit.
This makes Paul's directive more than the promotion of marriage as an anodyne against sexual immorality, as it is in 1 Corinthians 7:1-2, 9. Writing to recent converts from paganism, he goes to great lengths to characterize the Christian life as more than obedience to the precepts of a revered teacher. Paul was no ordinary teacher; instead he spoke to the Thessalonians through the Lord Jesus, the will of God, which was that their lives needed to be sanctified. That concept was the great challenge to them.
On brotherly love and self-sufficiency: 4:9-12
From sexual morality within the church, Paul turns to a new subject, love within the Christian community and the Christians' relationship to outsiders. What was expressed in 3:12 as a prayer, 'May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all,' is now treated as a moral obligation imposed by God. The style of the instruction is pure paraenesis: you do not need me to write to you, you are taught by God to do what I have to tell you, you are in fact already doing it, just do so more and more, just as I instructed you.
This earliest teaching on Christian social ethics is extraordinarily dense with contemporary social and political terminology: to be ambitious, to be quiet, to mind one's own affairs, one's attitude toward those not of one's own group (the outsiders), and to be self-sufficient. A rapid overview will sketch the context of Paul's instructions and sharpen the point he seems to be making.
Paul begins his instruction in kinship terms, 'Concerning love of the brethren.'IMAGEM AQUI, used by pagans for love of blood relations, is used by Paul for love between Christians. The analogous relationship between non-Christians was described by them as friendship, a virtue of the utmost importance in antiquity (Fitzgerald 1996, 1997). Whilst the virtue was celebrated by everyone, a variety of opinions were held about it. A recognition of some of them affords an idea of the moral discussions which formed the environment within which Paul wrote.
Philosophers differed amongst themselves on how they conceived of the origin of friendship. Some, like the Stoics, thought that we have an innate capacity for friendship, whilst the Epicureans were accused of having a purely utilitarian view, namely, that we develop friendships so that we will have people who will want to meet our future needs. In tension with both was the virtue of self-sufficiency, which everyone aspired to. How could one reconcile self-sufficiency with the endless discussions of how to give and receive gifts? The answer was found in concentrating on the character and motive of the giver rather than the receiver.
By casting the issue as one between brothers, Paul makes it part of the theme of sibling relationship, which has run through the letter up to this point. The Thessalonians had heard Paul speaking God's word to them (2:2, 4, 8, 9), and they accepted what he said as God's word (2:13). Part of that divine teaching had been that they were to love each other. Paul coins the word to express that notion. It stands in stark contrast to some philosophers' claim that they were 'self-taught' or 'untaught' (Malherbe 2000:244-245). For Paul, the loving relationship between members of the Christian family is not an inborn capacity, and therefore is subject to a consideration of the donor's character or motive, nor does he consider securing a guarantee of reciprocal generosity. It is, simply, a divine mandate to love.
Once more, a generally accepted virtue is made a religious command. That would have stood out for the Thessalonians, both the Christians and their pagan neighbours. So too would have stood out Paul's directive that love be extended to the Christian family, not the larger society. In 3:12, all people are to be recipients of the Thessalonian Christians' love, but here Paul is concerned with a particular issue in the church, which emerges in verse 11.
Paul's exhortation continues with an eye-catching oxymoron: 'make it your ambition to live a quiet life and mind your own affairs , 'to love or seek after honour or glory,' described the effort of the ambitious man who became involved in public affairs. In a society driven by an intense desire for recognition, to refuse to do so, as the Epicureans did, evoked severe criticism. Epicureans withdrew from political and social involvement and organized themselves into conventicles of friends, much to the chagrin of Plutarch, who held that the responsible person should enter public life and contribute to the body politic.
Paul's oxymoron draws attention to , which describes a kind of quietism quite popular in the first century, not only found amongst Epicureans. It had a venerable history. Plato in the fourth century BC said:
To do one's own business and not be a busybody , is a saying that we have heard from many and have often repeated ourselves. (Rep. 4.441DE)
The philosopher lives quietly and tends to his own affairs Rep. 6.496CD; cf. Gorgias 526C), but so also are craftsmen to do. The state is well run when craftsmen work at their trades, each person doing his own work and tending to his own affairs Charmides 161E-162B), when the cobbler does his work and the carpenter his (Rep. 4.443CD). Such language became widespread by the early Roman Empire (e.g. Dio Cassius, Roman History 60.27; Ps.-Socrates, Epistles 24-26).
Paul explains how they are to love each other in two steps, each introduced by an explicative 'that is, that you be ambitious to live quietly and do your own thing.' That in turn is explained with another clause introduced by , 'that is, that you work with your own hands.' When reminding his readers earlier in the letter of his ministry with them, he had referred to his own manual labour as a demonstration of his love for them (2:8-9; cf. 2 Cor 11:11). Paul now asserts that the Thessalonians' love for each other cannot be separated from their work, and he refers to that earlier instruction.
It was difficult for the elite to escape criticism when they withdrew from productive public lives, and it was impossible for the working classes to do so. Lucian excoriates manual labourers who abandoned their trades upon supposedly converting to philosophy (Runaways 14; Double Indictment 6; Philosophies for Sale 11). Idle Christians would have stood out in the crowded quarters where they lived and plied their trade. The elite looked down on manual labour, but thought it appropriate for the lower ranks of society, where the critics of Christians placed them, and where the Thessalonians belonged. Lucian thought of Christians as susceptible to being taken advantage of by unscrupulous new converts like Peregrinus, and his view of them was not unique.
Paul shows a positive attitude toward non-Christians in the letter. He prays that the Lord make the Thessalonians increase and abound in love to each other and to all people (3:12). The Christians are not to retaliate, but to pursue what is good to all people (5:15). Paul may refer to non-Christians as 'outsiders,' but that does not mean that there was no social interaction between Christians and non-Christians. The situation in Thessalonica was probably no different from that in Corinth, where Christians and 'outsiders' had social intercourse with each other even when the Christian brothers were held to a higher standard of morality (1 Cor 5:9-13). Some were still married to pagans, and Paul did not wish such marriages to be dissolved (1 Cor 7:12-16). He was sensitive to Christian etiquette when invited to dinner by a pagan neighbour (1 Cor 10:27-29), and to pagan reaction to a Christian worship service (1 Cor 14:23-25).
Paul wants the Thessalonians to act becomingly to the outsiders (v. 12). What that means in this context is that they were to be self-sufficient and not sponge of each other, which would likely have met with pagan opprobrium, like that of Lucian. As the pagan discussions of friendship included a consideration of self-sufficiency, so does Paul's treatment of brotherly love. He probably writes on the subject because Timothy had informed him that Paul's recent converts needed instruction on the matter. He had made much of their sibling relationship. It would have been natural if some of them had applied some of the conventions of friendship to brotherly love, one being that friends have all things in common. Whether they did so or not, the behaviour attributed to them in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 is congruent with such an understanding. In response, Paul refers to the paradigmatic character of his own practice.
Paul's reminder of his manual labour in 2:9 has the same function and he recalls it in 4:11. Paul worked in order to show his love and to avoid being a burden to anyone. Speaking for God, he taught that working to support oneself was the correct way to show brotherly love. That is also his argument in 4:9-12. What is remarkable; however, especially in light of the immediately preceding verses, is the dearth of theological language and the fullness of social and political terminology.
Why does Paul write in this way? We can infer something from what he says later about how his readers were to admonish each other. Admonition is the harshest speech amongst the many that Paul mentions in the letter. It literally means to instil sense in someone and teach him what should and should not be done. It was associated with frank speech, included reproof and rebuke, and was not undertaken lightly. In 5:15, Paul commands the Thessalonians to admonish , which has traditionally been translated as 'the idle.' The in the church were idle, but if Paul simply wanted to identify them by their indolence, he could have used more common words such as literally means 'disorderly,' and refers to someone who does not submit to accepted norms of behaviour, such as those he had detailed in 4:9-12.
Paul must have heard from Timothy that there were some Thessalonians who did not work, which he describes as . Their disorderliness took the form of idleness, which caused a strain in the social fabric. From 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 it is clear that they disregarded his command and example of working to support himself in order not to burden the Thessalonians. They were not working but were busybodies 2 Th 3:11), they were acting in direct opposition to the dictates of Plato and the moral philosophers. Paul does not want them to rock the social boat, and to make his point he describes the situation in conventional political terms, confining his peculiarly Christian comments to making his directive a divine teaching on brotherly love.
Paul prefaces his paraenesis (ch. 4 and 5) by reminding his readers of how he had brought them to conversion and sought to maintain contact with them (ch. 1-3). The close personal relationship between them was brought about by the powerful message that he spoke, and empowered by God to do so. Paul's, or better, God's gospel, was transparent in his life, and the two could not be separated. Paul's behaviour in their midst, from the very beginning, as the dynamic word worked its way in them, demonstrated the ethical demands of the new religious commitment that they were making.
God created a family for himself through the gospel that Paul preached. Within that family, Paul writes as a brother to his Thessalonian siblings, not as an authoritative father. Paul's ethical instruction was intracommunal yet not without an extracommunal reference. The kinship language they used to describe their relationship to one another, and the love they demonstrated in practical terms to each other would draw the jaundiced eye of their pagan despisers.
Nevertheless, the content of Paul's ethical teaching did not differ very much from the ethical norms of those critics. Paul's converts would already have known what he had taught originally, and by the time he wrote the letter to the Thessalonians, they had the additional advantage of Paul's teaching and example, in accordance with which Paul says they were already living, so that he really had no need to write to them.
So, why does he write anyway? The reason he writes is to explicate the theological rationale for Christian conduct. Before they converted, the Thessalonians would not have related religion and morality together. Paul came on the scene, brought them to conversion, and remained their moral paradigm. But Paul (and Timothy) thought that they still inadequately viewed their moral life as a religious life. Paul sets out to correct this shortcoming. He consistently presents himself as having spoken for God, and in the letter he presents his ethical teaching as part of the divine scheme. But there are differences in the degree to which he plays on the theological themes in dealing with sexual and social ethics.
Competing interest
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
Ameling, W., 2011, 'Paránese und Ethik in den kleinasiatischen Beichtinscriften', in R.J. Deines & K.W. Niebuhr (Hrsg.), Neues Testament und hellenistisch-judische Altagskultur, pp. 241-249, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 274). [ Links ]
Balch, D., Ferguson, E. & Meeks, W.A. (eds.), 1990, Greeks, Romans, and Christians: Essays in honor of Abraham J. Malherbe, Fortress, Minneapolis. [ Links ]
Bultmann, R., 1924, 'Das Problem der Ethik bei Paulus', ZNW 23, 123-140. [ Links ]
Deines, R., Herzer, J. & Niebuhr, K.-W., 2011, Neues Testament und hellenistisch-judische Altagskultur, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 274). [ Links ]
Engberg-Pedersen, T., 2000, Paul and the Stoics, Westminster John Knox, Louisville. [ Links ]
Engberg-Pedersen, T., 2010, Cosmology and the self in the Apostle Paul: The material spirit, Oxford University Press, Oxford. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558568.001.0001 [ Links ]
Fitzgerald, J.T. (ed.), 1996, Friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech: Studies on Friendship in the New Testament World, Brill, Leiden. (NovTSup 82). [ Links ]
Fitzgerald, J.T. (ed.), 1997, Greco-Roman perspectives on friendship, Scholars Press, Atlanta. (SBLRBS 24). [ Links ]
Harnack, A., 1908, The mission and expansion of Christianity in the first three Centuries, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York. [ Links ]
Hock, R.F., 1980, The social context of Paul's ministry: Tentmaking and Apostleship, Fortress, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Horn, F.W. & Zimmermann, R., 2009, Jenseits von Indikativ undImperativ Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 238). [ Links ]
Judge, E., 2010, Jerusalem and Athens, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 265). [ Links ]
Klauck, H.-J., 2003, 'Die kleinasiatischen Beichtinschriften und das Neue Testament', in Religion und Gesellschaft im fruhen Christentum, pp. 57-81, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 152). [ Links ]
Luhrmann, D., 1990, 'The beginnings of the church at Thessalonica', in D. Balch et al. (ed.), Greeks, Romans, and Christians: Essays in honor of Abraham J. Malherbe, pp. 237-249, Fortress, Minneapolis. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1970, 'Gentle as a nurse: The Cynic background to 1 Thess 2', Novum Testamentum 12, 203-217. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1987, Paul and the Thessalonians: The Philosophic Tradition of pastoral care, Fortress, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1989, Paul and the popular philosophers, Fortress, Minneapolis. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1992, 'Hellenistic Moralists and the New Testament', ANRW 2(26), 3, 267-333. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1995, 'God's new family in Thessalonica', in L.M. White & O.L. Yarbrough (eds.), The social world of the first Christians: Essays in Honor of Wayne A. Meeks, pp. 116-125, Fortress, Minneapolis. [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 1998, 'Conversion to Paul's Gospel', in A.J. Malherbe & J. Thompson (eds.), The early church in its context: Studies in honor of Everett Ferguson, pp. 231-244, Brill, Leiden. (NovTSup 90). [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 2000, The letters to the Thessalonians, Doubleday, New York. (AB32B). [ Links ]
Malherbe, A.J., 2007, 'The virtus feminarum in 1 Timothy 2:9-15', in M.H. Hamilton, T.H. Olbricht & J. Peterson (eds.), Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson, pp. 24-44, Pickwick, Eugene, OR. [ Links ]
Niebuhr, K.W., 1987, Gesetz und Paránese: Katechismusartige Weisheitsreihen der judischen Literatur, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. (WUNT, 2.28). [ Links ]
Niebuhr, K.W., 2011, 'Judisches, jesuanisches und paganes Ethos im fruhen Christentum', in R. Deines et al., Neues Testament und hellenistisch-judische Altagskultur, pp. 251-274, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen. [ Links ]
Nock, A.D., 1933, Conversion: The old and the new in religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo, Clarendon, Oxford. [ Links ] Nock, A.D., 1964, Early Gentile Christianity and its Hellenistic background, Harper & Row, New York. [ Links ]
Nock, A.D., 1972, Essays on religion in the ancient world, 2 vols., ed., Z. Stewart, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. [ Links ]
Schnelle, U., 2005, Apostle Paul: His life and theology, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids. [ Links ]
Schrage, W., 1968, The ethics of the New Testament, Fortress Press, Philadelphia. [ Links ]
Starr, J. & Engberg-Pedersen, S., 2005, Early Christian Paraenesis in Context, De Gruyter, Berlin. (BZNW, 125). [ Links ]
Thompson, J.W., 2011, Moral Formation according to Paul, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids. [ Links ]
Zimmermann, R., 2009, 'The "implicit ethics" of New Testament writings: A draft on a new methodology for analyzing New Testament ethics', Neotestamentica 43, 399-423. [ Links ]
Zimmermann, R., 2010, 'Ehe, Sexualitát und Heiligkeit: Aspekte einer Ehe-Ethik im Neuen Testament', in Ehe als Erstfall der Geschlechterdifferenz: Herausforderungen fur Frau und Mann in Kulturellen Symbolsystemen, pp. 87-113, Lit Verlag, Berlin.
[ Links ]
Abraham Malherbe
Email: email@example.com
71 Spring Garden Street, Hamden, CT, USA 06517-1913
Received: 09 Jan. 2012
Accepted: 22 Feb. 2012
Published: 29 June 2012
Note: Prof. Abraham J. Malherbe is a research associate of Prof. Dr Kobus Kok at the Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa, in the research field of Mission and Ethics.
1. This article is heavily dependent on my commentary, The letters to the Thessalonians (Malherbe 2000:71-78).
2. For the indicative or imperative scheme, see R. Bultmann (1924), followed by generations of scholars. Dissatisfaction with it has grown, but attempts to come to terms with it are still being made, for example, by W. Schrage (1968:167-172); Schnelle (2005:546-551). A more creative response, with a sophisticated methodology, is now being undertaken, especially by R. Zimmermann; see Zimmermann 2009; compare Horn and Zimmermann (2009: esp. 1-5) for references to recent discussion of the issue.
3. I have demonstrated this in my publications. In addition to the works already cited in this article, see Malherbe (1989). For a view privileging Jewish traditions, see Thompson (2011).
4. For Hellenistic Judaism, see Niebuhr (1987:70-72, 2011:251-274); Ameling (2011:241-249).
5. The investigation has progressed to a new level by Engberg-Pedersen (2000 and 2010).
6. For a comparison of conversion as viewed by Paul and the philosophers, see Malherbe (1998);and Nock (1972:63-68) for the pagan understanding of conversion.
7. Musonius wrote on sexual morality at much greater length than Paul. For his views and that of other moral philosophers (see Malherbe 2000:230, 237-238; 2007; Zimmermann 2010).


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Steak. The word alone unleashes your inner caveman. We instinctively prize such "upper" cuts as New York strip and tenderloin. True, meat closer to the backbone tends to be flavorful and tender (think filet mignon), which is why they cost top dollar.
But as any true steak lover knows, there's great eating to be found on the steer's, er, undercarriage. Flank steak. Hanger steak. Skirt steak. Once deemed cuts for the poor, these belly steaks aren't exactly cheap these days, but they're a lot less expensive than top cuts. They're richly endowed with flavor and they have the added benefit of being quick and easy to cook.
All steaks should be generously seasoned, grilled over a hot fire, and rested for a few minutes before serving. To sample fibrous belly steaks at their best, cook them fast and serve thinly sliced across the grain (which shortens those tough stringy meat fibers).
Here follows 10 great steaks for grilling. My favorite? The one that's on the end of my fork!
So now that you know which steak to buy, learn the 10 secrets of grilling steak to master cooking it.


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This blog discusses current weather, weather prediction, climate issues, and other topics
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Evening Update
A big issue is that the mountains have not received any new snow in while. Icy and no powder. The only silver lining is that this snowpack is solid and stable. They don't call it Cascade concrete for nothing...so very small avalanche threat.
12 comments:
- Joan Neslund said...
Here at Holden Village, 11 Miles S Stehekin WA 48.2°N 120.75°W (Elev. 3224 ft), all we have is a thick 3 to 4 foot foundation of ice. No new snow for 2 weeks now but durring the last big rain every avalanche shoot cascaded down that could. Each one has cut down to bare dirt. Since the ice is so solid now we hike out and up to the avalanches to take pictures and survey the trail damage. I have a couple of images on my blog.
- January 22, 2009 at 9:45 PM
Cascade concrete is actually the heavy wet stuff we get so often, not the icy hard stuff we get sometimes.
- January 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
- blogsphere said...
I set this blog as "Blog of the Day" on blogsphere.com for Friday Jan 23.
I'm local, read this blog everyday and have listened to Cliff on KUOW for many years. I even own a copy of the book.
I read this blog to my son who just turned 5. I know he is listening at least some of the time because one day, out of the blue, he asked if we could move to the convergence zone. Why? He said because it is so much more interesting there.
Thanks for the great info, Cliff. I am learning a lot. We have a sailboat and knowing more about the weather is fun and helpful.
- January 23, 2009 at 12:53 AM
So, my son with asthma asks...how soon is the inversion going to clear so that I can go outside again? This weather is seriously cramping my style!
Cliff, I hope you have some good news for us! Having a 20yo martial artist trying to do his workouts indoors is cramping *my* style, lol!
Lyn in Lynnwood, where the weather is the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and...
- January 23, 2009 at 2:14 PM
Here is why I do not recommend the "point and click" method of getting a forecast from the National Weather Service forecast.
This is an actual forecast for an area along the east slopes for later this week:
"Thursday Night: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19".
19 degrees and RAIN. Yeah right.
So for those of you who use the point and click "pinpoint" forecasts, DON'T DO IT!!
Read the area forecast, which is done by a real human being, who would never think that it would rain with a temp of 19.
- January 23, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Looks like Medford south is setting up for a drought. Northern Cal is already in one. Could be another long fire season down there...
- January 23, 2009 at 4:31 PM
If anyone wants a real treat (and if you've already read everything here), I suggest you go to Joan Neslund's Holden Village blog. What a wonderful story she tells.
(make sure that when you get to the bottom of the first page of her blog, click on the "older posts" link.
- January 23, 2009 at 4:37 PM
BTW, Ms. Neslund's name links to her blog. Hers is the first comment on this comment set.
- January 23, 2009 at 4:39 PM
- Cliff Mass Weather Blog said...
Answering a few questions:
The air quality is already starting to improve. The worst is clearly over, with much better vertical mixing this afternoon.
I hate to tell you...the area forecast is also written by a computer! The NWS forecasts create forecast grids...that in turn go to a display generator..
- January 23, 2009 at 4:58 PM
The inversion is breaking down as we speak. But scouring winds have yet to surge into the area. The Burn Ban will be lifted by Noon on Saturday when ventilation returns to normal.
- January 23, 2009 at 6:02 PM
- Cliff Mass Weather Blog said...
All..mjgrota knows what he says...he is the individual that calls the burn bans!...cliff
- January 23, 2009 at 6:14 PM
- CherryCherryBoomBoom said...
but in the last snowstorm, didn't they say the snow wouldn't hit seattle?
- January 23, 2009 at 7:18 PM


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Lady Luck Media needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 376 designs submitted by 83 freelance designers.
Robin Knudsen
I'm a trained coach and I'm passionate about helping people to transform their lives and live amazing successful lives.
I've been trained in various coaching methodologies and I'm passionate about helping specifically mothers who want to look towards entrepreneuralism as a way to support their family and have time for family!
The target will be educated, mid-high level income, 30+ years old, married, most likely with 2+ children, professional, live in larger urban areas, well travelled, not necessarily UK based.
Generally I would like the visual elements to have broad appeal as a personal/ coaching website.
I'd like something simple and graphic/ iconic. I like the simplicity of this logo at http://www.edwardyu.com. So potentially just my name or else, my initials in a graphic design a la Tony Robbins (http://www.tonyrobbins.com/) or Glenn Armstrong (http://www.glennarmstrong.com/) or Kerwin Rae (http://www.kerwinrae.com/).
I would like it to have a more feminine feel to it – but not be too "girly" or flowery...nothing "twee"
I like the idea and concept behind the word FLOW and everything associated with it's meaning. I'd like to somehow incorporate that notion into the logo.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The U.S. House of Representatives has taken the first step in freeing pesticide applicators from having to obtain NPDES permits for applications over or near water with the passage of H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act.
Now, the Senate needs to follow through by passing similar legislation that would require EPA to stop development of a permitting system that its own research shows would take more than a million hours of applicators' time to complete annually.
That's the message members of the Southern Crop Production Association took to their congressmen, senators and staff members during the group's annual trek to Capitol Hill on May 12. More than 30 crop protection and seed company representatives traveled to Washington for the event.
EPA began working on a permitting system after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the agency's 2006 ruling that aquatic pesticide applications were exempt from the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System requirements.
The Court said EPA must have a new permitting system for such applications – which include spraying for mosquitoes by municipal and state abatement districts and unwanted aquatic vegetation by parks departments – by April 1. EPA subsequently sought and received an extension of the deadline until Oct. 31.
Currently, all pesticides must undergo extensive testing for safety in a variety of application environments under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The pesticide label spells out conditions in which pesticides cannot be sprayed.
"Pesticide permits under the Clean Water Act do not provide further protection of water quality," said Ed Duskin, executive director of the SCPA who coordinated the visits that included 69 members of Congress and their staffs. "The permits only burden state regulators and applicators with tremendous cost and mountains of paperwork."
Pesticide omittance
Duskin says that Congress omitted pesticides when it enacted the Clean Water Act NPDES permitting program in 1972 and never looked beyond FIFRA for the regulation of pesticides.
By its calculations, the EPA believes the new permitting system will cover about 1.5 million pesticide applications per year. It anticipates the potential number of permit applicants at 365,000 and estimates the annual time burden at 1,033,713 hours for permittees and 45,809 hours for the 45 delegated permit authorities in the states.
H.R. 872 would amend FIFRA and the Clean Water Act to say that no permit is required for the labeled use of any registered pesticide. It would also instruct EPA and the courts that Congress did not intend other environmental laws to overtake FIFRA.
The bill passed the House on March 31 by a vote of 292-130 with all House Republicans and 57 Democrats voting in its favor. Despite the overwhelming approval in the House, it faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
"Why hasn't the Senate taken action already?" asked Rep. Austin Scott, a new member of the House Agriculture Committee from Georgia's Eight Congressional District. "My recollection is that that bill passed unanimously out of the committee. Every Democrat and every Republican voted for it.
"Lisa Jackson (EPA administrator) said it was EPA's duty to keep the farmer on the farm," Scott said in remarks to the SCPA members following lunch on Capitol Hill. "That kind of took me back because most of the people I know in agriculture think that you either have the EPA on the farm or the farmer on the farm but not both."
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, has introduced a bill, S-718, which would eliminate the CWA permit requirement for pesticides applied in compliance with FIFRA.
So far, Roberts' bill has only attracted Republican co-sponsors. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has said she is not ready to support the Roberts' bill because she is waiting on a response from EPA on questions raised during a meeting between several senators and EPA Administrator Jackson and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.


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