www.earthfiles.de

[Solve_et_Coagula]

A Pharisee and a Publican

Lecture given by Beinsa Douno
October 5, 1914, Sofia

"Two men went up into temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector". Luke 18:10

Maybe you will ask what is strange about two men, one a Pharisee and the other a publican, entering a temple. Indeed, there is nothing strange for those who understand what is going on, but for those who do not understand, everything is strange. For those who understand, everything has a meaning. For those who cannot understand, everything is senseless.

I will take the Pharisee and the publican as a topic of my lecture today. These two persons are prominent representatives of a very old culture. Let us compare their distinguishing features in parallel to shed light on their customs and spiritual character.

The word "Pharisee" comes from the Hebrew word "parash," which means to divide. There is a word in Arabic – "farsi", which has the same root and means something perfect in form; to know a language "farsi" means to know it very well. Jesus presented two distinctive characters in this chapter. A talented artist who possesses knowledge about humans would paint these two types with all their distinguishing features, and this perfect painting would deserve to be placed in every house as an example to us. What are the pronounced features of the Pharisee and the publican? It is not enough just to say: "He is a Pharisee" or "He is a publican." We should know their physical features, their faces, their hands, the structure of their bodies, and how their minds work as well. After that, we should find out specifically what their souls are like. This is the only way we can clarify the idea embedded in the text and use it. Jesus was a great artist, as He pointed out two distinguishing features of those two human types and by them I will describe the Pharisee and the publican.


Continue to read:
http://powerandlife.com/txt_en/1914....b.7_farisey_i_mitar.shtml

[Google]