Shining a light on the weekly Bible Lessons published in the Christian Science Quarterly®
Unreality
Dear friends, since you are immigrants and strangers in the world, I urge that you avoid worldly desires that wage war against your lives.
—Common English Bible
Not unlike the Hebrew exiles of earlier times, many Christians are scattered throughout the lands of the Eastern Mediterranean during this period (see 1:1). In Gentile communities and under Roman domination, they are viewed with indifference or hostility, as “immigrants and strangers.” Yet this author points to a larger truth—they need to stand apart as foreigners in the midst of worldly beliefs and desires. A scriptural paraphrase has: “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.”
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Resources cited in this issue
GT: Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible; Peterson, Eugene H. Conversations: The Message with Its Translator. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing Group, 2007.
Cit. 7: Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2007.
Cit. 9: Keck, Leander E., et al., eds. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 2, Introduction to Narrative Literature, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles. Nashville: Abingdon, 2015.
Cit. 10: Barker, Kenneth L., John R. Kohlenberger, Verlyn Verbrugge, and Richard Polcyn. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004.
Cit. 13: Wilkins, Michael J. NIV Application Commentary: From Biblical Text . . . to Contemporary Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004.
COPYRIGHT
Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition, copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked New International Reader’s Version™ are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version™, NIrV™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Common English Bible are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
© 2023 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
