Sincerity and Godly pottery?
Sphinx on a pottery (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ .” - Philippians 1:9–10 - The word translated “sincere” in this passage is a fascinating word in Greek. It’s a compound word : eilikrineis, from helios, which means “sun,” andkrinō, which means “to judge.” Literally, “judged by the sun.” Now, what does being judged by the sun have to do with sincerity? Well, in the Roman world one of the largest industries—if not the largest—was the pottery industry. And, just like anything else, the various kinds of pottery differed in quality. The lowest quality pottery was thick, solid, and easy to make. But the finest pottery was thinner and therefore more fragile. Often, when thin pottery was being fired, it would crack in the oven. Now, rather than discard those vessels that we...