Re: LimitedNegatives?
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:03 pm
And here is what I'm handing out on Wednesday evening for our group to work through (I'll be sure to credit R. Foster, Steve, and others who participated in this thread!). I quote the NIV, which I found on a couple of occasions assumes the limited negatives and adds the words to make it so. In the bottom section I really want the group to think... so I included some that I would say fit the limited negative category and some that don't.
...............
‘Limited Negatives’ as Conversation Starters
Obvious Examples (to prove the literary device exists)
Matthew 10:20
For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
John 12:44
Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
John 6:27
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Obvious Counter-Examples (to provoke caution)
Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.
3 John 1:11
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.
Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
12 Potential ‘Limited Negative’ Passages for our Consideration
Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:19-20
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Matthew 10:34
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword
Luke 12:4
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Luke 14:12-13
When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.
John 1:13
Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 7:24
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Philippians 2:4
Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
1 Peter 3:3-4
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self
...............
‘Limited Negatives’ as Conversation Starters
A "limited negative" is a statement, usually (though not always) constructed as follows:
“Not A…but B”
But which actually means:
“Not only A…but also B” or, perhaps, “Not merely A…but primarily B”
Such an idiom becomes recognizable when it would be absurd or contradictory to take an absolute-sounding statement absolutely.
Obvious Examples (to prove the literary device exists)
Matthew 10:20
For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
John 12:44
Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
John 6:27
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Obvious Counter-Examples (to provoke caution)
Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.
3 John 1:11
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.
Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
12 Potential ‘Limited Negative’ Passages for our Consideration
Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:19-20
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Matthew 10:34
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword
Luke 12:4
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Luke 14:12-13
When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.
John 1:13
Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 7:24
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Philippians 2:4
Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
1 Peter 3:3-4
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self