The Wonderful Counselor, The Other Counselor, And Christian Counseling -- By: George C. Scipione

Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 36:3 (Spring 1974)
Article: The Wonderful Counselor, The Other Counselor, And Christian Counseling
Author: George C. Scipione


The Wonderful Counselor, The Other Counselor, And Christian Counseling

George Scipione

(continued from last issue)

III. The Wonderful Counselor And The Other Counselor

In the New Testament Jesus Christ is written on every page. In a straightforward manner everything in one way or another is related to his work and his word. Clearly Jesus Christ is presented as equal to God and as God himself. Very often he appears as the Messiah who gives his people the words of the Father to aid them. From the abundance of these references one cannot but come to the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Wonder of a counselor. As such, Jesus answers all of the needs of his covenant people including the need for counsel and advice. Moreover, Christ thought of himself as the WonderCounselor (Jn. 14:16). Since this assertion raises another exegetical question we must try to show that this is in fact the concept that Jesus had in mind when he called himself παράκλητος. First, we shall look briefly at the New Testament data. Secondly, we shall examine the use of the term in John’s gospel. And, thirdly, we shall look at the παράκλητος concept itself.

A. The New Testament

In the New Testament the concepts of wonders and counsel reappear. Both of these elements which we found in פּלא־יוחּ are important concepts in the New Testament as well. This fact enables us to see if there is any fundamental involvement of the works and words of Jesus Christ approximating that which we found in the Old Testament.

1. Wonders

As we saw in the Old Testament God personally involves himself in history to fulfill his covenantal commitments. This was called פּלא. There are other Hebrew words that are translated “wonder.” These are parallels to the usual פּלא. One is מופת. (see Is. 8:18; Joel 3:3). This is translated τέρας in the LXX. פּלא s often translated by θαυμάσια in the LXX. However, θαυμάσια is used only once in the New Testament, Mt. 21:15. We find τέρας 16 times in the New Testament. All the writers in the New Testament prefer τέρας to θαυμ�...

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