Seven Experiments That Could Change the World, by Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D.

• Pets who sense when their masters are returning• How do pigeons home• The organization habits of termites• The sense of being stared at• Phantom touch• The variability of ‘fundamental constants’• The effects of researchers expectations

1 Pe. 2:21-23

• Purpose• Our example to follow:

– Suffering– Did not revile in return– Uttered no threats– Entrusted himself to the righteous Judge

1 Pe. 3:1-4This Husband

• Reviler (2:23)• Caused Suffering (2:23)

“Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.” (Dt. 1:26)

• Stubborn (3:1)• Rebellious (3:1)• Disobedient (3:1)

1 Pe. 3:1-41st Cent. Woman

• Jewish culture: owned by her husband

• Greek culture: “not quite as low as a slave”

“Is there any one with whom you converse less than your wife?”—Socrates

“No one, or at least very few.”—Aristobulus

• Roman culture: “a child forever”

“If you were to catch your wife in the act of infidelity, you can kill her with impunity without a trial; but, if she were to catch you, she would not venture to touch you with her finger and, indeed, she has no right.”—Cato the sensor

1 Pe. 3:1-4

• What Peter doesn’t tell the women to do:

Leave the husband “And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.” (1 Co. 7:13)

“Preach” and argue

Insist that there is no difference between slave and freeman, Gentile and Jew, male and female.

“In the world of Greeks and Romans it is interesting to collect the references to personal adornments.”

“There were many ways of dressing the hair …waved and dyed, sometimes black and auburn. Wigs, especially blond, were found even in the Christian catacombs. Wigs imported from Germany and India. Hair bands, pins and combs of ivory, gold, studded with gems.”

“Purple was a favorite color for clothes, as well as silks.”

“Diamonds, emeralds, topazes, opals, and sardonyx were favorite stones.”—Barclay

“Why should men grudge women their ornaments and their dress? Women cannot hold public offices, or priesthoods, or gain triumphs; they have no public occupations. What, then, can they do but devote their time to adornment and to dress?”—Lucius Valerius

1 Pe. 3:1-4“external adornment”

• If taken literally and without qualification, this passage would bar braiding hair, wearing jewelry, and wearing dresses.

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for

the food which endures to eternal life.” Jn. 6:27 cf. 2 Thess. 3:10

Point: This is of no consequence in the kingdom of God.

1 Pe. 3:1-4“external adornment”

“A tasteful and magnificent dress lends added dignity to the wearer: but effeminate and luxurious apparel fails to adorn the body, and only reveals the sordidness of mind.”—Quintillian (35 AD)

1 Pe. 3:1-4“the hidden person of the heart”

“The wise woman, then, will first choose to persuade her husband to be her associate in what is conducive to happiness. And should that be found impractical, let her by herself earnestly aim at virtue, gaining her husbands consent in everything, so as never to do anything against his will, with exception of what is reckoned as contributing to virtue and salvation.”—Clement of Alexandria (d. 110 AD)

1 Pe. 3:1-4“the hidden person of the heart”

• 1 Sm. 16:7, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

• 1 Chron. 28:9, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a while heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts.”

• 2 Co. 4:16, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

1 Pe. 3:1-4“the imperishable quality”

“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…” (1 Pe. 1:23)

1 Pe. 3:1-4• What Peter does tell them to do: Be submissive Be chaste: pure, modest, innocent“Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies

himself, just as He is pure.” (1 Jn. 3:3)“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then

peaceable, gentle, reasonable…” (Ja. 3:17)“For behold, what earnestness this very thing, this

godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter.” (2 Co. 7:11)

1 Pe. 3:1-4“Pure”

• No stains

No back-talk

No desire to slander

No berating

No lying

No desire to be the center of attention

No desire to be like everyone else

No authoritative demeanor

No “running around”

1 Pe. 3:1-4“Pure”

• Desire to be pleasing to God Determined to obey God Determined to wait on God Determined to trust God Determined to be content Determined to be modest Determined to selfless Determined to seek peace Determined to watch your tongue Determined to be helpful

1 Pe. 3:1-4

• What Peter does tell them to do:

Be respectful

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7)

Of God

Of fellow man (1 Pe. 3:15)

Of authority (Rm. 13:7)

Of husband

1 Pe. 3:1-4• What Peter does tell them to do:

Be gentle: not being impressed with one’s self-worth “The humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” (Ps. 37:11)

Be quiet: calm, tranquil, at peace

“First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers and petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

(1 Tm. 2:1-2)

1 Pe. 3:1-4“the hidden person of the heart”

• Beauty and the Beast

• The beast and the beauty

• The beast and the good woman

• The good man and the good woman (?)

“She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.” (Prov. 3:15)

Conclusions:“’Heaven is My throne and the earth is My

footstool. Where then is a house that you could build for me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,’ declares the Lord. ‘But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word.’” (Isa. 66:1-2)

• It’s the inner person that matters, not the outer• This way may change your husband• This way will teach your children to be better