The New Testament's "together" words

     In case some think that I have completely left the reservation in my last post talking about God’s character of “presence-with,” I’m actually working with something that I read that gave me this new perspective. Many of us have heard how the New Testament writers took an obscure Greek word, agape, and used it extensively in the New Testament as a description of God's love. But I recently was amazed to read of a word that they completely coined which doesn’t even occur in classical Greek (from Dennis Kinlaw’s book Preaching by the Spirit, pages 39-40). In fact, they added the prefix sun to many words and used it all over the place! Here’s some examples.

Fellow prisoner (lit. “prisoner with”) (Col. 4:10)
Reclining at table with (Luke 14:10)
Bearing with (Rom. 8:26)
Fit together (Eph. 4:16)
Reigning together (2 Tim. 2:12)
Fellow traveler (2 Cor. 8:19)
Chosen together (1 Peter 5:13)
Quickened/ made alive together (Eph. 2:5)
Bear evil treatment along with (2 Tim. 2:3)
Endure adversity with (Heb. 11:25)
Agree/consent with (2 Cor. 6:16)
Co-inheritor/fellow heir with (Rom. 8:17); also translated as Have the same body with (Eph. 3:6)
Fellow imitator of Christ (Phil 3:17)
Stand in line with/correspond to (Gal. 4:25)
Be of one mind with (Phil. 2:2)

Kinlaw then states,

I would love to see a scholarly article on the theological mentality that produced these words in the New Testament. The New Testament writers thought so differently from their pagan world that they had to coin their own vocabulary, a wide array of words, to express their unique view of man’s relationship to God. They repeatedy emphasized that we are in this experience of life with God, that God is in it with us, and that we are in it with each other. It is a view that stands in striking contrast to modern individualism.

     So to try to grapple with these words a bit better I tried to substitute a person’s name in the verses that dealt with another person.

I am a prisoner together-with ____.
I recline at table together-with ____.
In the body, I am joined and fit-together-with ____ , and am equipped by that joint with them.
____ has been appointed by the churches as fellow-traveler-with me, as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us.
The sister church ____, I am  chosen-together-with.
I bear-evil-treatment-with ____, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Like Moses, I choose rather to be mistreated-with ____ than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Do I agree or consent-with idols?
The Gentiles (or all in the Church such as ____) are fellow heirs, have the same body-with, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus with me.
I am a fellow-imitator-with of Christ with ____.
I am of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind-with ___.

     I guess they saw being together, working together, and bearing together in Christ, etc. as pretty important. The prayer of St. Chrysostom at the end of morning prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, Rite 2 page 102 gets a bit to the heart of this:

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one 

accord to make our common supplication to you; and you 

have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two 

or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the 

midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions 

as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of 

your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

Amen and Amen.