Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanah
problem is it reminds me of the catholic church
priest says "peace be with you"
congregation says "and also with you"
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Yes, catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, Episcopalians, and many others "give the Pax" ("peace") as part of their liturgies. Although if I am not mistaken, the Pax in these churches is usually given in the middle of the service just prior to Communion (usually as part of the Sanctus prayer?). They may also give the Pax at various times throughout the service.
However, I look at it this way. The catholic church does a lot of things taken from the Scripture and from original apostolic practice. They may have attached their own meanings to those practices,
but they certainly don't "own" them any more than they own the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God or the practice of praying for the sick with anointing oil or the practice of kneeling in prayer or standing in prayer or head covering for women or a whole host of other things they might do.
Greeting someone by saying "peace to you" or "grace to you" or some other variation predates the catholic church by a probably a couple millennia.
Another Biblical greeting, an old testament one, is here:
Ruth 2:4
(4) And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
This incident is informative on several levels, most interesting to me of which is the fact that Boaz, a wealthy landowner, was not above personally and publicly greeting his servants. Moreover, the greeting was not a profane (common, mundane) greeting like "hi, how ya doing?" or a simple "Hello". Rather, the Lord is invoked. A greeting like that immediately sets the tone for everything else that may follow. It places the Lord front and center at everything, even something so ordinary as greeting the hired help.
The employees responding with "The Lord bless thee" shows the same thing. It shows a certain amount of equality before the Lord (a new testament apostolic concept by the way, as when Paul instructed masters to consider themselves the Lord's bondslaves and slaves to consider themselves the Lord's freedmen).
The two greetings also are prayers, one is actually asking God to bless and provide for the other person.
"Grace and peace to you" includes the same concept, one is essentially asking God to grant grace and peace to the other person.
Matthew 10:12-13
(12) And when ye come into an house, salute it.
(13) And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
This indicates the salute (salutation, or greeting) that Jesus had in mind has some connection to peace. Saying "peace to this house" or "peace to you all" or something similar is certainly in line with the Lord's instruction to his disciples.
Luke 10:5-6
(5) And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
(6) And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Jesus Himself practiced this type of greeting:
Luke 24:36
(36) And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
I am not saying it is wrong to greet someone with "praise the Lord" or even a "howdy". I am just saying there are reasons things are in the Bible the way they are. Praying for the peace and grace of the Lord to be with someone we meet is definitely Biblical, and helps to fulfill the command to "let your speech be always grace seasoned with salt". It also helps set the tone of our interactions with others.
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