Comments on The Rebel God: Exegesis # 5 - Fallacies

I promote the original languages of scripture, and...

2010-12-15T20:32:19.829-08:00

I promote the original languages of scripture, and have a blog where a few of the NT books are read in Greek:

http://i-kaini-dhiathiki.blogspot.com/

Hi Ryan, Yes, I am all for learning Greek, and I ...

2010-03-30T12:00:53.440-07:00

Hi Ryan,

Yes, I am all for learning Greek, and I do my own NT exegetical work in Greek. It's just a matter of focus, and for that the overall thought of an author is more important than any single word or grammatical phrase is. So I do not mean to say it is unimportant, but it does get over hyped. It's really all about perspective.

Speaking of learning Greek, what I think is pretty exciting is the recent advances of Greek Bible software in the last decade like Logos, Bibleworks, or Accordance that allows folks to get automatic parsing for Greek words. If used properly this opens up the Greek text for folks in incredible ways so that with a bit of time invested in study one can with the help of these programs get to a level of competency that used to take years and years to reach. It's not a magic button (nothing ever is!) but it is an incredible tool.

Please do not ever discourage people from learning...

2010-03-30T11:20:50.936-07:00

Please do not ever discourage people from learning Greek. I know this seems like a drive-by comment, but I was looking for reviews of Carson's book, and ended up reading your blog. I enjoyed it, until the end when you said that your NIV was just fine. I enjoy reading the NIV as well as any other version, but without the Greek, we would miss the nuances of the text, and missing the nuances leads to missing the big picture.

Again, I only say this because I want people only to be encouraged to learn Greek. I do agree with the main point that you said, that of understanding the whole of the text. But without the individual parts of the text, we would never understand the text as a whole. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Yes I'm familiar with that article. I actually...

2009-12-13T23:06:57.993-08:00

Yes I'm familiar with that article. I actually dialoged with Nathan Pitchford (the author) about it. You can read his original blog post that the article is taken from, as well our conversation together here:

http://www.reformationtheology.com/2006/08/is_penal_substitution_biblical.php

Great article! Just wanted to send you this link....

2009-12-11T09:52:23.457-08:00

Great article!

Just wanted to send you this link. You may already know about it, but this is what "the other side" is saying. Perhaps it may help you strengthen your upcoming book, which I anxiously await!

SShttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19290890/Is-Penal-Substitution-Biblical

Thanks, glad you liked it :) My favorite example ...

2009-12-08T15:30:27.501-08:00

Thanks, glad you liked it :)

My favorite example of using words in different way is the phrase "like a child". Jesus says "unless you become like a little child you cannot enter the kingdom" but Paul says "when I was a child I thought like a child, but I have put childish ways behind me". Same term, so Paul must contradict Jesus! Nope. Jesus and Paul are making completely different points here, and using the same phrase to do it. But if the focus is on a word "child" and not on the thought or idea that rather obvious point is missed.

I liked these thoughts: "the way to dete...

2009-12-08T14:01:41.424-08:00
I liked these thoughts:

"the way to determine the meaning of a word is not to look at its original meaning, but to look at how it is used"

"People use words in different ways."

"What matters is the big picture of what their point is, the letter as a whole, the paragraph, the thought, and not spiraling off on the choice of one word."