Acts 2:38 Which translation?
dixonps at juno.com
dixonps at juno.com
Thu Dec 23 14:19:13 EST 1999
On Wed, 22 Dec 1999 22:56:44 -0600 "Bill Ross" <wross at farmerstel.com>
writes:
> <Ken>
> >Williams' translation states:
>
> "Peter said to them, "You must repent - AND AS AN EXPRESSION OF IT,*
let
> every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ - that you
> may have you sins forgiven;..."
>
> * These five words implied from context and usage in the Early
> Church.-Williams' quote.
>
> However, Beck translates,
>
> "Peter answered them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
> the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven,.."
>
> Williams was a Southern Baptist and Beck was Lutheran. Is it only a
> DOCTRINAL preference whether Acts 2:38 teaches sin remission through
> repentance and baptism, or just repentance? I'm assuming faith is
involved in
> either case.
We err if we think the normal translations of Acts 2:38 suggest or imply
that
repentance and baptism are necessary for the forgiveness of sins and
reception
of the Holy Spirit.
Even if EIS denotes purpose, and it probably does, this does not say, nor
imply
the negation, if both repentance and baptism are not done, then there is
no
forgiveness and reception of the Holy Spirit. All it is saying is, if A
and B, then
C and D follow. It is not saying if not (A and B), then not (C and D).
The logic
of such is faulty and has never been demonstrated to exist in holy writ.
The negation of a proposition may or may not be true, but it is not true
by inference.
The fact that the authors of scripture often cite negations with their
conditional
propositions should indicate this to us (cf Jn 3:18, 6:53-54, 1 Jn 5:12,
Mk 16:16 -
note the similarity to Acts 2:38, by the way, that only hO PISTEUSAS is
negated in the
second half of the verse; BAPTISQENTEIS is not).
Later in Acts it is affirmed that if a man believes in Christ, then he
will be saved
(Acts 16:31). This comports with 2:38 only if baptism is not viewed as a
requirement
for forgiveness and reception of the Holy Spirit (equivalent to salvation
for most).
The question being asked and answered in Acts 2:37ff is, what should we
do
(TI POIHSWMEN), not what must I do (TI ME DEI POIEIN hINA SWQW, 16:30), a
significant difference.
For more on this, read my article on negative inference fallacies at:
http://users.aol.com/dixonps
Paul Dixon
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