Meaning of PAS

Mark Wilson emory2oo2 at hotmail.com
Sun Dec 10 22:14:51 EST 2000


X-OriginalArrivalTime: 11 Dec 2000 03:14:52.0267 (UTC) FILETIME=[87135BB0:01C06320]


Aaron:

You wrote:

>I have recently stumbled upon some people who insist that all
>knowledgeable scholars agree that the word PAS always means "all" in an
>all-encompassing sense.  They are using this to support the doctrine of
>universal salvation.  An example is: 1 Ti. 4:10 "...the living God, who is
>the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe."
>
>
>Their theory about PAS seems to be false, because of the meanings of the
>word in verses such as 3 Jo. 1:12, Lu. 11:42, Mat. 10:22, and others.


I join Harold in noting that the immediate CONTEXT is where you need to look 
for the pragmatic understanding of PAS. And I think you have indeed 
demonstrated that this "theory" is false.

However, showing this theory to be false, does not address how to translate 
PAS in 1 Tim. 4:10. In other words,  you must be about the business of 
returning to 1 Tim. 4 to determine how PAS is to be understood in that 
passage. Having disproved the theory eliminates the NECESSITY of translating 
PAS as "all-encompassing," but it does not preclude translating it as such 
either.

This is more a logical response than grammatical, but often times I think we 
fail to remember that once we disprove a grammatical "theory," we have not 
disproved the TRANSLATION, only the THEORY that lead to the translation. I 
bring this to your attention in case you plan to return to these 
"knowledgeable scholars" and one happens to be a logician :o )

I am not at all (no pun intended) suggesting that PAS be translated as 
all-encompassing in 1 Tim. 4:10, but although the theory is false, their 
translation could possibly be correct on other grounds, right?

My thoughts,

Mark Wilson



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