Apology

Eric Weiss eweiss at gte.net
Tue Apr 30 10:07:05 EDT 2002


I apologize for introducing theological controversy into the AIRW
thread.

I mentioned what I did about "eternal security" because it seemed that
the question of how/why some choose to interpret AIRW as "lifts up",
and/or how/why this interpretation arose, is very likely related to the
doctrine of "eternal security." If that is the plausible or probable
reason for why some translations render AIRW as "lifts up," then I do
not think it improper to mention or discuss this when arguing for or
against the validity of rendering AIRW as "lifts up". Doing so need not,
I think, necessarily inject theological controversy into the thread any
more than citing what D.A. Carson says in EXEGETICAL FALLACIES about
how/why AGAPAW began to be used in place of FILEW injects controversy.
If this is indeed the basis for the translation of AIRW as "lifts up,"
then that should be noted somewhere in the discussion, I think. Facts
are facts, and facts as facts.

However, were I then to go on to discuss the validity of the doctrine of
eternal security, then that very likely would be wrong on my part.

Which gets to my citation of Schreiner, and I may have overstepped the
bounds by doing so. The book is:

    Interpreting the Pauline Epistles (Guides to the New Testament
Exegesis Series) by Thomas R. Schreiner

I do not have my copy available, so I cannot cite the pages, and to do
so would indeed inject theological controversy into this list. When I
find the book at home, I will e-mail Mr. Lovullo off-list, or anyone
else who wishes me to, with the relevant portion of Schreiner's book.
Perhaps I misunderstood what Schreiner wrote.

I included my comments about Schreiner because he, a noted scholar,
seemed to be giving an example from his own life and studies about how
the proper study of a Greek word (also related to "eternal security" --
hence one reason it came to mind when writing my comments about AIRW)
had forced a change in his thinking or interpretation of the word as
Paul used it in I Corinthians 9:27. If the translation of AIRW as "lifts
up" was indeed influenced by a particular theological consideration,
then it's not totally out of line, I think, to mention in the discussion
the example Schreiner gave of how he had possibly let theological
considerations influence his determination of a word's meaning. In fact,
if we were discussing the meaning of the word ADOKIMOS, instead of AIRW,
I do not believe that citing/quoting what Schreiner writes in his book
would be an unnecessary injection of theological controversy into the
subject, as I'd only be citing what one Greek expert/scholar had to say
about the word's meaning.

But again, I apologize, and will e-mail OFF LIST Schreiner's statements
from his book, as well as a FURTHER apology if I indeed misrepresented
what Schreiner has written, to those who are interested.

--
Eric S. Weiss
http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm
S.D.G.





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