[B-Greek] Phil 2:11

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Oct 21 07:06:02 EDT 2003


At 11:24 PM -0700 10/20/03, Bryant J. Williams III wrote:
>Dear Richard,
>
>It is precisely the confession,"Jesus Christ is Lord," that created a lot of
>controversy in the early church (and subsequent church history) especially
>when
>the threat of death was instituted. The Christian would "confess" that Jesus
>Christ is Lord, but would not do the same for Caesar. Considering Paul was
>writing to the Philippians , the history behind his relationship with the
>Philippians (Acts 16), and the use of POLITEUESQE in 1:27, and POLITEUMA
>in 3:20,
>and, finally, where Paul was writing from (Rome under house arrest). It makes
>perfect sense to construe the phrase, KURIOS IHSOUS XRISTOS, as an
>affirmation/confession of Christ's exaltation and all creation's response, to
>the glory of God the Father.

Bryant, while I too believe that KURIOS IHSOUS CRISTOS in Phil 2:11 is and
was intended to be a credal formula, I don't believe this perspective in
and of itself refutes Richard's claim that it is being understood as an
acclamation in the Latin text of the New Vulgate translation. Moreover
there are alternative views of the historical context of the composition of
the letter to the Philippians which are not an appropriate topic for
discussion in this forum.

The question is NOT how this verse was interpreted in antiquity or even in
tradition as such: the traditional interpretation may be wrong, as we
believe the traditional translation and interpretation of Lk 2:14 (text:
DOXA EN hUYSISTOIS QEWi KAI EPI GHS EIRHNA EN ANQRWPOIS EUDOKIAS) was wrong
in the formulation, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good
will to men."
And just as we know the traditional translation and interpretation of Lk
2:14 was based upon a questionable Greek text, so may the Old Vulgate
version of Phil 2:11 have been in error or based upon a questionable Greek
text, while the New Vulgate version more accurately reflects what is
believed to be a more accurate Greek text. So the real question is whether
the New Vulgate version does indeed imply an acclamation of all in heaven
and earth kneeling in obeisance and crying "Lord Jesus Christ" or
alternatively it implies a credal formula voiced in confession, "Jesus
Christ is Lord." Richard affirms the former position, that it is a cry of
acclamation, while I affirm the latter, that it is a credal affirmation.
However, this is a question of interpreting the Latin text of the New
Vulgate rather than a question of interpreting the Greek text of Phil 2:11
and as such, I'll take that discussion off-list.

-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



More information about the B-Greek mailing list