[B-Greek] APOSTOLOS in 1 Cor 12
Eduard C Hanganu
eddhanganu at hotmail.com
Tue Aug 31 11:56:09 EDT 2004
Dear Cindy:
Usually, and unless otherwise specified by the writer, the current "sense"
of a word is most likely also the writer's intended meaning of that word in
a certain context. You state:
"APOSTOLOS, which involved"commissioning" and "sending" could have a broad
range of functions andapplications--not all apostles functioned like Paul."
I believe this is an interesting opinion, but which cannot be supported from
the Bible. Jesus selected the "APOSTOLOS" personally from all the people
that gravitated around him, lots of men and lots of women. The "APOSTOLOS"
mandate was handed down to others in special circumstances and with great
solemnity, because it somehow represented the ultimate role and authority
the apostolic church had. To claim that the title did not always mean what
it meant is to distort and pervert the clear meaning of the Biblical text
and to force on the text an idea that doesn't result from the semantic
content of the text and is not the intended meaning of the author.
As a parenthesis, this kind of text manipulation has led some "scholars" to
claim that there is evidence for a "female apostle." As you know, APOSTOLOS
is a MASCULINE (nominative) (singular) (common) noun. "Female apostle" or
"GYNE APOSTOLOS" is a contradiction in terms, similar to the expression
"female man" or "GYNE ANDROS" ( MASCULINE singular common noun). Given the
social context of the first centuries to claim that there was a woman who
fulfilled the role of a FATHER in the church is not absurd, it is totally
and completely inconceivable. "Junia" could have well been a "Junias"(
common Roman name at the time), but no matter what the word is to attach it
to the function of an APOSTLE denotes a complete lack of understanding of
the Bible and especially the New Testament times.
Regards,
Eduard Hanganu
From: CWestf5155 at aol.com
To: eddhanganu at hotmail.com, B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] APOSTOLOS in 1 Cor 12
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 02:16:21 EDT
In a message dated 8/30/2004 8:31:37 PM Mountain Standard Time,
eddhanganu at hotmail.com writes:
I believe you make the mistake so common among people who lack basic
linguistic knowledge and mix the "sense" of a word with its "meaning." You
state:
"APOSTOLOS has a full range of meaning. Coincidentally, so does PROFHTHS.
I
suggest that the term in 1 Cor 12 encompasses that range."
You are probably referring to the "senses" or "denotations" of the word
"APOSTOLOS," but the confusion is serious. "Sense" is the dictionary
definition or a word, its "denotation." Most words are polysemic and have 1,
2 or n "senses" or "denotations." One other important thing to know about
the "sense" of a word is that "sense" is context independent.
The "meaning" of a word, on the other hand is entirely dependent on context,
and is defined and limited by the context. A word cannot have "a full range
of meaning" in a certain context, because this would lead to text ambiguity
and make communication at least difficult if not impossible. To state that
the word PROFHTS "encompasses that (full) range (of meaning)" in 1 Cor 12 is
equal to affirming that the word PROFHTS has in that context multiple
"meanings." If this is so, how can the reader figure out what is the
writer's intended meaning for the word in that context? Does the writer use
a pun, or double meaning? Does he mean what he says, or he plays with words?
I don't know where this discussion is going, but it seems to me that the
hermeneutic used is similar to the one employed by Elisabeth Schüssler
Fiorenza. Are you familiar with her writiings?
Eduard,
Actually, linguistics is one of my interests, particularly discourse
analysis. I don't always use technical vocabulary, because defining the
terms makes
the post so long.
This statement about the full range of meaning presumes the previous
statements that I made about the constraint of the context has been
processed. As I
said earlier, the context selects and constrains the meaning of a word. In
the case of 1 Cor 12, (or really we're looking at the later occurrences
which
were constrained by 1 Cor 12) the meaning was both constrained by the
preceding
co-text and by the "sent" status and the commissioning. In the context of
what I've said, "full range of meaning" doesn't mean mulitple denotations,
totality transfer, or that all possible glosses can be applied to it.
I was "echoing" Ralph Martin here on 2 Cor 8:23, who processes at least two
other studies and concludes something like APOSTOLOS has a full range of
meaning within terms of a delegate or messenger; it says noting about the
content of
a person's duty, only that the enterprise had been commissioned. But he
distinguishes the meaning of apostolos in 8:23 as "non-specific" in contrast
with
2 Cor. 1:1 which is "specific", which is what I have been contesting.
What I'm saying is that in Paul's writings
1. Apostle was a spiritual gift
2. It extended beyond the circle of the 12 and Paul to include others, some
of which are identified (add to the list Timothy and Silvanus in 1 Thess.
2:6).
3. He saw it as still being sovereignly distributed by the Holy Spirit at
the time of writing.
4. While apostles were sent and commissioned by the Holy Spirit and the
church, not all apostles had the same authority, function or status; it all
depended on the commission.
Let me suggest that the "titles" or designations of PROFHTHS and APOSTOLOS
activate a complexity of associations and functions (for which I favor the
word
scenario--check out Brown and Yule's "Discourse Analysis"), much like the
title "Messiah" did in the second temple era. APOSTOLOS, which involved
"commissioning" and "sending" could have a broad range of functions and
applications--not all apostles functioned like Paul.
Possibly I don't know Fiorenza well enough, because I haven't a clue as to
how this resembles her writings or her hermeneutic. Do you really have
anything
specific in mind? I think I much more resemble Fee's and Thistleton's
commentaries on 1 Cor.
Cindy Westfall
Denver Seminary
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