[B-Greek] Morph & Eikwn/Conformity to Christ in Romans 8:29
Kevin Shehan
cocolapin37 at msn.com
Fri Jan 9 02:13:48 EST 2004
Hi
Im new to the list (first time posting), and a beginning Greek student.
Ive been studying Romans 8:29, and Im curious to see if there is something
in the original Greek that may shed a little light on the meaning.
Many scholars take Pauls discussion of conformity to Christ to mean a
final glorified state for all believers. For instance, A.T. Robertson
writes, Here we have both morph and eikwn to express the gradual change in
us till we acquire the likeness of Christ the Son of God so that we
ourselves shall ultimately have the family likeness of sons of God. Glorious
destiny. (Robertsons Word Pictures of the New Testament).
However, Ive read differing opinions on this glorious destiny. One
particular essay (seems a rather unique interpretation) claims that Paul is
speaking here not of final glorification, but of a positional
glorification that believers receive when they become adopted children of
God. The use of edoxasen in v. 30, then, would (according to this view)
mean simply a bestowal of honor, which could equate to something that
happens when believers are adopted into the family of God (and conformed to
the image of Christ positionally). Just curious to see if there's anything
in the Greek that might indicate which interpretation would be most likely
(the larger context seems to favor the popular future glorification view,
while I could see how the immediate context of v. 28-30 could possibly allow
for this other interpretation).
Thanks,
Kevin Shehan
USC-Spartanburg (student)
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