[B-Greek] Romans 12:1

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Fri Jul 16 14:08:39 EDT 2004


Dear David,

>Recently, I was listening to a speaker who presented a message on Romans
>12:1, claiming that since Paul used bodies (plural) and sacrifice
>(singular), that the Romans were to present their bodies as a single
>sacrifice only when they were assembled together.  I sensed some theological
>bias in this statement because of his personal beliefs on the Holy Spirit,
>but since I am a beginning Greek student, I cannot prove otherwise.
>
>He also used 1 Cor 6:19 in the same way, stating that since "your" was
>plural, and "body" singular that the Corinthian church body was the temple,
>instead of the individual's body.  I have discounted this, finding several
>other examples where the "your" was plural and the subject was singular.  We
>do the same in English.  But I have been unable to find other examples used
>in the same way as Romans 12:1.  Is this an accurate representation of the
>verse?

HH: Paul is not just talking about a certain time of the week but 
rather about one's whole life. The phrase "a living sacrifice" 
functions distributively. You present your body a living sacrifice; I 
present my body a living sacrifice. It refers individually to all the 
bodies implied in SWMATA, since each person must independently yield 
himself to the Lord. Is the only time the Lord needs us the eleven 
o'clock worship hour on Sunday?

				Yours
				Harold Holmyard

>
>David Bell
>
>
>
>---
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