[B-Greek] John 15:2
Kerry Yankowy
kyankowy at yahoo.com
Sat Mar 19 13:47:59 EST 2005
Bob Garringer wrote:
"In the book, Secrets of the Vine, Bruce Wilkinson translates AIREI, in
John 15:2, as "lifts" rather than "takes," "removes," or "cuts off"
(NIV). He assumes the relationship of the branch being in the vine, conveyed
in Jesus metaphor (John 15:1-8), is the same as Paul's concept of the
believer being "in Christ," and he is interested in avoiding any idea
of Christians losing that secure status. So he tells an anecdote of a
branch that has sagged to the ground as it grows which is "lifted," cleaned
off, and attached to a supporting device. He then states that Jesus meant to
say that the Father lifts up, cleans up, and securely establishes
believers who sag in their devotion (Secrets of the Vine, pp. 33-35)."
Without digging too deeply into this text, my quick answer is that I think Bruce Wilkinson is allowing his theology to determine his choice of meaning for AIREI (see highlighted text). Of course, we all do that, and should do it within certain parameters (the hermeneutical spiral). As a matter of fact, my belief in the eternal security of the believer helps me to see that although AIREI means "cuts off" within the metaphor, it doesn't mean that a genuine believer can lose his or her salvation. So we also have to let the text speak for itself.
It seems to me that this is a classic mistake of carrying the metaphor too far, and trying to make every word or detail of the metaphor have an exact and precise antecedent in the meaning or translation. I believe Christ did mean "take away," "remove," or "cut off." But He wasn't saying that if true believers don't bear fruit, He will remove them from being in Him. He simply wanted to warn them with a strong metaphor of the necessity of bearing fruit.
Bob, I also think your context study supports this. Again, I think it is just as important to properly interpret figurative language in the Bible as it is to choose the correct meaning for words.
Kerry S Yankowy
Gospel Furthering Fellowship
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