[B-Greek] omision of the definite article

Mark Lightman lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Tue Feb 19 19:19:55 EST 2008


On Feb 19th Matt wrote:
   
  "Can someone explain to me, or point me in the right direcion,
   to a good 
explanation of the significance of the omission 
  of the definite article 
before theos in the NT [and especially in respect to John 1:18]?"
   
  Dana and Mountly in A Manual Grammar of the Greek NT argue
   that often the article is used before theos when God's IDENTITY 
  is in view whereas the article is omitted when God's NATURE is 
  in view.  They say you can see this is John 1:1 and Romans 8:1ff.
   
  I have not really systematically checked this out, but it seems to me
  this is SOMETIMES true, though trying to distinguish when a writer 
  refers to God as person versus God as essence seems pretty subjective,




       
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