Re: Dan Wallace's Grammer

From: Alan M Feuerbacher (alanf@mdhost.cse.tek.com)
Date: Fri Jan 10 1997 - 15:28:07 EST


Dale Wheeler said,

>I stopped reading the John 8:58 thread for precisely the reasons Carl
>mentions above (a innocent bystander might suggest that some of the
>participants and the most recent attacker of Dan Wallace display the
>emotional and psychological maturity of a six year old; but that of course
>would be said by an innocent bystander, never by me or anyone else on this
>list !! :-) ).

I feel that at this point I should explain a couple of things.
My polemical post was never meant to be read outside the narrow
confines of a mailing list where this sort of inflated rhetoric
is normal and looked on with some amusement. Walt has already
apologized for sending the post to B-Greek, but the damage is done.

Some have expressed the view that such a polemical level
of discourse is always inappropriate, and I'll admit there is
something to be said for that, but you have to be a long-time
participant of that mailing list and know the players to
appreciate the context of my original remarks. The list is
oriented toward discussing the doctrines of a certain religious
group which will remain nameless for the time being. Since
the religious group itself generates much controversy, a list
concerned with it will naturally generate heated debate.

Many participants post to elicit a reaction from others, or
to goad lurkers to take positive action rather than sit there
like a lump. Sometimes that requires strong language or the
kind of polemical rhetoric that would never fly in a scholarly
forum.

> ... I don't know if anyone actually dealt with
>the only [!] reasonable issue raised in the rambling tirade, namely do
>John 14:9; Gen 31:38, 41 constitute uses of EIMI as historical presents,
>and thus invalidate Wallace's claim that EIMI is never used as an
>historical present ??

Which is precisely the point I raised in my earlier post to
B-Greek today.

>Please excuse me a brief moment of levity, but I'm still trying to
>visualize Dan Wallace, with whom I've discussed things (okay, okay, we
>argue !!) for the past 20 years "running with his tail between his legs."
>I didn't even know he had a tail...I guess it just goes to show that
>you think you know someone, and then you find out that they are actually
>an alien from outer space with a tail !!

What are you talking about?! I have one!

Alan Feuerbacher
alanf@mdhost.cse.tek.com



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