From: Mike Sangrey (mike@sojurn.lns.pa.us)
Date: Wed Jul 26 2000 - 10:01:27 EDT
Lira <lira@escelsa.com.br> said:
> My question is: Is it possible that John sees the New Earth with the
> New Jerusalem already there, instead of the idea that he sees it in
> the moment it is coming down from heaven? If he sees it at the moment
> it is coming down, why would the angel take him to a high mountain (v.
> 10)? My opinion is that the city is already there and the angel takes
> him to a high mountain so that he can have a panoramic view of the
> city from ABOVE. And the expression "KATABAINOUSA(N) EK TOU OURANOU
> APO TOU QEOU" would just be a DESCRIPTION of the city: "The New
> Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from God". Is this
> interpretation possible?
I think it interesting to consider Porter's view of aspect here given
John's "panoramic view of the city".
First note Porter's aspectual terms:
1. `perfective' is used for aorist
2. `imperfective' is used for present and imperfect
3. `stative' is used for perfect and pluperfect
That is, there are three "aspects" in the Greek verbal system encoded
using five forms or inflections.
Now the interesting quote from "Idioms" (page 24):
"The analogy of a parade proves useful. If I am a television
correspondent in a helicopter flying over the parade, I view
the parade in its immediacy from a vantage outside the action as
`perfective'; that is, in its entirety as a single and complete
whole. If I am a spectator standing with others along the side of
a road watching the parade pass by in front of me, I view the action
immersed within it as `imperfective'; that is, an event in progress.
And if I am the parade manager in corporate headquarters considering
all of the conditions in existence at this parade, including not
only all the arrangements that are coming to fruition but all the
accompanying events that allow the parade to operate, I view the
process not in its particulars or its immediacy but as `stative';
that is, as a complex condition or state of affairs in existence."
So, for what it might be worth from this fellow student of Greek, yes
I think it is possible.
Lastly, Lira, if Porter is new to you, he has helped clarify for me
the distinction (and controversy) between `tense' and `aspect', that
is, between `viewing the action as taking place in time' and `viewing
the action from a certain perspective'.
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