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Question #47
QUESTION: What about "nuggets"
found only in the Greek?
ANSWER: Why settle for "nuggets"
when you can own the whole mine?
EXPLANATION: Most "nuggets"
that preachers find in the Greek exist only in the fantasy of their
minds.
First, anyone who believes that the Bible is the perfect
word of God, cannot believe that it can be improved
on... even by them. Most men who discover "nuggets" are filled
with a prideful humility through which they believe that God is going
to show them something in the Greek that no one else
has found. Then they can "humbly" impress their preacher friends
with their monumental "grasp" of the original language.
They do not, regardless of what they say in the pulpit,
really believe that the Bible is perfect as it stands, in English OR
Greek. Therefore they never read their Bible with a desire for the Holy
Spirit to help them understand it. They instead "pray" that
He will show them some better way to translate some Greek word.
Since the Holy Spirit never does this, they usually resort
to "The Greek Game". This game can be played by anyone.
Even if they have had no training in the Greek language. Simply put,
all that the pseudo-scholar needs to do is to own a Young's Concordance.
In the very back of a Young's Concordance is a list of the Greek and
Hebrew words used in the Bible. Under each word given is a list of the
different ways that that particular word was translated in the King
James Bible. All the eager critic needs to do is to interchange the
English words used.
For example, take the Greek word "haplotes."
It was translated five different ways in the Authorized Version.
1. bountifulness II Corinthians 9:11
2. liberal II Corinthians 9:13
3. liberality II Corinthians 8:2
4. simplicity Romans 12:8, II Corinthians 1: 12
5. singleness Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22
Now, in order for our zealous scholar to humbly display
his massive intellect, he must find a verse where "haplotes"
is translated, let's say, "singleness" or way #5. Such as
Ephesians 6:5.
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your
masters ac- cording to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness
of your heart, as unto Christ;"
Then in his preaching, when lighting upon his prearranged
victim" he makes some statement that is critical
of the King James translators for having poorly chosen this translation.
Then he chooses one of the other words into which it was translated,
say, way #3 or #4 and takes 10-15 minutes to expound on the virtues
of his choice while ever pointing out sadly the poor choice of the Authorized
Version translators. Of course, later when he reads a verse such as
Romans 12:8, "Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth,
let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with
diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness", where his
pet Greek word is translated "simplicity" or way #4, he will
reverse the process and expound on the virtue of choice #5. All the
time lamenting, again, the poor choice of God's translators.
His audience, unaware of the ease with which this is accomplished,
stares on in awe of his intelligence and tremendous grasp of the Greek
language. They feel so fortunate to have a man of such caliber (.22
Blank!) to point out to them the errors in their Bible. And of course
they are totally convinced by this charade that they, lowly peons that
they are, can never truly understand the Bible as well as their exalted
teacher, because they lack the "tools" he possesses from the
Greek.
This scenario is NOT an over statement.
I have experienced it first hand.
Once while listening to a self-impressed Bible scholar
preach I marveled at the ease with which he duped his audience. He was
reading Romans chapter 8. Upon reading a particular verse, he stopped
at a particular word and stated, "Now the King James translators
mistranslated the Greek word used here." Then he spent 10-12 minutes
expounding on the merits of his choice of translation. The audience
was duly impressed with this man's grasp of the "original language.
" (I once heard a 14 year old boy do the same thing in a "preaching
contest". You see, ANYONE can do it!)
The very next day I was listening to another preacher
on the radio. Coincidentally this zealot was also preaching from Romans
chapter 8. He also read the same verse and ALSO
stopped at the very same word that the expert from the previous evening
had accosted. He then stated, "Sadly, the King James translators
did not properly translate the Greek word used here."
I then braced myself for a rehash of the previous evening's
exposition. But it was not to be. For this particular
scholar pointed out that the word in question should have been translated
an entirely different way (choice #1 vs. choice #4).
He then, as the previous evening's butcher, expounded
on the virtues of HIS choice over that of the King
James translators, or last evening's expert. I was
amazed! Two completely different men, two entirely different opinions.
In fact, their only point of agreement was that the
Bible could not possibly be correct
as it was. I quickly consigned their esteemed (and humble) opinions
to the garbage heap of education and accepted the choice that GOD
had made for His Book in 1611.
A second method of finding "nuggets" is for
someone with a limited understanding of Greek to do the same as the
above, only they take their choice of words from the Greek Lexicon instead
of the Concordance.
The result is always the same, the congregation is over-whelmed
by the "depth" of his study, They are also convinced that
they can never match his comprehension of the Bible without matching
(Ha!) his comprehension of "the Greek."
A tremendous example of the fallacy of this method of
Bible (?) study is recorded in Dr. David Otis Fuller's book entitled
Which Bible? We quote it in its entirety.
"An interesting story is found in Walton's biography
of Bishop Sanderson illustrating the truth of the old proverb, "a
little learning is a dangerous thing." Dr. Kilbye, an excellent
Hebrew scholar and Professor of this language in the university, also
expert in Greek and chosen as one of the translators, went on a visit
with Sanderson, and at church on Sunday they heard a young preacher
waste a great amount of the time allotted for his sermon in criticizing
several words in the then recent translation. He carefully showed how
one particular word should have been translated in a different way.
Later that evening the preacher and the learned strangers were invited
together to a meal, and Dr. Kilbye took the opportunity to tell the
preacher that he could have used his time more profitably. The Doctor
then explained that the translators had very carefully considered the
"three reasons" given by the preacher, but they had found
another thirteen more weighty reasons for giving the rendering complained
of by the young critic."
A third type of "nugget" is one which actually
does not exist except in totally false statements made by a Bible critic.
The greatest example of this is found in the analogy of
the two Greek words "agape" and "phileo". Both of
which are translated "love" in John 21:15-17.
15 "So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith
unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him,
Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord: thou knowest
that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son
of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him
the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed
my sheep."
We have all heard this passage expounded by a pseudo-scholar.
(Sometimes in complete sincerity due to acceptance of bad teaching.)
The presentation is made that "agape" in Greek speaks of a
deep, intimate, selfless love. "Phileo" on the other hand
is little more than a casual "friendly" type of love. Our
scholar then laments, almost tearfully, the constraints of the English
language. He points out that the Lord actually says, "Peter ...
lovest ("agape") thou me. (With a deep, intimate, selfless
love) more than these?"
Peter responds, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love
("phileo") thee." (With a casual, friendly type of love.)
Our Bible critic points out that the Lord, not receiving
the answer that He desires, asks again.
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest ("agape")
thou me?"
Peter, it is then pointed out, is unwilling to commit
himself to such a deep relationship so he responds again.
"Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love ("phileo")
thee."
At this point our Bible corrector points out that a saddened
Saviour gives in to Peter's lack of commitment and changes His own choice
of Greek words to "phileo".
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest ("phileo")
thou me?"
This sudden change supposedly shocks Peter into seeing
his own spiritual infidelity to the Lord. Thus, saddened he answers.
"... thou knowest that I love ("phileo")
thee."
Our false teacher then points out to his audience that
there is no way to attain such depth of meaning from this passage using
only the feeble English. Once more the trusty "Greek" has
enlightened us as English can never do!
This presentation is tremendously effective and has only
ONE flaw. The definitions given for "agape"
and "phileo" are TOTALLY UNTRUE!
I am about to make a statement concerning "agape"
and "phileo" which is not based on prejudice or opinion. It
is based on careful honest study of the way in which "agape"
and "phileo" were used in the Bible ("Our
final authority in all matters of faith and practice)
by Jesus Christ Himself and the New Testament writers.
The statement is this: There was absolutely NO DIFFERENCE in New Testament
times between "agape" and "phileo" and that BOTH
are used interchangeably by Jesus Christ and the writers of the New
Testament. REGARDLESS of what Greek grammars, Greek
teachers and Greek preachers may say!
If you have been steeped in the false teaching of "agape"
and "phileo" by your college professor or pastor, you will
immediately (and with much prejudice) reject my supposition. ("How
could such godly men be wrong?" Right?)
Yet, I will not attempt to prove it is true. The proof
will come from Jesus Christ, Paul, Peter and John, and any other New
Testament writer that I could have chosen for the comparison. But wait!
They are not my final witnesses. The final and most weighty argument
will be waged by YOU!
For years I have been giving a test in Bible Conferences
in which I speak concerning this false teaching of "agape"
and "phileo". A copy of this test is reproduced below. IF
you have the courage and IF you can be honest with God and yourself,
feel free to take it. Here's how it goes.
In part #I, I have reproduced quotes from the New Testament
which were made by Jesus Christ using "agape" and "phileo".
Without looking at a Greek New Testament or Concordance
or any other help, use the false rules for "agape" and "phileo"
given by critics of the English Bible. Read the quote. Decide whether
Jesus is referring to "agape" love (deep, intimate, selfless
love) or "phileo" love (casual, friendly love).Then put an
"A" for agape or "P"" for phileo in the blank
before the quote.
Part #II is identical to part #I except that the quotes
are taken from various New Testament writers. Do the same as in part
one, putting an "A" for agape and a "P" for phileo,
using only the critics definition of these words. No guessing, no hunches.
Use only their own rule.
After you have completed the test, turn to the answer
sheet found in Appendix #1 in the back of this book.
JOHN 21:15-17 - AGAPE vs PHILEO
INSTRUCTIONS:
- 1. Read the Bible quote.
- 2. Put an A or P in the blank before the quote to signify your choice
of the Greek word used, AGAPE or PHILEO.
DEFINITIONS:
AGAPE love: Deep, intimate, selfless
love.
PHILEO love: Casual "friendly"
love.
I - Comparison: How Jesus used AGAPE
and PHILEO.
____ 1. Luke 11:42 the
love of God
____ 2. John 5:42
the love of God
____ 3. Matt 10:37 He that
loveth father or mother
____ 4. Rev 3:9
to know that I have loved
____ 5. Rev 3:19 As
many as I love
____ 6. Matt 23:6 love
the uppermost rooms
____ 7. John 12:25 He that
loveth his life
____ 8. Luke 11:43 ye love
the uppermost seats
____ 9. John 5:20 the
Father loveth the Son
____10. John 16:27 the Father
Himself loveth you,
because
ye have loved me
II - Comparison: How other New Testament writers
used AGAPE and
PHILEO.
____ 1. II Tim 3:4
of pleasures more than of God
____ 2. John 11:5
Jesus loved Martha,
____ 3. John 20:2
the other disciples whom Jesus
loved
____ 4. I Cor 16:22 If
any man love not the Lord
____ 5. Rom 5:8
But God commendeth his love
____ 6. I Cor 16:24 My
love be with you all
____ 7. II Tim 1:7
of power, and of love, and...
____ 8. Rom 12: 10 one to
another with brotherly love
____ 9. II Thes 3:12 abound
in love one toward
another
____10. Titus 2:4 women
to be sober, to love their
husbands
____11. Eph 5:28 So
ought men to love their wives
____12. I Peter 2:17 Love the brotherhood
____13. Heb 13:1 Let
brotherly love continue
____14. Titus 3:4
and love of God our Saviour
____15. I John 2:5 in him
verily is the love of God
perfected
If you have taken the test and if you have been honest,
you have found that the TRUTH of the matter is that
neither Jesus nor any of the New Testament writers acknowledged the
false rule foisted on us by heady and high-minded Bible critics.
Thus we see that this little "nugget" is made
only of "FOOL'S GOLD" and has never really
existed except in the deluded minds of men.
Who will you believe? Jesus Christ or your Greek professor?
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