From: clayton stirling bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sat Mar 14 1998 - 14:35:33 EST
Paul S. Dixon wrote:
> Clay, you have managed to keep this discussion general (I am not sure if
> you are arguing for or against Dale's position here), which is just as
> well.
Paul,
Actually my argument is not dealing with Dale's post at this point. I was
thinking about the original question and how it was framed. It reminded me of
the kind of thing that students used to do in their greek exegesis class. I
never took Greek in seminary, my focus being theology exclusively. But some of
my friends were writing these papers and I remember thinking that the
arguments seemed to be stretching the data to the breaking point. Even when I
agreed with their conclusions I could not support their methods.
I am suspicious of any dogma that is supported primarily by minor technical
points in Greek grammar. The reason I am suspicious is simple. Most technical
points in Greek grammar are controversial.
I am not ruling out the idea that detailed exegesis can be used to support
dogma. I think that Murray J. Harris ("Jesus as God") has done a fine job of
showing us how this can be done. However, I wonder if we ever need to rely on
something as slippery as verb aspect/aktionsart to support a major doctrine. I
hope not.
-- Clayton Stirling Bartholomew Three Tree Point P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062
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