Re: Mark 11:22 EXETE PISTIN QEOU

From: Paul S. Dixon (dixonps@juno.com)
Date: Wed Aug 26 1998 - 12:23:33 EDT


On Tue, 25 Aug 1998 09:19:42 -0700 "mail.access1.net"
<lancelot@access1.net> writes:
>To avoid confusion between usages of cases I think it is important to
do
>two things when you decide upon case usage:
>1 - examine the meaning of the main verb very closesly
>2 - examine other words int he same which may relate to the case in
>question
>
>In the case of pistin theou we have a very unusual situation, there
>are no definite articles which generally accompany both. In addition we
have
>a command given by the LOrd to the APostles commanding them to possess
>this pistin theou, themselves. And so the object of echo is pistis. And
>pistis is a verbal noun (noun derived from a verb) hence the APOSTLES
are to
>possess a capacity of soul , faith, that ALWAYS takes an object in so
far as
>pisteuw is a TRANSITIVE verb. In our context, theou is the candidate.
>But theou is without an article, so the LOrd is not speaking of the
>person of God - he does not say have faith in the person of GOd. He is
>instead saying "have faith in the quality of God, God's nature/essence"
>
>And because pistis is anathrous he is also saying, possess this
>quality in yourself - actually it is quite a command for the Apostles
who are
>viewed to be able to move mountains and possess such a prayer life that
>whatever the apostles request, they receive as the result of this faith
in God's
>essence. Actually all this is really commanding is to obey the first
>commandment of the Decalogue: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy >heart and all thy soul and all thy might and thy neighbor as thy
self".
>
>But in our passage, the Lord addresses the apostles directly. And tells
>them to pray without the doublemindedness of cynacism and doubt-but to
>simply KNOW God's word and take him at his word - really nothing wierd
or
>confusing, bu something very down to earth commonly found in any human
>relationship.
>
>I prefer the genitive of description "possess faith in God's (essence)"
or
>"possess a divine faith". Actually they are one and the same from a
>practical point of view, according to our passage :
> "...but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be
>granted him."

You seem to be assuming that the anarthrous QEOU should necessarily
be taken to denote qualitativeness. Have you considered that it can also
denote definiteness (since an anarthrous noun can be definite)?

It is interesting that QEOS occurs about 45 times in the book and only
twice is it anarthrous (here and 10:27). In 10:27, however, it is
clearly
definite, because of the following explanatory clause where QEOS
is articular:

ALL' OU PARA QEWi; PANTA GAR DUNATA PARA TWi QEWi.

Paul Dixon

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