From: Timothy Lee Jorgensen (trmljorg@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Jan 25 2001 - 09:07:46 EST
This is my first message to the list, so please pardon any ineptitude on
my part. I believe I have read through all the messages on this topic,
but if I have overlooked something I apologize. It seems to me that the
discussions of H ARCH in Rev. 3:14 have overlooked the two most important
texts in determinig its usage here, namely the only two other occurences
of the word in the Revelation (21:6, 22:13). 21:6 reads, EGW TO ALFA KAI
TO W, H ARCH KAI TO TELOS. 22:13 reads similarly, EGW TO ALFA KAI TO W, O
PRWTOS KAI O ESCATOS, H ARCH KAI TO TELOS. The first is a statement by
God about himself. The second refers either to God or to Christ. The
context favors Christ in the second text. In both ARCH means "beginning"
but certainly not in the sense of first created but in the sense of the
beginner of creation. This is confirmed by its opposite pair which does
not mean the last thing created but rather the one who brings creation to
its proper end or conclusion. That the or a sense in which Christ is H
ARCH is specified by the genitive in 3:14 does not seem to me to alter the
sense of ARCH in the passage.
Tim Jorgensen
Arnold, MO
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