Things New and Old

Ancient truths revealed in the Scriptures are often forgotten, disbelieved or distorted, and therefore lost in the passage of time. Such ancient truths when rediscovered and relearned are 'new' additions to the treasury of ancient truths.

Christ showed many new things to the disciples, things prophesied by the prophets of old but hijacked and perverted by the elders and their traditions, but which Christ reclaimed and returned to His people.

Many things taught by the Apostles of Christ have been perverted or substituted over the centuries. Such fundamental doctrines like salvation by grace and justification have been hijacked and perverted and repudiated by sincere Christians. These doctrines need to be reclaimed and restored to God's people.

There are things both new and old here. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things"
2Ti 2:7.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Don't bluff me with your Greek!

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty.

December 22, 2014
https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10203370062227758

This is so aptly put...

"With a large dish of humility, we should all approach our use of Greek in our teaching and preaching.  It is far better to honestly confess our limitations than to present ourselves as some kind of expert and then prove painfully that we are not.  I've suffered through far too many "Expert" presentations on a New Testament Greek word or phrase that revealed far more ignorance of that language than scholarship.  I'd far rather confess my limits and, if I use a Greek point, cite the authority and interact with him rather than falsely claiming more expertise than I have. 

Spending a few hours with a New Testament Greek dictionary doesn't qualify a person as a scholar.  Even taking a few classes of New Testament Greek stops distinctly short of that credential.  If we spent long hours with a credible dictionary (And I am one who no longer views Strong's as "credible") or even if we invest in a few courses so that we could stumble through reading a few verses in Greek, we are far below the status of scholars.  Perhaps with all of these investments, we might honestly regard ourselves as first graders at best, clearly not so advanced as to claim authority or expertise in our preaching or teaching.  I do occasionally pursue words and sentence structure in New Testament Greek, but I honestly find my time far more productive if I spend that amount of time with my KJV. 

All too often, despite claims to the contrary, I've read and heard men use their pretense of Greek knowledge to blatantly attempt to correct the KJV, rather than to clarify or to reinforce it.  Little do such men consider that the men who translated the KJV likely had far more scholarship in New Testament Greek than they will ever imagine, much less attain.  When we use any resource, directly or indirectly, to correct the KJV text, we have a more serious problem than language and scholarship. " 

~~ Elder Joe Holder