Friends,

Here is Common Christianity #819, “What’s the Word? Part 3.” It can be difficult to read Shakespeare’s Elizabethan English, and misdirecting to read a modern Bible translation.  The word is the thing, and meanings matter.  See the column below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media. To see Parts 1 & 2 (and #816, “Greek, You Say?”), simply scroll down the blog. Have a great week! – Bob

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Spirituality Column #819

July 16, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s the Word? Part 3

By Bob Walters

“Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” – Juliet from the balcony, Act II, Scene 2

In this famed scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is Juliet gazing out into the lonely night garden wondering where is her beloved and longed-for Romeo?

No.  She’s asking, “Why” are you Romeo? Why she, a Capulet, fell in love with him whom she cannot properly have.  Why is he the one?  He’s a Montague!  Curses!

“Wherefore” looks like it begs a location.  It doesn’t.  It begs an explanation: Why?

In our brief look at common English Bible words that many folks think mean one thing but really mean something else, why bring up Shakespeare?  Because 1) He is the king of the English language (though nowadays he’s hard to understand).  2) Almost everyone knows this line.  3) Few people (including me) understood this line.  And 4) Shakespeare wrote in the same era that the King James Bible was published (1611).

The lesson is … knowing correct word meanings enriches our Bible and faith understanding. Here are some Bible beauties. If you think of others, send them my way.

Prophecy: receiving, discerning, and sharing the will of God, not telling the future.

Repent: change your thinking, not expressing regret and changing behavior.

Eternity: the quality of God’s life, not a measurement of time.

Apocalypse: the ultimate and final revealing – the revelation – of God’s plan and goodness, not when everything “blows up” because of man’s evil and God’s wrath.

It’s no wonder folks are confused.  Look up these four words in any reputable English dictionary and you’ll see that they are first defined in popular terms of what they actually are not.  “Prophesy” is the dark art of a “seer.”  “Repent” is a response of regret to sin.  “Eternity” is a long, long time.  “Apocalypse” is the movie, teen literature, and video game metaphor for universal destruction, disaster, catastrophe, or Armageddon.

No, no, no, and no.

The Apocalypse is God’s revealing epilogue; it’s not Armageddon. “Apokalypsis,” or “unveiling,” as my erudite Roman Catholic friend (and high school buddy, now retired general counsel of Monsanto) Dave Snively pointed out, is the Greek title of the Bible’s final book: Revelation.  It’s where we “see” what God is going to do, because He does it.

“Apologetics” means “explaining or defending one’s faith,” not apologizing for it. The Hebrew “Shalom” means peace, but in the big way of relational wholeness, fullness, and well-being, not merely absence of conflict.  The Christian Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12) is a positive directive to “Do” good unto others, not just avoid meanness.

Our secular lexicon and often errant Christian doctrinal emphasis on poorly defined Bible words diminish the great gift we have in the precision of God’s Word.

Yes, the population at large and many Christians want to know the future, focus on sin rather than their thought life, think they will need a watch in heaven/eternity, and confuse God’s ultimate revelation of His good plan with humanity’s imagination of ruin.

But, while we’ve spared readers Greek linguistics and specifics, we here assert that Christian joy is listening for God’s voice, thinking with God’s intellect, joining God’s life, and praising God’s ultimate, glorious plan. 

No apologies necessary.  Shalom.

Walters’ (rlwcom@aol.com) English-teacher and Shakespeare-nerd wife Pam (she truly is) notes that several Shakespeare plays, notably including Macbeth, Pam asserts, were written and first performed at the court of King James to patronize the Bard’s generous personal patron King James’ fascination with witches.

 

 Friends,

We’re publishing a couple days early this week … here is Common Christianity #818 (7-19-22), “What’s the Word? Part 2.” Oh, my word! I have some explaining to do, but that’s not why the column is early; we’re heading to northern Michigan lake country with family next week. See the column just below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media.  God bless!

Bob

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Spirituality Column #818

July 19, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s the Word? Part 2

By Bob Walters

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ …” – Matthew 1:1 KJV

Sometimes it takes making a mistake to learn something important.

And Praise God!  I made a mistake.  But the correction was entertaining.

Last week (#817, 7-5-22) in this space we discussed how one should pay attention to the English translation of Greek Bible words because words like “Word,” for example, have various Greek roots and meanings, i.e., Logos, logo, rhema, lexi … etc.

But let’s not rehash that here.  When most English speaking people “of the Book” – the Bible – see the word “Greek,” they either run and hide, or fall asleep. 

But stick around … awake … for this one.

In that previous column I said, “The word Bible does not appear in the Bible.”  Well, look at the first words of Matthew 1:1, above: “The book.”  In Greek, the first word of the New Testament is “Byblos,” the mother word that gives us, in English, “Bible.”

I thank good friend, pastor, and former professor and college president Dave Faust for the fix.  Folks who know Dave as a wonderful preacher may not know he’s also a beast with biblical Greek; he tested out of it in college.  Of my column error Dave wrote to me, gently but immediately, “That’s not correct …,” and schooled me with only minor abrasions in the Greek woodshed.

In essence Dave noted that in the Bible, “… ‘byblos’ (roll, scroll, book) is used several times. In fact, it’s the first word of the New Testament (see above) … understood as a roll or scroll that contained written words.” Dave went on to point out that “Byblos” was an ancient city in Lebanon, that “biblia” (2 Tim 4:13) were small, personal scrolls, and that “parchments (Greek membranae)” were “more valuable documents copied on animal skins instead of papyrus.”  This stuff fascinates me.

Proving the accuracy of my notion that serious scholars have more sophisticated resources than my simple Google search format (e.g., Matthew 1:1 in Greek), Dave provided this specific link for the verse at biblestudytools.com. Bible study friend and professor Jeff Dodge, who I mentioned a couple weeks ago, suggests “Logos” software.

Obviously, there was no “Bible” yet when the New Testament of “The Bible” was being written, compiled, canonized, and sanctified in the Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’s time there were the Hebrew “scriptures” (graphe) on scrolls which we now call the Old Testament of the Bible, but the “Bible” wasn’t the “Bible” as we know it until the second, third, or fourth century after Christ.  A case can even be made for the late first century.

But that’s a different discussion/debate for a different day.

My main point, that the word “Bible” isn’t in the Bible, is technically sort of true but linguistically mainly wrong.  Thanks to Dave’s corrective (and web link), I looked into “byblos” a little deeper.  Its most common usage is in the phrase “book of life” (Psalm 69:28) cited in Philippians 4:2 and Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, and 21:27.

That’s the “book of life,” as in, “the lamb’s book of life” (Rev 21:27).  Of any book, Bible, byblos, graphe, or membranae in the world, that’s the book I want to be in.

Whatever it’s called, in any language … even Greek.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) thanks mentor Dr. George Bebawi for the phrase, “Praise God! I made a mistake.” Confess, repent, and move on.  It’s all you can do.

 Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #817 (7-12-22), What’s the Word? Part 1. This week and next we are going to look at some Bible words that can make us say, “It’s all Greek to me.”  Nah … nothing to fear.  See the column below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media.  Send me your name and email address if you’d like to receive the weekly column directly by email.

Have a great week! Blessings,

Bob

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Labels: Acts 17:23, Bible understanding, Genesis 1:2, Greek, Heraclites, John 1:1, Logos, rhema, unknown God, Word

Spirituality Column #817

July 12, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s the Word? Part 1

By Bob Walters

“… and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

Accurate biblical understanding takes a beating when English words that mean one thing here in Greek and something else there in Greek aren’t properly parsed.

Of course, if you’re actually reading scripture in Greek – and understand it – then there’s no problem.  But reading an English translation can throw you off the scent.

Take for example, the word “word.”

“Word” can refer directly to the person of Jesus, as in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Or John 1:14, “the Word became flesh.”  Here, “Word” in Greek is “Logos.”  It is “nominative” case which means it “names” something, so “Logos” is naming Jesus as “God’s Word,” meaning the Son, the second person of the Trinity we know as Jesus Christ.

We understand John 1:1 “Word” in combination with “the Spirit of God hovering over the waters” in Genesis 1:2 at Creation.  These verses help us deduce the trinitarian relationship of Father God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as a divine Godhead and singularity of relationship that is eternal rather than a plurality of temporal beings.

Don’t do the math on this one.  One must understand the Trinity in faith (I say this often), not arithmetic.  If God is love, then God must Himself be a relationship.  And Jesus, God’s Word, is the active, creative, building-block essence of that relationship. 

Jesus is the “Word of God,” or “Logos,” and everyone should be happy.

But know, the root word “logo” – just “logo,” no “s” – was created by Greek philosopher Heraclites in the sixth century Before Christ, not referring to God.  “Logo” was an expression of “authority,” an “order” (to do something), or a true “report” of a person or event, coming from an authority figure such as government or a philosopher.

The Greeks at that point – 600 B.C. – did not recognize the “One God” (see Acts 17:23, “the unknown God”) as did the Jews.  But some version of “logo” occurs more than 300 times in the New Testament.  We are safe to understand them as referring to God’s authority, truth, and communication generally, and also bound up in Jesus Christ.

But it’s not just “logo.”  “Rhema” also translates as a Godly “word” (John 15:7, “my words remain in you…”) but either as a reference to a “spoken word” or a word or idea of God in scripture that spiritually spurs someone to action.

“Lexi” (think “lexicon”) is a general word describing, say, “words in a language.”

Of course, a modern Christian is most likely to hear the phrase, “God’s word,” as referring to the Bible, but “Bible” is one of those words that does not appear in the Bible.  In the New Testament, “scripture” – that of the Hebrews – in Greek is “graphe.”

Computer resources these days are such that, as we discussed last week, one can find a fairly thorough Greek tutorial on any New Testament verse with a simple Google search in the form: John 1:1 in Greek.

For that reason, I’ve resisted formally learning Greek.  But I recommend highly that a Bible study passage include an investigation of the Greek, particularly of one’s favorite scripture.  One should be sure you know what one’s life verse actually means.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) understands, with compassion, that in the minds of many Christians, a little Greek goes a long, long, tedious way.  But it’s the right way.

 Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #816 (7-5-22), “Greek, You Say?” A learned friend said “Greek?” and I said “No.” I’ve learned to cut more corners than Pythagoras. See the column below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media.

Also, wife Pam led our E91 traditional service yesterday with a nice nod to the Fourth of July.  There’s a video link to the service at the bottom of the column. Happy Fourth! Blessings, Bob

Spirituality Column #816

July 5, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Greek, You Say?

By Bob Walters

“How is it that each of us hears them in our native language?” – Acts 2:8

I took it as a compliment recently when Bible study friend Jeff Dodge at church who also happens to be a college philosophy professor suggested that I learn Greek.

Jeff knows of my writing and the “amanuensis” (secretarial, editing) work I did for 14 years formatting the class notes for retired, multi-lingual Egyptian Bible translator and Cambridge divinity lecturer Dr. George Bebawi’s weekly studies at our church.

I assumed no corrective or criticism, only that Jeff thought I’d enjoy the intellectual “deep dive” of the language of the New Testament.  I immediately said, “No.” 

Since the ancient Greeks were all about reason, let me put it this way: I reasoned that I already know just enough Greek to get into trouble, have plenty of tricks and resources up my sleeve to make sense of Bible Greek when necessary, and don’t feel the need to stuff my nearly-70-year-old head with things I can just as easily look up.

Besides, never in my (long ago) academic life having had any particular facility for foreign language, neither did I now see a reason to add an assuredly mediocre (in my case) enterprise to my kitbag of competencies. Long ago in a public relations career I discovered it’s not what you know that counts, it’s what you know how to look up. 

And here, simply, is how you look up Greek from the New Testament.

Go to Google and search a verse, like this: John 1:1 in Greek.

That’s all there is to it.  It’s how I survived George.  Welcome to the quicksand.

A Google search like this of any New Testament verse usually brings up the solid interlinear Bible website, “BibleHub.com,” citing that particular verse in Greek.

Click that entry and the next thing you’ll see is a screen with the entire verse word by word on a grid in transliterated Greek (English letters), actual Greek words, English words, and the grammatical, coded rainbow of Greek parts of speech, person, tense, mood, voice, case, number, gender, and comparison. Click back and forth; it’ll keep you busy for hours. One can navigate, investigate, and cross-reference endlessly.

For good measure, the well-known Strong’s Concordance is also in there for click bait links to every other New Testament citation using that particular word and other forms of it (often dozens in Greek) along with an exhaustive listing of definitions. 

Professional theologians and philosophers may well rely on more sophisticated academic resources, but for us garden-variety, Bible studying Christians, this seems to do just fine.  Accurate Greek linguistic context opens up much scriptural understanding.

Though written in Greek, I would think everyone knows that very little verbiage in the New Testament was spoken in Greek or Hebrew, but rather in Aramaic, the dominant, common semitic street language of the time.  Still, for example, I’d be curious to know in what language Roman Pontius Pilate asked Hebrew Jesus “What is truth?”

The simple answer to that one is, “The Truth is Jesus Christ, and you’re looking at Him.”  But Jesus didn’t answer, and His silence was profound in any language.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), attending his 1972 Kokomo (Ind.) H.S. 50^th reunion this weekend, learned the Greek alphabet in Miss Handley’s senior World Lit class; she had it on cards above the chalkboard like the cursive cards in third grade. Walters should have listened more in class, but can still recite the Greek alphabet like a beast.

Here’s that link to the July 3 E91 traditional service: E91Church.com/Traditional, click on July 3, 2022 service. Includes a great piano piece by Wayne before Rick’s sermon.