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You are here: Home / Archives for interpretation

interpretation

The Failed Strategy of “Trinity & Subordinationism”

October 17, 2007 by Phil Gons

trinity-and-subordinationism.jpgKevin Giles’s The Trinity & Subordinationism is easily one of the worst books I have ever read.1 I say that not because I disagree with the position he defends (i.e., the Son is not in any sense eternally subordinate to the Father); I’m still in the process of evaluating the evidence. Rather, I make that statement based primarily2 on what the book itself sets out to do.

Giles’s goal in T&S is to move beyond the exegetical impasse regarding eternal subordination in the Trinity by appealing to tradition.

Quoting biblical texts and giving one’s interpretation of them cannot resolve complex theological disputes. . . . I believe this approach [to “doing theology”] should . . . be abandoned today because it always leads to a “text-jam.” . . . What we have today is a bitter stalemate (3).

[Read more…] about The Failed Strategy of “Trinity & Subordinationism”

  1. I should clarify that I have read and am referring to only his section on the Trinity, which is its own distinct unit. [↩]
  2. I’ll probably follow up this post with the book’s other problems, such as (1) misunderstanding and misrepresenting complementarians, (2) selective reading of history, (3) eisegesis of historical texts, (4) category confusion, etc., etc. Here’s one example of misrepresentation to give you an idea of the way Giles interacts with complemenatarian Trinitarianism throughout the book: “Rather than working as one, the divine persons have been set in opposition—with the Father commanding and the Son obeying.” I wrote this in the margin, “Opposition?!!! What a massive misrepresentation!” I challenge Giles to show one complementarian who considers the Father and the Son to be in a relationship of opposition! [↩]

Filed Under: Books, Exegesis, Theology Tagged With: church history, debate, eternal subordination, interpretation, Kevin Giles, subordination, subordinationism, The Trinity and Subordinationism, Trinity

The Merit of Faith: Genesis 15:6 in JPS

September 5, 2007 by Phil Gons

jps.jpgI just received the JPS Bible and Torah Commentary Collection (9 volumes) from Logos and started “thumbing” through a couple of the volumes. I’m glad I picked it up. It looks like a valuable series—primarily for what it reveals about modern Judaism’s understanding of the Tanakh.

As I expected, though, I’m going to disagree with many of the interpretations that it defends. Nahum Sarna’s interpretation of Genesis 15:6, for example, is disappointing on several levels.1

[Read more…] about The Merit of Faith: Genesis 15:6 in JPS

  1. Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis, The JPS Torah commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 113. [↩]

Filed Under: Books, Exegesis, Theology Tagged With: commentaries, faith, Genesis, Genesis 15, Hebrew, interpretation, JPS Commentaries, Judaism, Libronix, Logos Bible Software, Nahum Sarna, righteousness

What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?

August 25, 2007 by Phil Gons

Revelation 21:1 reads,

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Does this text teach that the new earth will not have large bodies of water (θαλάσσας)—no more lakes, seas, or oceans? Most think so.

The “sea” . . . must disappear before the eternity of joy can begin.1

The first hint of what the new heaven and new earth will be like comes in John’s observation that there will no longer be any sea. That will be a startling change from the present earth, nearly three-fourths of which is covered by water.2

Why would this be? Most argue that the sea symbolizes evil (or death or disorder), and thus the eradication of evil necessitates the removal of the sea.

[Read more…] about What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?
  1. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 743. [↩]
  2. John MacArthur, Revelation 12–22 (Chicago: Moody, 2000), 263. [↩]

Filed Under: Exegesis, Theology Tagged With: ESV, grammar, Greek, interpretation, lakes, Libronix, oceans, Revelation, seas, translation, water

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