Intermission

While taking a break from The Two Trees, I thought to provide a brief intermission. But not to go without any content, here is the results on looking into the meaning of the word good as it is used in the New Testament.

Kalon is a Greek word used in the New Testament, commonly translated as "good." After looking into it a bit more, I was impressed that good means more than simply "not bad." It means "...beautiful applied by the Greeks to everything so distinguished in form, excellence, goodness, usefulness, as to be pleasing; hence beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable" (Thayer's). It is translated in the Recovery Version of the New Testament as: good, fine (Matt. 13:45), better (Matt. 18:8), noble and good (Luke 8:15 – kalon is translated noble here; good in this verse is the Greek word agathos, where we get our name Agatha), beautiful (Luke 21:5), Fair Havens (Acts 27:8), honorable (Rom. 12:17; 2 Cor. 8:21), approved…good (2 Cor. 13:7), respectable…good (Titus 3:8), excellent…good (1 Pet. 2:12). Finally, in an entry on synonyms in Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament, it is implied that Kalon is more than just being the best one can be, but rather is the best anything can be. This made me consider that although anyone can live a human life that is not bad,it is only by receiving Christ as our life and living Him out that we can actually have a life that is described as Kalon. For this, we need a heart as good earth to receive the word as the good seed (Matt. 13:19, 8, 24), to bear good fruit as good trees (Matt. 12:33), and we need to receive and hold the good teaching (1 Tim. 4:6), so that we'll be the fine pearl, so precious to the Lord that He sold everything to buy it (Matt. 13:45).

In today's age, when good for many describes doing the minimum required and staying out of trouble, it is refreshing to see that for others, good describes something much higher.

The Two Trees I-3

Act I, Scene 3

Nabal: Ok, I'll humor you, what is the Bible about, other than shepherds and camel traders?

Abel: The Bible is an amazing historical document. It proves that God exists and that Judaism was His revealed religion before Christ came and that Christianity is His revealed religion after.

Nabal: Why would God, if He is so great and almighty, care about petty human religion? And why would one of many religions be any better than the others when they are all the same?

Abel: All those other religions aren't God's revealed religion. It's His will that we follow His revealed religion...Stewart, you said you read the Bible, isn't that God's will?

Stewart: The Bible does talk about God's will, but I think His will is mainly related to Christ.

Abel: See Nabal, Stewart's right, and Christ revealed that Christianity is God's religion that we should follow so that we can go to heaven when we die. Right Stewart?

Stewart: Uhh...

Abel: Maybe it will help if we explain the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Brian: Yeah, I've always wondered why there are two parts to the Bible. And why are they called "Testaments"?

Stewart: A testament is like a will—various accomplishments bequeathed to the inheritors.

Abel: Right, and in the New Testament, God gave us Christianity and the way to go to heaven, and in the Old Testament, God gave us Judaism and the Law, which was replaced by Christianity, and certain facts about creation and the world.

Nabal: Certain facts? Like what?

Abel: Well, the Law tells us about good and evil...

Nabal: Those are just societal constructs to keep us from behaving in antisocial ways.

Brian: Are you dating a sociology major? Where did you learn that psychobabble?

Nabal: She's just a friend...it's not my fault she's not into the hard sciences.

Abel: ...and Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament tells us that the earth is 6,000 years old.

Nabal: Come on! Everything we've studied and everything we know shows the earth is older than that, by several orders of magnitude... next you're going to tell me the earth is flat too.

Abel: When it comes to the Bible versus science, I'll take the Bible, since it is infallible. Every word in the Bible is accurate and precise, and the Bible explicitly says the earth is only 6,000 years old. Evolution is...

Brian: Speaking of science, even if you don't believe it, we're going to be tested on neuroscience tomorrow and might want to finish up our studying before the library closes.

Stewart: All we had left was the electrophysiology chapter. Can we maybe go over how an action potential works and call it a day?

Brian: So, I think there are two main types of ions involved in the membrane voltage changes during an action potential, sodium and potassium...

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The Two Trees I-2

Act I, Scene 2

Voice: Attention all students and library patrons. The library will be closing in thirty minutes.

Brian: Before you guys get into this, are we finished studying?

Nabal: I'm good, let's have this discussion Abel, no, I haven't heard of apologetics. But I definitely think you should apologize for reading the Bible.

Abel: That's not what "apologetics" means, the term refers to the systematic defense of God's existence and the truth of Christianity. It is the fundamental theme of the New Testament of the Bible.

Stewart: Are you guys sure you don't want to study for a few more minutes.

Abel: Well...

Nabal: I'm done, you guys study. What do you mean by "defense" of God's existence. How can you defend a falsehood. Don't you know that Darwin proved God didn't exist. You should really read some of the latest books on this, they'll clear you up in no time. Back me up here, Stewart, Brain, haven't you guys read Dawkins' latest?

Brian: Richard Dawkins?

Nabal: Yeah, now that guy knows the Bible—what a load of rubbish it is anyway.

Stewart: I beg to differ.

Nabal: What?

Stewart: That Richard Dawkins knows the Bible. He makes some mistakes in discussing it in The God Delusion. For example, in trying to assign motives to Matthew and Luke in writing each of their Gospels, he claims that Luke included kings worshiping Jesus as a child in order to impress the Gentiles who would read his Gospel.

Nabal: So?

Stewart: So, the Magi, or kings, coming from the east to worship Jesus was detailed in Matthew's Gospel, not Luke's. Dawkins made a mistake.

Nabal: Ahh, that's just a technicality.

Stewart: Also, I'd like to clear something up from before. You implied that I wouldn't be someone who reads the Bible. Well, I do read the Bible. Science is interesting and intellectually stimulating, and I'm glad we are studying it. But in order to satisfy something deep in me that longs for more, the Bible is just what I need. It sounds like Abel knows this as well. If you've never read the Bible, Nabal, you should at least give it a try. That's what any open-minded scientist would do, right? At least read something you want to disagree with to find out for yourself why it is wrong.

Nabal: That's why I read books by Richard Dawkins...

Brian: But that's just his point Nabal. If Stewart is right, Dawkins didn't even get all his facts straight when talking about the Bible in his book. I've never read the Bible either, but as a scientist, I would never dismiss something until I understood it's main point, and why that point is wrong. Isn't that what science is about—forming hypotheses, then testing them. It seems to me you've formed a hypothesis about the Bible, but are unwilling to test it.

Nabal: You guys are crazy.

Abel: No, they're just saying you need to read the Bible and understand it before you dismiss it. And when it comes to understanding the Bible, I'd be happy to help you.

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The Two Trees I-1

Act I, Scene 1
In a study room, in the library, four students pause from studying for a neuroscience final. One leans back in his chair, perusing something on his BlackBerry. Another brings out a large, leather-bound volume and opens it on the table in front of them.

Nabal: What is that, Abel?

Abel: It's the Authorized Version.

Brian: Of what?

Abel: The Holy Bible, of course. I find that reading it during study breaks helps me concentrate.

Nabal: How can reading that garbage written by goatherds and camel traders help you study? You should get rid of it, it is only going to make you stupider. Right Brain? We scientists trust reason, not superstition.

Brian: I've actually never read it.

Nabal: How about you Stewart, you seem pretty smart, you wouldn't waste time reading the Bible, would you?

Stewart: Huh? Oh, I was reading something. Sorry?

Nabal: Well, Abel here is reading the Bible and Brain and I were telling him he should forget about it. I mean, science has totally disproven everything in that outdated book anyway. People who believe the Bible don't know anything, it's nonscientific.

Abel: The Bible is scientific.

Nabal: Are you kidding?!? The Bible says the earth is only 6000 years old, that the earth is flat, the evolution didn't happen, that the earth is the center of the universe, that virgins can have babies...I mean, c'mon, we are studying neuroscience of all things. We all know that only science proves anything about the world. That Bible is just filling your head with lies and superstitions. I mean...

Stewart: What about history?

Nabal: What?

Brian: I think Stewart is questioning your assertion that only science tells us anything. We've learned a lot from history as well, no?

Abel: That's right. Not only is the Bible scientific, it is historically accurate as well. Did you know that Sir William M. Ramsay originally went to Palestine to disprove the Gospel of Luke and ended up being one of the strongest proponents of its accuracy. Or that they found a stela about a decade ago that talks about King David. And furthermore...

Nabal: That stuff is all made up. These archaeologists find some pottery shards with scratch marks on them and...

Brian: So you don't think history, or archaeology for that matter, are useful or informative?

Nabal: No Brain, I don't, and since you are the smartest one here, neither should you. Only science proves things, all those other disciplines only make guesses.

Abel: I disagree. The Bible should be the standard of truth and everything else should have to agree with it. Did you know that besides being scientifically and historically accurate, the Bible changes lives, it is the best-selling book ever, even a lot of famous scholars read the Bible. Didn't you take MMW Nabal? They make you read the Bible, don't they?

Nabal: Yeah, but they only make you read it to show how contradictory it is. I never did any of the readings anyway...waste of time.

Abel: You've never heard of apologetics, have you Nabal?

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The Two Trees

Prologue

On campus there are two trees. The first is the library, as one can plainly see. Complete with Paradise Lost and the subtle Serpent snaking his way up toward the trunk, the tree itself towers over the campus, branching into the air with its roots under ground. This is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The other tree is not so easy to find. Quietly sitting on the wall of a tall building, in a shady courtyard, in one of the better colleges here, this second tree calmly presents its message.


Yet this second tree offers something different from the first. While the larger tree opens its doors to those seeking knowledge, the smaller declares that Wisdom makes one happy. The two are not the same. And if one is familiar with the role Wisdom plays in the book of Proverbs, he will recognize that a deeper thought is with the second tree. Proverbs 8 says, "I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence...Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I was set up from eternity, From the beginning, before the earth was...When He established the heavens, I was there...Then I was by Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight...For whoever finds me finds life..."

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Prelude to a Play

This play will most likely be in three Acts of several Scenes each. While I have not yet thought of an appropriate title, one should be forthcoming with the first scene of Act I, or perhaps the Prologue.

So as not to give away too much in this brief prelude, I will simply introduce the four main characters of the play: Brian, Nabal, Abel, and Stewart.

Dramatis Personae

• Brian - sarcastically referred to as "Brain" by other characters.
• Nabal - likes to argue.
• Abel - pious, devout, and quite sure of himself.
• Stewart - quiet, almost mysterious.

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and through the operation

I was asked a great question about Ephesians 4:16 and after looking into it a bit more, I am convinced that the rendering from Papyrus 46 is the correct one. But let me explain.

Ephesians 4:16 (ASV) from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:16 (RcV) Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

Nearly every English translation of the New Testament follows the American Standard Version (ASV) for Ephesians 4:16, the phrase in questions being "according to the working." Only the Recovery Version (RcV) is different, translating this phrase "and through the operation." This is because virtually every Greek manuscript of Ephesians has in it's text "kat' energian" which is correctly translated "according to [the] operation." Only one manuscript (albeit an incredibly old one, ca. AD 175), Papyrus 46, has a different rendering, "kai energias." The Recovery Version chose to follow the minor variation in Papyrus 46, rather than the rest of the bulk of New Testament manuscripts. But after looking into the matter further, I am convinced that both from a textual critical standpoint and from a proper view of the divine revelation, Papyrus 46, and hence, the Recovery Version's rendering of this phrase is the correct one.

First, it isn't hard to conceive that the iota at the end of the word "kai" (and) was accidentally crossed and the following word was later corrected to match it ("energias" would have to be changed to "energian" to be grammatically correct). Further support for "kai energias" comes from the fact that only Paul uses this word (energia) and in every case that it follows "kata" (according to), it is preceded by a definite article (2 Thes. 2:9 is slightly different, but I won't get into that here). In Ephesians 4:16, there is definitely no article and therefore it would be an anomaly in Paul's style if he were to have left it out here.

But from the side of the divine revelation, it makes even more sense that this phrase should be "and through the operation," not "according to the operation." A simple comment on another passage in Zerwick's A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament helps with this. Philippians 1:19 speaks of "your petition and [the] bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Only one article is used for both "petition" and "bountiful supply" (before petition) and Zerwick comments "the one art. perh. showing the close relation in which the two stand in Paul's mind." So, apply the same idea to Ephesians 4:16. Instead of having members (joints) of the Body supplying it "according to" the operation of each one part in a way that implies distinction and even separation between the joints and each one part; we have the joints and each one part working together in an intimate relationship to cause the growth and building up of the Body of Christ. Both are necessary, and their respective functions can't be separated.

Textual criticism is a proper and necessary way to determine the accurate rendering of the Greek text of the New Testament. However, sometimes asking about the spiritual significance of possibly different readings can provide direction as well. Ephesians 4:16 stands as an example of this, and I am happy to primarily read a version of the Bible (the RcV) that considers both the manuscript base and the divine revelation when translating.

To close, a quote from the introduction to the Recovery Version of the Bible. "Translating the Bible depends not only on an adequate comprehension of the original language but also on a proper understanding of the divine revelation in the holy Word."

Papyrus 46 - Eph. 4:15-16 (from University of Michigan Papyrus Collection)