Biblical Word vs. Theological Concept: Avoiding a Common Word-Study Fallacy

Christopher W. Cowan

For the student of the Bible—whether scholar, pastor, seminary student, or layperson—word studies are often a principal means of investigating the biblical text. To understand what a passage means, one must understand what specific words mean in context. Unfortunately, though, there are erroneous ways to study biblical words that can lead Bible interpreters astray. One particular word-study fallacy is the confusion of a word with a concept. [Read more…]

I believe that great expositors of Scripture are good grammarians. That is, one does not have to be the second coming of A.T. Robertson to be a great expositor. The great preacher, however, will be comfortable enough in the languages to read competently both the original texts and the secondary literature discussing the text in light of the original languages. I think most would agree with me. However, the reality is that it takes some work to keep our Greek and Hebrew fresh and growing. So for you who aspire to be great expositors I have six suggestions for improving our use of the biblical languages. [Read more…]

by Köstenberger, Merkle, and Plummer

Greek Tenses and Challenging NT Texts 

At times an English translation of the Bible may seem to run contrary to other passages in the Bible. For example, 1 John 3:6 reads, “Everyone who remains in Him does not sin (οὐχ  ἁμαρτάνει); everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.” The immediate difficulty with this verse is that it seems to contradict both experience (if we are honest with ourselves) and other passages of Scripture. John himself previously stated, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8; see also v. 10). [Read more…]