Fitting the Facts to the Theory
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
When you're wed to a theory, the facts just aren't
that important.
Fitting the Facts to the Theory
by J. Randal Matheny
Many liberal scholars seem to love trashing clear
affirmations of Scripture. As I prepared comments
on Paul's letter to Ephesians, I noticed one
Belgian writer, resident in Brazil, taking the old
tack that Paul did not write the letter.
One of his evidences was the similarity of the
greeting in Ephesians 1:1-2 to that of Colossians
1:1-2. (Stay with me; it'll be worth it.) Says the
scholar, "The author [someone other than Paul]
simply copied the formula from Colossians."*
But wait! Check any translation, and you can see,
even if you don't read Greek, that the author of
Ephesians didn't simply copy the Colossian
greeting word for word. Here's the two of them:
Colossians, supposedly the original: "Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and
Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful
brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to
you and peace from God our Father" (NASU).
Now Ephesians, the copycat: "Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who
are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ
Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Notice any differences, any "changes" from
Colossians to Ephesians, that would negate simple
copying? Here are four obvious ones (we won't
count the inversion of "Christ Jesus"):
1. There is no mention of "Timothy our brother."
2. The word "brethren" is omitted.
3. Unlike Colossians, no addressees are mentioned
in Ephesians. The scholar claims manuscript
evidence is against including the phrase "at
Ephesus." It must have been a later addition, he
thinks.
4. The phrase "and the Lord Jesus Christ" is added
to the Ephesian greeting; there are some Greek
manuscripts that add it in Colossians, but the
evidence is against its inclusion.
How can a responsible scholar claim that an
anonymous author "simply copied" the Colossian
greeting with these differences? Perhaps he would
keep the phrase "and the Lord Jesus Christ" in
Colossians to sustain his argument that the two
are similar?
No chance. In his commentary on Colossians a year
earlier than his Ephesians commentary, he wrote
that "the original [Greek] text must have had only
the name of the Father."
It appears we have a case of shaping the facts to
fit the theory. The theory refuses to take plain
biblical statements at face value. The theory
ignores plenty of changes, natural if they came
from the same writer's pen. But this theory
accomplishes what the scholars want: it diminishes
the force of divine inspiration and undermines
divine authority in Scripture.
No wonder some of our own brethren are going the
same route.
_____
*My translation from the Portuguese.
Randal Matheny
random.antville.org
[email protected]