Mystery Theater: Where Do These Clues Lead?
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
Is there a Sherlock Holmes in the house?
Mystery Theater: Where Do These Clues Lead?
by Barry Newton
Like a good mystery novel, this is probably best
read wearing a pair of slippers and sitting in
your favorite chair with a cup of hot tea. I would
also suggest a Bible and perhaps a pencil. Ready?
Clue #1 - Strange Exceptions or Pure Baloney?
How finely tuned is your baloney detector? For
most of us, alarms will probably go off in our
heads if someone were to claim that a particular
word normally means something, but when it refers
to a particular person it then means something
else. As an example, what would you think if
someone were to claim, “I know this Greek word
normally means ‘brother’ and different Biblical
writers consistently use it in this manner, but it
just so happens that whenever these different
writers use it to describe Jesus’ ‘brothers’ they
are actually writing about his cousins.” For the
same reason that this probably sounds very fishy
to you, I smelled something wrong as I’ve kept one
eye on my Greek New Testament and the other on
certain translations and commentaries.
How does the following claim strike you? The
standard way of interpreting a certain Greek
construction(1) in English is to use “of” or
“from.” However, in Romans 3:22, 26; Galatians
2:16, 20; 3:22; and Philippians 3:9 where it ties
faith to Jesus, some make the assertion that it
does not mean “the faith of Jesus,” but “faith in
Jesus.” According to these commentaries and
translations, this unusual phenomenon should also
be extended to Ephesians 3:12 where they claim
that “faith of him” should be translated as “faith
in him.” (Just for your information, except for
Romans 3:26, the KJV translates all of these
phrases with “of” and not with “in.”)
Typically, commentators try to dismiss the charge
that they are engaged in special pleading by
pointing to Mark 11:22, where they contend that
“faith of God” should be translated “faith in
God.” However, the granddaddy of Greek grammarians
(A.T. Robertson) concedes that this phrase
actually means “have the God kind of faith” and
not have faith in God.(2)
So we are back to where we started. What
legitimate reason would lead us to translate these
verses in the special manner of “in” instead of
with the expected “of”? Is the grammar of the
Greek New Testament driving the translations and
certain commentaries or is a predetermined
doctrine in charge?
Clue #2 - Paul Knew How to Clearly Write “Faith In
Jesus” and He Did So
In the Greek language, if someone wants to write,
“faith in ___”, there is a way to do this.(3) Paul
knew the normal convention to communicate “faith
in” because he used it at various times. Galatians
3:26; Ephesians 1:15; Colossians 1:4; 2:5; 2
Timothy 3:15
This raises a question. If Paul knew how to
clearly write “faith in,” why would he use the
form for “faith of” in Romans 3:22, etc., if he
meant “faith in”?
Clue #3 - Meaningless Redundancy? Concise
Statements?
The plot thickens. If “faith in Jesus” is an
accurate translation in Romans 3:22 and Galatians
3:22, then it would appear Paul’s pen needlessly
stuttered. In these verses Paul would have written
“through faith in Jesus, to all who believe” and
“in order that the promise out of faith in Jesus
Christ may be given to all who believe.” If
someone has faith in Jesus, he or she obviously
believes. So why the repetition?
On the other hand, if these verses should be
translated as “faith of Jesus,” then clear concise
statements ring out. In this case, Romans 3:21-22
would be teaching that the righteousness of God is
manifested through the faith of Jesus being
available to all who believe. Galatians 3:22 would
be teaching that the benefits of Jesus’ faith are
available to all who believe.
So, which of the two seems more reasonable to you?
Did Paul repeat himself or was Paul teaching about
Jesus’ faith?
OK Detective, Check Your Note Pad
There are some more clues, but what have you
concluded so far? If you had to determine at this
point whether the verses we have been evaluating
should be translated “faith of Jesus” or “faith in
Jesus,” which would you claim is what Paul
intended to communicate?
What have some others concluded on this? “The true
scriptural justification ‘ by faith’ has no
reference at all to the stinking faith of sinners,
but to the ‘faith of the Son of God.’ ... the
faith of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the
scriptures is the legitimate ground of
justification because Christ’s faith was perfect.”
James Burton Coffman, Romans, (ACU Press:1973),
pp. 109, 110. “The decision in individual passages
does not greatly affect the overall understanding
of New Testament teaching. ... Even if all the
passages speaking of ‘the faith of Christ’ refer
to Christ’s faith, there are many passages
remaining where righteousness is connected with
human faith.” Everett Ferguson, The Church of
Christ A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today,
(Eerdmans: 1996), p. 157
What have I concluded? Well, we already know that
it is because of Jesus’ righteousness and
sinlessness that he could die on our behalf. 2
Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 1:18-19 Since a sinner
could not redeem us, our salvation rests upon how
Jesus lived in response to God in order that he
might die for us. For Paul to describe our
justification to be based upon Jesus’ faith does
not alter what we already know regarding Jesus
being the basis of our salvation. Thus, these
verses would reemphasize our dependency upon Jesus
for salvation, providing us with a richer
understanding of justification by faith. If Paul
indeed intended for these verses to refer to
Jesus’ faith (and this seems so), then the truth
of the matter would be those who believe in Jesus
are justified on the basis of Jesus’ faith.
(1) Genitive case
(2) A.T. Robertson, Greek Grammar, p. 500.
(3) Dative case with or without certain
prepositions.