1 John 5:1 is one of those texts which has convinced me that regeneration or the new birth actually precedes our faith. That is, we don't put our faith in Christ and then become born again. Instead, we believe because we have been born again. And 1 John 5:1 provides explicit evidence that this is the case. Of course, anyone can run off to other texts in order to provide evidence to the contrary. But this text still remains. I would challenge anyone to provide an alternate exegesis of what is given below:
The students of Greek I have talked to about this handling of the text are shocked at the way White handles this, saying, "It is objectively an open and shut case grammatically on more than one level against White's view; he
ReplyDeleteactually is demonstrably incorrect with his use of Greek there. Re: the parallel with 1 Jn 5:10, it seems irrefutable to me. White has claimed the grammar proves (or at least suggests or supports) regeneration prior to faith. But 1 Jn 5:10 is just one practical example that shows this untrue," and, "The bizarre thing about this is that the whole argument is incorrect from the rules of Greek grammar. It is based on the assumption of there being grammatical rule or principle that not only does not exist, but stands against the rules of Greek grammar."
I would challenge anyone to provide an alternate exegesis of what is given below
ReplyDeletehere's one
here's another
Thanks for your comments. Have you checked out White's video which addresses the 1 John 5:10 "parallel?" You can watch it here if you haven't:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJQYjdpBPBw
I'll check that out. I was wondering what the response would be to the statement that White is creating Greek rules that don't exist.
ReplyDeleteHey Mike, Thanks for posting this video. I really like James White and the apologetic works he's done. I'm not yet comfortable with some of his conclusions that I don't feel are right, but at least he presents things in a respectable and dignified manner. God bless, Dann
ReplyDelete