A Response to "Ibong Mandirigma" and the Greek of John 20:28
ἀπεκρίθη Θωμᾶς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου. (Nestle-Aland 28)
A little Greek is dangerous and that is true when I came across sa isang article made by a blogger na isang INC member (Iglesia Ni Cristo Ibong Mandirigma) and it has the title na "Greek Text Analysis of John 20:28" that is very short but has a lot of things that he saw wrong and shows na he doesn't know any Greek at all. The Greek text is provided above with a translation from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and in what the author says ay isang same din na approach na ginamit ni Jose Ventilacion sa isang debate with James White on John 1:1 that he got really really wrong at many points. This same approach is what they use also para sa Hebrews 1:8 and their denial na si Jesus Christ ang recipient of θεός in the text; even when Unitarian scholars kagaya ni Sir Anthony Buzzard have accepted it na si Jesus Christ ang recipient ng θεός sa Hebrews 1:8. The author ng blog article wrote the following:
" . . . Kanino ba tumutukoy ‘yung ho theos ( ὁ θεός ) kapag may nakakabit na definite article na ho ( ὁ ) ? Ganito ang sagot sa atin ng Strong Concordance :
“Strongs# 02316: theos: a deity, figuratively, a magistrate, especially (when used with #3588 the definite article ho): the supreme Divinity; by Hebraism, very God [Almighty God, YHVH, the Father of Jesus].”
At ito pa :
“In many instances when the definite article ho occurs before theos, God. Particularly reference is made to God the Father.” [Zodhiates, Sphiros, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN (1992), p.730]
“God in Greek, ho theos, always mean that Father whom Jesus revealed, identical with the ho theos of the Old Testament, YAHWEH.” [The Power and Wisdom: An Interpretation of the New Testament, by John L. Mckemzie, p. 133]
Kaya pala hindi siya sinaway ni Jesus ng sandaling iyon dahil alam Niya na hindi sa Kaniya tumutukoy ang binabanggit ni Tomas na ( ὁ θεός μου ) o “Diyos Ko”, kundi ito ay tumutukoy sa Kaniyang Ama." (Ibong Mandirigma)
I would like to firstly point out na isang outdated na material ang Strong's Concordance at na ang objective ni Dr. James Strong is to list the Greek words and define also and show how the King James Bible translators have translated these Greek words in the King James Version. Lexicons would be used for the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament kung gusto ng isang individual na makita ang definition and usage ng isang particular na Greek and Hebrew words and how is it used in the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament (e.g HALOT and BDAG). Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich's "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature" (BDAG) gives the following entry for the Greek word θεός being applied to Jesus Christ, even with the definite article, with John 20:28 and ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός taken as a reference to Jesus Christ:
② Some writings in our lit. use the word θ. w. ref. to Christ (without necessarily equating Christ with the Father, and therefore in harmony w. the Shema of Israel Dt 6:4; cp. Mk 10:18 and 4a below), though the interpretation of some of the pass. is in debate. In Mosaic and Gr-Rom. traditions the fundamental semantic component in the understanding of deity is the factor of performance, namely saviorhood or extraordinary contributions to one’s society. Dg. 10:6 defines the ancient perspective: ὸ̔ς ἃ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λάβων ἔχει, ταῦτα τοῖς ἐπιδεομένοις χορηγῶν, θεὸς γίνεται τῶν λαμβανάντων one who ministers to the needy what one has received from God proves to be a god to the recipients (cp. Sb III, 6263, 27f of a mother). Such understanding led to the extension of the mng. of θ. to pers. who elicit special reverence (cp. pass. under 4 below; a similar development can be observed in the use of σέβομαι and cognates). In Ro 9:5 the interpr. is complicated by demand of punctuation marks in printed texts. If a period is placed before ὁ ὢν κτλ., the doxology refers to God as defined in Israel (so EAbbot, JBL 1, 1881, 81–154; 3, 1883, 90–112; RLipsius; HHoltzmann, Ntl. Theol.2 II 1911, 99f; EGünther, StKr 73, 1900, 636–44; FBurkitt, JTS 5, 1904, 451–55; Jülicher; PFeine, Theol. d. NTs6 ’34, 176 et al.; RSV text; NRSV mg.). A special consideration in favor of this interpretation is the status assigned to Christ in 1 Cor 15:25–28 and the probability that Paul is not likely to have violated the injunction in Dt 5:7.—If a comma is used in the same place, the reference is to Christ (so BWeiss; EBröse, NKZ 10, 1899, 645–57 et al.; NRSV text; RSV mg. S. also εἰμί 1.—Undecided: THaering.—The transposition by the Socinian scholar JSchlichting [died 1661] ὧν ὁ=‘to whom belongs’ was revived by JWeiss, D. Urchristentum 1917, 363; WWrede, Pls 1905, 82; CStrömman, ZNW 8, 1907, 319f). In 2 Pt 1:1; 1J 5:20 the interpretation is open to question (but cp. ISmyrna McCabe .0010, 100 ὁ θεὸς καὶ σωτὴρ Ἀντίοχος). In any event, θ. certainly refers to Christ, as one who manifests primary characteristics of deity, in the foll. NT pass.: J 1:1b (w. ὁ θεός 1:1a, which refers to God in the monotheistic context of Israel’s tradition. On the problem raised by such attribution s. J 10:34 [cp. Ex 7:1; Ps 81:6]; on θεός w. and without the article, acc. to whether it means God or the Logos, s. Philo, Somn. 1, 229f; JGriffiths, ET 62, ’50/51, 314–16; BMetzger, ET 63, ’51/52, 125f), 18b. ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου my Lord and my God! (nom. w. art.=voc.; s. beg. of this entry.—On a resurrection as proof of divinity cp. Diog. L. 8, 41, who quotes Hermippus: Pythagoras returns from a journey to Hades and appears among his followers [εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν], and they consider him θεῖόν τινα) J 20:28 (on the combination of κύριος and θεός s. 3c below). Tit 2:13 (μέγας θ.). Hb 1:8, 9 (in a quot. fr. Ps 44:7, 8). S. TGlasson, NTS 12, ’66, 270–72. Jd 5 P72. But above all Ignatius calls Christ θεός in many pass.: θεὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστός ITr 7:1; Χριστὸς θεός ISm 10:1. ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν IEph ins; 15:3; 18:2; IRo ins (twice); 3:3; IPol 8:3; τὸ πάθος τοῦ θεοῦ μου IRo 6:3. ἐν αἵματι θεοῦ IEph 1:1. ἐν σαρκὶ γενόμενος θεός 7:2. θεὸς ἀνθρωπίνως φανερούμενος 19:3. θεὸς ὁ οὕτως ὑμᾶς σοφίσας ISm 1:1.—Hdb. exc. 193f; MRackl, Die Christologie d. hl. Ign. v. Ant. 1914. ὁ θεός μου Χριστὲ Ἰησοῦ AcPl Ha 3, 10; Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ὁ θ[εός] 6, 24; cp. ln. 34 (also cp. Just., A I, 63, 15, D. 63, 5 al.; Tat. 13, 3; Ath. 24, 1; Mel., P. 4, 28 al.).—SLösch, Deitas Jesu u. antike Apotheose ’33. Cp. AWlosk, Römischer Kaiserkult ’78.
John 20:28 uses θεός (Theos) in the nominative with the article (ό θεός - ho Theos) and Greek in some cases ay ginagamit any nominative in a vocative sense, as the nominative supplies the vocative; the same that was said above sa Lexical definition of the Greek word being used in John 20:28 showing that Christ has characteristics of Deity. The author also says na since ό θεός mostly refers to the Father ay ang ό θεός na daw sa John 20:28 ay ang God the Father, but is problematic in many cases as ό θεός that has the definite article was used also to idols and Satan himself in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) and the Greek New Testament (ὁ θεός τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου 2 Cor 4:4 (s. αἰών 2a and WMüllensiefen, StKr 95, 1924, 295–99).—668–99. RAC XI 1202–78; XII 81–154; B. 1464. LfgrE s.v. θεός col. 1001 (lit.). Schmidt, Syn. IV 1–21. DELG. M-M. TW. Sv. BDAG). It won't follow the assumption na dahil sa majority ay ang reference to God the Father ay automatically nang it refers to God the Father in other places as well dahil lang sa ito ay may definite article. That would be an exegetical fallacy. ό θεός is taken as a vocative making reference to Christ in this text, and as θεός in the nominative are used as a vocative throughout the Greek New Testament and there is only one place where the Greek word ό θεός appears only once in the vocative case in the Greek New Testament. It is only in the cry ni Jesus Christ while he was on the cross that the Greek word θεός was used in the vocative case, but that does not mean that θεός in the nominative case was not used for direct address: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God [Θεέ - Thee], my God [Θεέ], why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46, English Standard Version). If we used this kind ng interpretation ay it begs the question, sa ibang titles ba ng New Testament na ginagamit ang mga titles na ito for God as nominatives, does it mean na it doesn't refer na to God? an answer for that is no. (cf. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Synthax to the New Testament, [Grand Rapids Mi.: Zondervan, 1997], 58.). And all other places in the Greek New Testament, when something is addressed to God, they will use a nominative case. E.g ang Revelations 4:11 where both Greek words Κύριος and Θεός was used for Heavenly Father (ό κύριος και ό Θεός ημών - o Kurios kai Theos hemon : Our Lord and God). It is shown that those nominatives can be used as Vocatives depending on the context. It is addressed to Jesus with Jesus being the recipient ng adoration sa John 20:28 and is therefore Deity according sa statement of faith ni Thomas. Funnily enough, one apologist ng Iglesia ni Cristo na si Jose Ventilacion claims na hindi daw valid that Jesus Christ was called God in John 20:28 dahil si Thomas ay hindi present. Jose Ventilacion while in a debate with a Seventh Day Adventist said with a eisegetical approach to Scripture na nirebuke daw ni Jesus si Thomas when Thomas made that statement to Christ na "may Lord and my God", by saying na "Tomas, yung Diyos ko yun din Diyos mo" that is one way to get around the fact that Jesus was called God in John 20:28 when no such statement was given to Thomas sa time ng kanyang confession, but to Mary Magdalene in John 20:17 (" . . . and my Father, and your Father, and my God and your God" - Jn. 20:17). The Iglesia ni Cristo and it's ministers and apologist engages in eisegesis a lot and mishandles Scripture a lot to suit their needs.
Image: "Behold My Hands" by Jeff Ward (churchofjesuschrist.org)
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