Subject: Eternal Security? |
Bible Note: Greetings Nolan! Okay! I'll let you off of the hook for the food jokes! :-) Aren't "if's" always conditional statements. Even those who believe that "ei" can sometimes be translated as "since" still believe that the statements are conditonal. They just say that the condition is assumed to be true. On this point, I'm not entirely convinced. Assuming a point for the sake of argument is not the same as saying that it is in fact a reality. Thus, I would avoid using "since" to translate "ei". Maybe you know of some examples that I'm not aware of, but I don't know of any verses where "ei" must be translated as "since". My personal opinion is that "since" has been adopted by some scholars to avoid the implications of the statements. One note of interest: 2 Pet. 1:10 actually doesn't even have an "if" in the Greek text. It literally says, "doing these things, you will not ever fall". So, the case can definitely be made that there is no conditional statement in this passage. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |