Subject: "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to |
Bible Note: Emmaus: These are the only times that ANY of the forms of that verb are used in the entire Bible. As a linguist, I can tell you that changing the tense of a verb does not change the action itself, but rather the time of its occurance and its frequency. Therefore, whether it is present or past or future, habitual or continuous or one-time does not change the fact that we are talking about a bestowal of God's favor upon individuals. The verb speaks nothing of Mary (or us) meriting such a bestowal. God gave favor to Mary. God freely gave it to us. That is the classical Protestant understanding of grace. Unmerited favor. You would think that if your understanding were correct that the New American Bible would have translated it "full of grace" like you originally suggested. Guess the most popular Catholic Bible doesn't have the Greek knowledge that you do... And we would have a lot to debate about on Jesus, I am sure. The Reformation was about more than indulgences after all! --Joe! |