{"id":611,"date":"2010-04-25T13:27:41","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T20:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groansfromwithin.com\/?p=611"},"modified":"2013-03-08T13:49:05","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T21:49:05","slug":"angels-vs-messengers-a-war-of-words-earthquakes%e2%80%a6signs-of-the-times-6-mark-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2010\/04\/25\/angels-vs-messengers-a-war-of-words-earthquakes%e2%80%a6signs-of-the-times-6-mark-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Vs. Messengers… A War of Words? [Earthquakes\u2026Signs of the Times, 6 (Mark 13)]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the Sixth post in a series titled: Earthquakes\u2026 Signs of the Times?\u00a0 I invite you to read the rest of the series here<\/a> <\/em>to catch up (the first post would be extremely helpful)\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

We have been doing a study to discern whether or not we can rightfully say that earthquakes and other natural disasters are \u201csigns of the times\u201d or indicators that the \u201cend times\u201d are coming soon.\u00a0 This next point, is not critical to the study but may offer us a helpful hint about Mark 13.\u00a0 There is a textual nuance that may become important in this study that is found in verse 27.\u00a0 The TNIV renders the passage the following way: \u201cAnd he will send his angels<\/em> and gather his elect from the four winds\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The question at hand is the word \u201cangels\u201d which is from the Greek word \u201c\u03ac\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9.\u201d\u00a0 This is a word that commonly refers to angels<\/em> in the Bible, but can also equally refer to human messengers<\/em> depending on the context.[1]<\/a> In classical Greek, this term meant: \u201cthe messenger, the ambassador in human affairs, who speaks and acts in the place of the one who has sent him.\u201d[2]<\/a> The question becomes whether or not we actually think this is referring to people or to angelic beings.\u00a0 Of the translations that we have examined thus far, there are none that leave open the possibility that this word should be rendered messengers<\/em>.\u00a0 There is one translator that has chosen to take this liberty in two different places: N. T. Wright.[3]<\/a> Unfortunately these are not mainstream translations.\u00a0 So, who wins this \u201cwar of words:\u201d angels or messengers?\u00a0 It seems that this will be a discussion that will not be easily resolved.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 However, for the purposes of this study we ought to allow for the word \u201c\u03ac\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9\u201d to mean either of the two options, rather to cage up its definition into a box of religious assumptions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What are your thoughts about the importance of thinking about various words as they were used in their historical context?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PS \u2013 If anyone know how to make Greek font show up in wordpress, that would be helpful as well \ud83d\ude42<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

UPDATE: <\/strong>Thanks to Dan<\/a><\/strong> (who by the way is an excellent blogger) as he gave me a tool to convert words into Greek in a way that WordPress recognizes!\u00a0 Go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, take note of his comment on another text that uses this word as messenger: \u201c\u03ac\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 is also the word used of the people sent by John the Baptist to ask Jesus whether he was the Christ, in Luke 7:24.\u201d (in comments to this post)\u00a0 In my opinion, this is another great indication that the traditional way of translating this particular word in Mark 13 has been influenced by futurist views of the \u201cend.\u201d\u00a0 Any thoughts on this as well?<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a>. N. T. Wright, Jesus and The Victory of God<\/em>, Christian Origins and the Question of God, vol. 2 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), under \u201c361 n. 152.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology<\/em>, 101.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>. Wright, Jesus and The Victory of God<\/em>, 361 and Wright, Mark for Everyone<\/em>, 181.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the Sixth post in a series titled: Earthquakes\u2026 Signs of the Times?\u00a0 I invite you to read the rest of the series here to catch up (the first post would be extremely helpful)\u2026 \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014- We have been doing a study to discern whether or not we can rightfully say that earthquakes and other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,61,91,92,94],"tags":[266,277,19161,494,498,19171,675,19186],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-earthquakes-signs-of-the-times-series","category-n-t-wright","category-temple","category-theology","category-tribulation","tag-earthquakes","tag-end-times","tag-eschatology","tag-mark-13","tag-mark-138","tag-n-t-wright","tag-signs-of-the-times","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nAngels Vs. 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