It is my contention that John 3:16 is perfectly correct in modern English Bibles, but that it has come to be interpreted otherwise than what the English text means for two reasons. First, vernacular English no longer uses words quite the same way that the more formal, slightly antiquated language of most Bible translations uses them. Hence, objections over "so." Second, many have heard John 3:16 repeatedly quoted in arguments about free will and opportunity and the extent of the atonement et cetera et cetera, the repeated exposure causing words like "may" and "whoever" to be filled with their currency in Arminian arguments even though they don't have that meaning within the syntax of the verse proper.
So I'm issuing a basic challenge here. Switch the words in John 3:16 for words which you consider to have roughly equal meaning. Maintain sentence structure - don't rip the clauses apart and hand back what you consider the gist of the verse to be - but switch out words and phrases for what you understand to be something of equivalencies.
Anyone with the greater of four courses or sixteen credit hours* of college Greek on their transcripts may declare their level of completed coursework and proceed to score paraphrases based on whether that understanding could arise as easily from the Greek as from the English. This standard has been selected because two years of classes are generally sufficient to work through an introductory grammar and the basics of syntax. (Mounce and Wallace in my case) Scoring should come with some explanation of the rationale behind the score. Paraphrases which have already been scored may be scored and explained again if you disagree with another scorer.
For the purposes of this thread, those with insufficient levels of coursework are asked to refrain from critiquing another's paraphrase.
I'll start by declaring my own level of completed coursework: six classes, twenty credit hours.
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*If anyone comes from an educational system which doesn't count credits in the manner most American universities do, a standard equivalent for four semester-long courses will be accepted.
So I'm issuing a basic challenge here. Switch the words in John 3:16 for words which you consider to have roughly equal meaning. Maintain sentence structure - don't rip the clauses apart and hand back what you consider the gist of the verse to be - but switch out words and phrases for what you understand to be something of equivalencies.
Anyone with the greater of four courses or sixteen credit hours* of college Greek on their transcripts may declare their level of completed coursework and proceed to score paraphrases based on whether that understanding could arise as easily from the Greek as from the English. This standard has been selected because two years of classes are generally sufficient to work through an introductory grammar and the basics of syntax. (Mounce and Wallace in my case) Scoring should come with some explanation of the rationale behind the score. Paraphrases which have already been scored may be scored and explained again if you disagree with another scorer.
For the purposes of this thread, those with insufficient levels of coursework are asked to refrain from critiquing another's paraphrase.
I'll start by declaring my own level of completed coursework: six classes, twenty credit hours.
---
*If anyone comes from an educational system which doesn't count credits in the manner most American universities do, a standard equivalent for four semester-long courses will be accepted.
