Pix: MOST ANCIENT GOSPEL DISCOVERED THE TRUTH I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you unto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever HE SHALL HEAR, THAT SHALL HE SPEAK, he will declare to you the things that are to come. (Jhn16:12) WHAT THE BIBLE EXPERTS SAY In Johns Gospel the spirit of truth, or Paraclete is delibrately applied to the Holy Spirit; Paraclete was a term in current usage among the Hellenist Jews, First century A.D, meaning intercessor, defender etc. Jesus predicts that the Spirit will be sent by the Father. Its mission will be to take the place of the Son in the role he played during his mortal life as a helper for the benefit of his disciples. The Spirit will intervene and act as a substitute for Christ, adopting the role of Paracleteor omnipotent intercessor. It is a necessary question because it seems strange to ascribe spirit of truth to the Holy Spirit: ... whatever he hears he will speak ... It seems inconceivable that one could ascribe to the Holy Spirit the ability to speak and declare whatever he hears . . . Logic demands that this question not usually the subject of commentaries be raised. To gain an exact idea of the problem, one has to go back to the basic Greek text. This is especially important because John is universally recognized to have written in Greek instead of another language. The Greektext consulted was the Novum Testamentum Graece [ Nestlé and Aland. Pub. United Bibles Societies, London, 1971.]. Any serious textual criticism begins with a search for variations. Here it would seem that in all the known manuscripts of Johns Gospel, the only variation likely to change the meaning of the sentence Is in passage 14, 26 of the famous Palimpsest version written in Syriac [This manuscript was written in the Fourth or Fifth century A.D. It was discovered in 1812 on Mount Sinai by Agnes S.-Lewis and is so named because the first text had been covered by a later one which, when obliterated, revealed the original. Here it is not the Holy Spirit that is mentioned, but quite simply the Spirit. Did the scribe merely miss out a word or, knowing full well that the text he was to copy claimed to make the Holy Spirit hear and speak, did he perhaps lack the audacity to write something that seemed absurd to him? The important thing is that what has been demonstrated here with regard to the exact meaning of the verbs to hear and to speak should apply to all the other manuscripts of Johns Gospel, as is indeed the case. The verb to hear, in the translation is the Greek verb akouô meaning to perceive sounds. It has, for example, given us the word acoustics, the science of sounds. The verb to speak in the translation is the Greek verb laleô which has the general meaning of to emit sounds and the specific meaning of to speak. This verb occurs very frequently in the Greek text of the Gospels. It designates a solemn declaration made by Jesus during His preachings. It therefore becomes clear that the communication to man which He here proclaims does not in anyway consist of a statement inspired by the agency of the Holy Spirit. It has a very obvious material character moreover, which comes from the idea of the emission of sounds conveyed by the Greek word that defines it. The two Greek verbs akouô and laleô therefore define concrete actions which can only be applied to a being with hearing and speech organs. It is consequently impossible to apply them to the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the text of this passage from Johns Gospel, as handed down to us in Greek manuscripts, is quite incomprehensible if one takes it as a whole, including the words Holy Spirit in passage 14, 26. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name etc. It is the only passage in Johns Gospel that identifies the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit. If the words Holy Spirit which was delibrately inserted in brackets are ommitted from the passage, the complete text of John then conveys a meaning which is perfectly clear. It is confirmed moreover, by another text by the same evangelist, the First Letter, where John uses the same word Paraclete simply to mean Jesus, the intercessor at Gods side. According to John, when Jesus says And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, what He is saying is that another intercessor will be sent to man, as He Himself was at Gods side on mans behalf during His earthly life. -MAURICE BUCCAYLE(Bible scholar and top scientist) In the Quran, Jesus is spoken of as The Word of God, as The Spirit of God, as a Sign of God, and numerous other epithets of honor spread over fifteen different chapters yet the misdirected zeal of his supposed followers in worshipping him and his mother, blindfolded them at the true meaning of the Spirit of Truth translated AHMAD In Arabic
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 09:44:35 +0000
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