In light of biblical, historical, and linguistic considerations, a
perceptive student asked me why the word εὐαγγελίζω should be
translated evangelize. The following seeks to explain the arguments on both
sides of the fence, reasons for translating εὐαγγελίζω as “evangelize”
and (in another post) reasons against translating εὐαγγελίζω as “evangelize.”
EIGHTEEN REASONS
FOR
Reasons why “evangelize” may be a preferential English translation of the New Testament Greek εὐαγγελίζω
Introduction: Could it be that the reasons
Delos Miles did not appreciate “Deductive” approaches to evangelism was because
of translators confusing evangelizing with preaching? (See his chart at the end
of Chapter 31). Delos rather posited “Inductive” approaches as a conversational
alternative. Unfortunately, in seeking to remedy the confusion in translation,
without differentiating between “preaching” in the text and “evangelizing,” it
can lead to lack of doctrinal clarity—both for preaching and for evangelizing!
1. STYLE:
Translating εὐαγγελίζω as “preach” confuses it with formal
preaching (cf. homiletics):
·
Within
the four walls of a church, from a lectern or podium,
·
To
a stable grouping of people or regular congregation, and
·
In
prepared homiletical style (such as “three points and a poem”).
Most New Testament
evangelism, however, is of a different nature:
·
Dialogical—the
evangelists asks questions, hears the answers, and seeks to frame his message
to the specific spiritual need of the individual[2]
·
On
the highways and byways (outside of the church walls),
·
Individually
(one-on-one), to groups, or to crowds; to “those who happen to be present”
(Acts 17:17), and
·
In
spontaneous style (unprepared, unrehearsed, and individually-guided).
2. APPROACH:
Translating εὐαγγελίζω as “preach” has had the tendency for it
to be confused with classical rhetoric, which includes:
·
A
non-confrontational approach, and
·
Sophistication
and cultured reasoning.
Whereas New
Testament evangelism includes:
·
Confrontation,
·
Persuasion,
and
·
The
unsophisticated communication by all Christians (e.g. Acts 8:4) of the death
and resurrection of Jesus, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
3. LOCATION:
Translating εὐαγγελίζω as “preach” limits the itinerant nature
of the New Testament command and example, wherein “preaching,” as understood
today, generally occurs:
·
Within
the four walls of a church, and
·
In
one location for years (i.e. non-itinerating).
New Testament
evangelism most often took place:
·
From
city-to-city (emphasizing an itinerating ministry),
·
In
homes or from house-to-house,
·
In
the Temple and in synagogues,
·
In
the judgment halls (cf. Phil 1:13; e.g. Acts 25:23-26:32)
·
Individually
(one-on-one), to groups, or to crowds, and
·
In
spontaneous style (unprepared, unrehearsed, and individually-guided).
In this context,
note the change of emphasis (and power) in verses such as 1 Corinthians 9:16,
which the Holy Spirit has given us in the first person:
·
“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of,
for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”
Note the formal feel
of this verse, seeming to imply that Paul is under compulsion to stand behind a
podium to preach to a gathered congregation (in which case this verse applies
only to pastors), which betrays the context of Jesus’ use of the term in Luke
4:43, and of Paul’s example in the Book of Acts (e.g. Acts 16:10).
·
“For if I evangelize, I have nothing to boast of, for I
am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not evangelize”
Note the informal
emphasis and universal applicability. If this verse were translated in this
way, many a Christian and many a pastor would pronounce a curse upon themselves
for their lack of evangelism!
4. PERSON:
Who does New Testament evangelism involve…?
·
Uniquely
ordained clergy or unordained and untrained laity?
In many denominations, men are “ordained
to preach the Gospel,” thereby limiting or particularizing preaching only to
the ordained.
Likewise a pastor may say, “I am called to
preach”; for he was set aside from among the lay people, in a particularistic
sense, in order to “preach the Gospel.”
Hence, all the passages that use the word
“preach” are naturally ignored or overlooked by lay people as not being
applicable to them. No wonder it is so difficult to get lay people to
evangelize, they do not see it in their Bibles, as their hermeneutical grid is
that only certain people are called to “preach the Gospel.” Lay people tune out
most or all “preaching” portions in the Pauline epistles as (1) for called
“preachers,” and (2) dealing with homiletics, and (3) within the four walls of
the church.
Preaching being limited to the ordained
was the rule when the Roman Catholic began prohibiting evangelism or lay
preaching beginning in the 12th and 13th Centuries. In
the New Testament, however, evangelism is for all Christians, not just for the
ordained clergy (cf. John Wesley, “All at it; always at it!”)[4]
·
Women
evangelizing (but not preaching)?
In many denominations, preaching is
limited to men, as only men can be ordained. The New Testament, however, does
not limit evangelism only to men, women can and ought to evangelize.
5. AUDIENCE:
Related to one’s definition of evangelizing is the recipient of the message.
According to 1 Cor 15:1-2, it appears that the verb “evangelize” was used by
Paul in this context to refer to that hearing of the gospel which came to lost
people leading them to faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, a differentiation
between the broadly used “preach” and the more narrowly used “evangelize” is
the audience—that being unsaved people. This audience follows the teaching of
Jesus in Mark 8:38 in which He warned against being ashamed of Him and His
words in the midst of an adulterous and sinful generation.
6. SEMANTIC
1: The use of the the cognate verb related to an important noun in the NT
is quite common to provide a unique semantic range for that verb. For example,
the noun prophet and the verb prophesy. In this case, it is clear that the use
of that proclamational verb is closely related to the meaning of the term
prophet. The same appears true with the nouns gospel and evangelist, and the
verb evangelize in the Greek.
7. SEMANTIC
2: The division or deflating[5] of the word
“evangelize” into multiple words, such as “bring good news,”[6] “preach the
gospel” or “publish glad tidings,” divides the message (gospel) from the method
(preach); this division actually changes
the emphasis and therefore the meaning of Scripture, as in the case of
Galatians 1:8-9:
·
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel
contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said
before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to
that which you received, let him be accursed” (NAS)
[Note
that the emphasis is almost uniquely on the “what” of the message of the
Gospel.]
·
“But thogh that we, or an Angel from heauen preach vnto you otherwise, then
that which we haue preached vnto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say I now againe, If anie man preache vnto you otherwise, then yt ye haue
receiued, let him be accursed” (1560 English Geneva)
[Notice
how the emphasis shifts to the “how” of the methodology of evangelism.]
The very preaching
of these false teachers was an accursed thing. It is quite likely that they
disagreed with Paul not only in their content of preaching, but even as to their
methodology of preaching. Paul seems to have pick up his very strong language
of cursing from Deut 7:26:
·
“Nor shall you
bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like
it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an
accursed thing” (NKJ)
·
“You
shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become accursed [ἀνάθημα]
like it, detesting you shall detest and abhorring you shall abhor, because it
[is] accursed [ἀνάθημά]” (translation mine).
Had Paul wanted to
use κηρύσσω (“preach”) with a separate word
delineating the message, he could done so, as he did in 2 Corinthians 11:4,
which is a parallel passage to Galatians 1:
·
“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or
you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different
gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully”
·
Εἰ μὲν γὰρ
ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἄλλον
Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσει ὃν
οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν, ἢ
πνεῦμα ἕτερον λαμβάνετε
ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε,
ἢ εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον
ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε,
καλῶς ἠνείχεσθε.
It was clearly in Paul’s semantic range to
use the word κηρύσσω when he wanted to
emphasize differences in the message preached.
However, Paul’s
use in Galatians 1 contextually emphasized method, as well as message. In fact
God used the very words “preach the Gospel” when He wanted a divided emphasis:
·
Matt 4:23, “And Jesus was going about in
all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel [κηρύσσων
τὸ εὐαγγέλιον] of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of
sickness among the people”
·
Matt 9:35, “And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in
their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel [κηρύσσων τὸ
εὐαγγέλιον] of the kingdom, and
healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness”
·
Matt 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached [κηρυχθήσεται
τοῦτο τὸ εὐαγγέλιον] in the whole world for a witness to all the nations,
and then the end shall come”
·
Matt 26:13, “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached [ὅπου
ἐὰν κηρυχθῇ τὸ
εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο] in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in
memory of her”
·
Mark 1:14, “And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee,
preaching the gospel [κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον] of God”
·
Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be preached [κηρυχθῆναι τὸ
εὐαγγέλιον] to all the nations”
·
Mark 14:9, “And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached [κηρυχθῇ
τὸ εὐαγγέλιον (τοῦτο)] in the whole world, that also which this woman has done
shall be spoken of in memory of her”
·
Mark 16:15, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel [κηρύξατε
τὸ εὐαγγέλιον] to all creation’”
·
Gal 2:2, “And it was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to
them the gospel which I preach [τὸ εὐαγγέλιον
ὃ κηρύσσω] among the Gentiles, but I did so in
private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or
had run, in vain”
·
1 Thess 2:9, “For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you,
we proclaimed to you the gospel [ἐκηρύξαμεν εἰς
ὑμᾶς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον] of God.”
Likewise, Paul
could have used the word καταγγέλλω (“proclaim”) with
τό εὐαγγέλιον (“gospel”), as in
1 Cor 9:14:
·
“So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living
from the gospel”
·
οὕτως καὶ ὁ
κύριος διέταξεν τοῖς
τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καταγγέλλουσιν
ἐκ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
ζῆν.
When Paul wanted
to highlight the attitude in preaching, he did not feel it necessary to repeat
the verb, as in Phil 1:15:
·
“Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some
also from good will”
·
τινὲς μὲν καὶ
διὰ φθόνον καὶ
ἔριν, τινὲς δὲ
καὶ δι᾽ εὐδοκίαν
τὸν Χριστὸν κηρύσσουσιν·
8. SEMANTIC
3: Dividing the verb into a verb and predicate, using the term “glad
tidings” or “good news,” does not seem to take into account that the gospel is
the smell of death to those who are dying, and not really a good thing at all:
· 2 Cor 2:15-16,
“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and
among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the
other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?”
Is not the hearing of
the gospel in the case of the dying a cause for future judgment and
condemnation?
9. SEMANTIC
4: The old “divide the thought into two words” trick:
Notice the theological and practical
presuppositions of Jerome when he translated “repent” into two words “do
penitence,” instead of using the wooden, strained, borrowed, or irrelevant word
“repent.” Thus Jerome (or someone in his time) chose to turn the “repent” into
something you do, by dividing the thought into two words: the verb “to do” +
the noun “penance.” Hence the 1899 Douay-Rheims has 29 uses of the English
phrase “do penance.” It took over 1,000 years for a minority in the Western
church to divest themselves of Jerome’s doctrinally-misguided translation—and that
only after an inordinate amount of bloodshed! Dividing a verb into a noun and a
verb is not always appropriate, especially when it negatively impacts the
proclamation and reception of the Gospel.
The same is being done today in Romans
with the verb “justify.” For example, rather than using “being justified by
grace” in Romans 5:1, some contemporaneous translations are substituting “since we have been declared righteous by faith” (NET, CSB). Their logic,
“justified” and “declared righteous” mean the same thing. Unfortunately, that is not the case:
·
The novel translation is unnecessary and leaves the
English-only reader (for whom the translation is made) unable to compare uses
of the verb “justify” in their text (as the translator would do in the original
language without even thinking about it).
·
Also, in this particular case, it plays into the hand of
the Roman Catholic Church, in which priests declare righteous by pronouncing
absolution after acceptable confession and penance are made. By the way, the
God’s Word to the Nations translation is even worse, as it translates justify
as “we have God’s approval.”
·
Again,
if God would have wanted a verbal phrase in His Word, both the verb “declare”
and the noun “righteous” are also available in the Greek language.
Impact of Translating δικαιόω as “Justify” or “Declare
Righteous”
Translations of δικαιόω
|
Justify
|
Declare Righteous
|
Two Contemporary Translations (by way of example)
|
[New King James]
Rom 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on
Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
|
[Holman Christian Standard]
Rom 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares righteous
the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
|
Theological weight
|
Imputed righteousness (in
man’s nature)
|
Declarative righteousness
(apart from man’s nature)
|
Temporality
|
Finished action, changing
man’s nature (Rom 5:1; 2 Cor 5:17, etc.)
|
Possibly temporary, not necessarily
making a permanent change in man’s nature
|
Finished
or temporary
|
Unequivocal: completed action, “once and for all!” (2
Cor 5:21; Heb 9:26-28; 1 Pet 2:9-10, 24; 3:18)
|
Equivocal: may be understood as a declaration that
needs repetition (as in Rome’s confessionals), depending on how it is
understood
|
Note also the difference in feel when καταλαλέω is translated into one verb or two in 1 Pet 2:12:
·
Two
words (NKJ), “having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that
when they speak
against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of
visitation.”
·
One
word (NAS), “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that
in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good
deeds, as they observe them, glorify
God in the day of visitation.”
While these
differences are subtle, they influence the feel, power, and accessibility of
the text.
It is difficult to
understand why anyone would want to dumb-down the Bible by removing even mildly
technical terms that any Junior High school student can easily be taught and
understand. It leaves us with a Bible without any theological teeth.[7] As regards some contemporary logic in translation, perhaps Tyndale and
Olivétan did die in vain.
10. SEMANTIC
5: Paul’s use of the verb εὐαγγελίζω with the noun τό εὐαγγέλιον for the message doubly
intensifying the power of the noun “gospel” when used in combination with the
verb of the same root (when God determined that the context specifically needed
an emphasis on the verb and the noun), in 1 Cor 15:1, Gal 1:11, and Rev 14:6:
·
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel by which I evangelized you,
which also you received, in which also you stand” [Γνωρίζω δὲ
ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ
εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην
ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ
παρελάβετε, ἐν ᾧ
καὶ ἑστήκατε]
Perhaps a better translation of this vebal grouping would be either:
“…the gospel by which I gospelized you” or
“…the evangel by which I evangelized you.”
Perhaps a better translation of this vebal grouping would be either:
“…the gospel by which I gospelized you” or
“…the evangel by which I evangelized you.”
·
Gal
1:11, “the gospel evangelized by me” [τὸ
εὐαγγέλιον τὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν
ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ];
·
Rev
14:6, “having an eternal gospel to preach” [ἔχοντα
εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον εὐαγγελίσαι].
These examples suggests that if Paul was
emphasizing the noun in Gal 1:8, first of all, he would certainly have included
the noun τό εὐαγγέλιον (“gospel”) in the
sentence, and second of all, he would not have needed to repeat use of the verb
εὐαγγελίζω as in Gal 1:8 and 2 Cor 11:4.
It was not uncommon for Paul to use a noun
with its cognate verb together for increased emphasis. For example:
· In 1 Cor 16:10,
Paul used the noun τό ἔργον and it cognate verb ἐργάζομαι to describe the
positive ministry of Timothy; this same pair is also used 5 other times in the
NT: Matt 26:10; Mark 14:6; John 6:28; 9:4; and Acts 13:41.
· In Col 1:29, Paul
used the noun ἡ ἐνέργεια (power) and its
cognate verb ἐνεργέω (to work) as a type of amplification,
after the style of Hebraic parallelism;
· In Rom 15:3, Paul
uses the noun ὁ ὀνειδισμός (reproach) with
the cognate verb ὀνειδίζω (to reproach),
which provides an intensity to the concepts;
· So in 1 Cor 11:2,
Paul again uses another root dual, this time to intensify that which is passed
on or turned over—the verb παραδίδωμι and the noun ἡ παράδοσις.
11. SEMANTIC
6: Old Testament usage of the word “evangelize” (22 LXX uses of the verb εὐαγγελίζω)
affirms the translation of evangelize as evangelize, especially as it relates
to Isa 40:9; 52:7; and 61:1. Several non-spiritual OT uses of evangelize
does not negate the fact that the NT in all cases but one assigned a clear spiritual
use to the word, especially since Isaiah already had done so in his prophecies.
Similarly, the OT
makes use of the word for “Gospel” merely for good news of military or
political victory (τό εὐαγγέλιον, 2 Sam 4:10; ἡ εὐαγγελία, 2 Sam 18:20, 22, 25, 27; 2 Kings 7:9), but we do not slight Jesus for giving this word a new usage in the NT
(e.g. Mark 1:15;
8:35; 10:29; 13:10; 14:9; 16:15).
12. Semantic 7: The use of “evangelize”
in several unusual contexts does not provide conclusive evidence that the word
should not be translated as
“evangelize”:
·
Luke
1:19 uses the word “evangelize” to explain the message of the angel Gabriel to
Zacharias
·
Luke
2:10, similarly, the angels announce the good news of the birth of Christ to
the shepherds in the field
·
Luke
3:18, the term is used to describe the preaching of John the Baptist
·
1
Thess 3:6 is a context in which Timothy shares the good report of the concern
of the Thessalonian church for Paul
None of the above
uses of evangelize provides conclusive evidence that other uses of “evangelize”
cannot be properly understood if translated “evangelize’ into English. There
are many theological terms that have uses in both the spiritual and physical
sense—quite likely to protect the proper translation of the term.
13. ETYMOLOGICAL
1: Translating εὐαγγελίζω in two parts: εὐ
an abbreviation for τό εὐαγγέλιον;
and ἀγγέλίζω as a verbal
derivation of the verbal root ἀγγέλλω (found only once
in the NT, in John 20:18), merely divides the word into two units of thought.
While further research into other
languages may be warranted, this division into two words seems not to have
occured prior to Luther’s 15[45] translation (e.g. Gal 1:8-9), with the first
use of εὐαγγελίζω in verse 8 and its use in verse 9:
Gal 1:8-9, “Aber so auch wir oder ein Engel vom Himmel euch würde Evangelium predigen anders, denn das
wir euch geprediget haben, der sei
verflucht! Wie wir jetzt gesagt haben, so sagen wir auch abermal: So jemand
euch Evangelium prediget anders,
denn das ihr empfangen habt, der sei verflucht!” [Perhaps Luther wanted to emphasize the word “Gospel”]
In the Vulgate, the French Olivétan, the
French Geneva, and the English Geneva, the alternative translation to
“evangelize” was either “announce” or “preach,” emphasizing the mode of
communication, rather than the content or message of communication. Here is an
example from the 1605 French Geneva (Berjon):
Gal 1:8-9, “Or quand bien nous-mesmes,
ou vn Ange du ciel vous euangelizeroit
outre ce que nous vous auons euangelizé,
qu'il soit execration. Ainsi que nous auons desia dit, maintenant aussi [le]
di-ie derechef, si quelcun vous euangelize
outre ce que vous avez receu, qu'il soit execration.”
Notice that the word “other” in this case
[outre] as adverbs twice modifying
the verb “evangelize” does not refer uniquely to the message, but also to combined
method and message.
Following the pattern of Luther’s German
translation of 90 years before, the King James Bible inserted “any other
Gospel” (in v. 9) which modified the interpretation of the English Geneva which
read, “preach unto you otherwise,” from the mode of communication to the
message communicated.
Therefore the etymological division of the
word εὐαγγελίζω into two words is historically quite
late.
14. ETYMOLOGICAL
2: Could it be that dividing the verb εὐαγγελίζω into two words is
falling prey to the “Root Fallacy” as described by Donald Carson?
“One of the most enduring errors,
the root fallacy presupposes that every word actually has a meaning bound up with its shape or its components. In this
view, meaning is determined by etymology; that is by the root or roots of a
word.”[8]
Notice, for example, the Hebrew word yatab in Deut 8:16, meaning “to do be
good or to do good to,” wherein the emphasis is truly the concept “good.” This
word actually contains the root tob or
“good.” However, the Hebrew basar,
which was verb translated εὐαγγελίζω 20 times in the 2nd
Century B.C. LXX, does not contain the term “good” or “gospel” as later incorporated
into the NT text through Jerome’s Vulgate. Basar
rather simply means “to bear tidings” (BDB), or “publish, bear (good) tidings, preach, show forth” (TWOT), or “1. Bring
(good or bad) news; 2. Make known” (Holladay).[9]
It would seem therefore that the
semantical division of the term εὐαγγελίζω comes down from
the tradition established through Jerome’s Vulgate. Notice for example Rom
15:20:
Analyzing the Text of Romans 15:20
Greek
Orthodox Text*
|
NKJ
|
Douais-Rheims
(1899)
|
Latin
Vulgate
|
οὕτω δὲ
φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός
|
And so I have made it my aim
to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named
|
And
I have so preached this gospel, not where Christ was named
|
Sic
autem praedicavi Evangelium hoc, non ubi nominatus est Christus
|
*The
only difference between the GOT and the Nestle-Aland text is the οὕτως rather than the GOT’s οὕτω.
The observant reader will notice two major
changes in Jerome’s Vulgate: (1) the removal of any translation for the verb φιλοτιμούμενον, “make it my ambition”; and (2) the
dissecting of the verb εὐαγγελίζεσθαι into two parts,
translating it rather as “preached” and “gospel.” Needless to say, these
translation adaptations correspond to the historic antagonism of the Church of
Rome to NT evangelism.
Could it be that Jerome utilized the “Root
Fallacy” to disperse the emotive power of the verb “evangelize” in this
poignant passage? And could it be that his translation has influenced many
English translations since that time? By the way, the above Latin translation
is verified in the 1230 Occitan New Testament and Wycliffe’s 1382 translation,
both translated from the Latin.
15. INSTRUCTIVE/CATECHETIC:
If students of the Bible had the opportunity to see the biblical word
“evangelize” in its context, this could alleviate current definitional
difficulties:
·
Assist
readers in developing a normative biblical definition of evangelizing, as
opposed to the confusion and conflict that now exists
·
Provide
an understanding as to the role of evangelizing as it relates to the Great
Commission
·
Assist
in understanding the commonality and differences in the biblical weight of
evangelizing and discipling, cf. Acts 14:21
16. DIFFERENTIATION
between the role of “clergy” and “laity”?
Could it be that
the merging of the NT concept of “evangelizing” into “preaching” served the
purpose of accentuating the differences between the clergy and laity?
Could it be that, if the contexts of
“preaching” and “evangelizing” were studied separately, that the latter would
be considered far more urgent, than is normally the case today, and the former
would not be lifted on a pedestal to the degree that it is in some circles
today?
Recommendation: a thorough study of both
concepts side-by-side may enable the researcher to get “behind” hundreds of
years of cultural conditioning from English translation history, as all the
uses of “evangelize” have been translated using the restrictive word “preach.”
17. FAULTY
EXPECTATIONS: Due to confusing the New Testament uses of “preach” and
“evangelize,” may a pastor/preacher have a lack of clarity related to:
·
His
preaching within the church is the primary and preferred way for souls to be
saved?
·
His
responsibility to “evangelize” among those who will never set foot in his
church?
·
Whether
or not, in his interactions with people outside the church, he has the
obligation to “evangelize” them to the point of decision?
Further, is it not possible that this same
non-differentiating pastor/preacher, using a non-differentiating Bible
translation, may deride the people within his church, whom he is to shepherd,
because they are not constantly “making decisions” for Christ? Potentially then
leading him to:
(a) Find fault with his faithful church members
because they are so carnal as to not be “making decisions for Christ” every
Sunday morning?
(b) Brow-beat his faithful church members, rather
than treat them gently as a shepherd (cf. Isa 40:11)?
Hence, is a primary NT context for
“Decisional Preaching” more “evangelizing” passages in the Book of Acts,
outside the four walls of the church (e.g. Acts 16:14, 30-31)? Whereas Paul’s
preaching to the elders from the church in Ephesus (Acts 20), while being
evangelistic in content, was not decisional to unsaved persons.
While this author is thoroughly convinced
of the need for and importance of decisional preaching, I am also keenly aware
of using methods of persuasion that are not consistent with the text of the
Scripture being preached or with the sensus plenior of the Scriptures.
18. IMPROPER
USE OF TIME: Because of a non-differentiation between the clergy-only
“preaching”; as opposed to all believers “evangelizing”:
· Pastors can spend
all of their time studying within the church, in order to prepare a
“rip-roaring” sermon for next Sunday to be preached within the four walls of
the church, while people living in the shadow of the church, who need the
gospel, will never set foot in the church to hear that sermon!
· Thereby, partly due
to an improper translation of evangelize, and partly from ignoring, overlooking,
or reinterpreting the many commands and examples to “go” in the NT (which have
not been tainted), pastors/preachers may be misusing their tithe-paid time!
These reasons, and perhaps others known
only to God (Who chose to use the Greek word εὐαγγελίζω), make it
commendable to translate εὐαγγελίζω as “evangelize” in the New Testament, as
well as possibly in some places in the Old Testament.
[1]For example, the “herald” of the
king (ὁ κῆρυξ) was not sent to dialogue with people, but rather to
read the proclamation of the King to the people.
[2]Consider for example the 165
questions in the Book of Luke and the 75 questions in the Book of Acts (240
questions off the pen of Luke) and the 167 questions in the Gospel of John. In
total, the gospels and Acts have 705 questions (Jimmie Hancock, All the Questions in the Bible
[Lulu.com, 2011], using the KJV for determine number of questions). With its
emphasis on evangelism training, the Book of Romans includes 88 questions.
[3]Midwestern student Matthew Parks
wrote of the ministry of George Whitefield, “Rather
than expecting the common folk to come to church, Whitefield took the gospel to
the people by preaching in open fields the gospel in simple terms”
(Matthew Parks, History of Christianity II, Source Material Assignment, Fall
2016).
[4]For example in the Third Lateran
Council (1179): “For this reason, since in Gascony and the regions of Albi and
Toulouse and in other places the loathsome heresy of those whom some call the Cathars, others the Patarenes, others the Publicani, and others by different
names, has grown so strong that they no longer practise their wickedness in
secret, as others do, but proclaim their error publicly and draw the simple and
weak to join them” (From: http://www.dailycatholic.org/history/11ecume1.htm;
accessed: 28 June 2003; Internet).
[5]If conflation is defined as “to
bring together or combine”—in the court of law it is used of seeking to insert
a tangential argument or concept into a case, it would seem that the division
of the word “ev” and “angelize” into two terms becomes a matter of deflation or
disflation—dividing a common word into two disperate concepts, therefore
diffusing its meaning centrifugally—losing the original power, thrust, and
biblical context of the verb.
[6]Conflation also takes place in the
translation of the verb ἀπαγγέλλω, where it is conflated from announce
to “bring … word” in the KJV of Matt 2:8, 28:8; it is also translated as
the visually-focused verb “shew” in Matt 11:4; 12:18; 28:11;
Luke 7:18; 14:21; Acts 11:13; 12:17; 26:20; 28:21; 1 Thess 1:9;
1 John 1:2.
[7]“Imagine a chemistry book edited to
exclude all chemistry terms! What chemistry teacher would want to use such a
book?”
[8]Donald Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker,
1996), 28.
[9]BibleWorks 8.0.
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