Hey Phil...how are things?
Simple answer is - go look at any literal Greek linear and you will see exactly what is there and what isn't there in that passage in John 9.
I first heard of this years ago by a guy named Stanley - I think that was his name. Anyway, I went and looked it up and lo and behold - it was so...
My NASB has the words "initialized" which means they are not in the original text but are added in by the translators. I believe any half decent sized KJV would have it too. I'm not sure if other translations do that or not.
John 9:3 (NASB)
[SUP]
3 [/SUP] Jesus answered, "
It was neither
that this man sinned, nor his parents; but
it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
I'm sure you know that there are no punctuation marks in the original Greek and it was one big flow of writing and they were all in capital Greek letters too.
Man/translators put in the various number system and break out of them as well as "adding" other words to go with what they "thought" any text was saying.
I understand it goes against some of our church teachings that have been passed on down but - it happens...Check it out...
Hi Grace,
Things are well thanks, and pray all is well with you. I do understand that Greek (early) had no full stops and comma's etc, in fact the earliest were written in all capitals with no spaces nor paragraphs (from memory majuscule). So it's not that I am querying. It's your translation that I am querying (or stanleys).
If you read the Greek you get the plain meaning, which is what we get in the English (in the context of the narrative). It is quite clear in the Greek (without boring people) that what the English says is what the Greek says and means. This has never ben a variant, even the liberals don't see this as a variant (they would doubt the miracle though).
The major point is that, the man was blind, God allowed it to be that way, so that He could be glorified through the man's sickness being healed. Ultimately God is in control of all things to the Glory of His name. The translation you have put forward does not stand. And it is a translation you have put forward! It doesn't stand up to critical assessment of the Greek text, nor does it stand up against the witness of the church past and present.
Plus there are more texts to show the same point.
Just like the blindman, God sometimes allows his children to go through trials, tribulations and hard times so that they may experience God's mercy and power in delivering them... Thousands upon thousand of Christians can testify to this including me... Of course this does not sit well with liberalism, health wealth and prosperity Gospel or those with an erroneous view of grace.
Some of our hardships and trials. like that of Joseph and Job are for God's glory (we can trace more as redemptive history proceeds), This can be as a refining or through this great healing of the blind man. We don't why God does what he doe's in a lot of circumstances, but we can be certain and have the assurance that His purpose is for good (Rom 8:28).
Anyhow, I have to say that your translation of the passage is lacking any evidence apart from the early texts did not follow our English grammatical structure???
Kind regards
Phil