Hi RANDG,
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I just wanted to point out several errors you've made in your devotional 
below. 
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RW>             Well, I got started on that when I was taking first-year N
RW>          Testament Greek.  For some reason, I memorized the Lord's pra
RW>          in Greek; and then found that actually saying it in Greek had
RW>          these advantages:--  (1) At first, while it's still unfamilia
RW>          it forces you to slow down, to think through what you're sayi
RW>          (2) It's one language closer to the language the Lord origina
RW>          taught it in-- a straight translation from Aramaic into Greek
RW>          rather than a translation of a translation-- so you'd hope to
RW>          closer to the original meaning;  (3) At one place, the Englis
RW>          version we're familiar with, rather obscures, fails to bring 
RW>          a key point which is made more clearly in the Greek:--
It is by no means certain that Jesus taught in Aramaic.  The Gospel of 
Matthew, for example, is written to a Jewish community of believers.  So if 
Jesus taught in Aramaic to the Jews why does Matthew not write in Aramaic? 
Of course, some scholars have speculated that Matthew was originally 
written in Aramaic because the Greek of Matthew's Gospel is full of 
syntactical evidence that suggests a strong background in Aramaic.  The 
natural language of the writer of Matthew was more than likely a Jew and 
Greek is his second language.  I think it best that we leave this one open 
rather than assuming that Jesus taught in Aramaic.  It is highly likely 
that He also knew Koine Greek since that was the common trade language of 
Palestine along with the other areas conquered by Alexander the Great.
RW>             We're used to saying, "Forgive us our trespasses as WE FOR
RW>          those who trespass against us".  What the Greek likely said i
RW>          "Forgive us our trespasses as WE FORGAVE [/HAVE FORGIVEN] tho
RW>          who trespass against us".  I.e., we are to -have- forgiven pe
RW>          who've sinned against us, before we ever get to this part of 
RW>          Lord's prayer.  This forgiveness is to have been a past actio
RW>          completed in the past, before we even begin the Lord's prayer
Unfortunately, this is completely against the context.  For one thing the 
verb apheimi is in the second aorist tense and the subjunctive mood.  The 
aorist tense does not convey time except as context dictates and the 
subjunctive mood can indicate aspect only.  In fact, the normal mood 
used in conditional sentences is the subjunctive mood.  The syntax of the 
sentence in Greek is that of a simple conditional statement.  If we forgive 
then the Father will forgive us.  You've interpreted the verb as if it were 
a perfect tense and that is completely wrong.  
The Father's forgiveness is in the future tense and indicative mood of the 
same verb.  So, rather than something that has taken place in the past, the 
aorist simply refers to an action that takes place at some point in time 
prior to a future reception of the Father's forgiveness.  As I said, this 
is merely a conditional sentence and the condition to receiving any 
*future* forgiveness from the Father is we must forgive now.
One must remember that it is difficult to translate the Greek aorist into 
good English because there is no equivalent tense in English.  English is 
an analytical, syntactical language while Greek is a synthetic language.  
English meaning is determined by word order within a sentence while Greek 
is determined more by the formation of words in conjugations of verbs and 
cases of nouns and adjectives, etc.
Sincerely in Christ,
Charlie Ray, 
Chaplain
1 Timothy 4:16
Watch your life and doctrine closely.
Persevere in them, because if you do,
you will save both yourself and your hearers.  (NIV).
chaplain@isgroup.net
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 * WR  # 461 * Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide.
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