tations in my software) that John 8:58 is a better place to look for preexis-
tence than in the NT use of "sent", and I also think he is probably right
about Plato's (Socrates') use of the word "sent" to refer to Socrate's mission.
But the thought occurred to me that there might be a remote possibility that
Plato would be referring to a kind of preexistence, given such sources as the
"myth of Er" in the Republic and relative passages in the Phaedrus and Timaeus
Perhaps Plato would have viewed Socrates as an exceptional person with a divine
mission, who was not incarnated for the normal reasons but in consequence of
his mission. This is all speculation, of course, but it mitigates the value of
comparing Plato's use of "sent" with NT usage, I think.
Don Wilkins
UC Riverside