Re: Philadelphia vs agape

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Tue, 12 Aug 1997 14:16:01 -0400

At 01:08 PM 8/12/97 -0500, F. Holly Mitchell wrote:
>Jonathan,
>
>You say etymology can be dangerous. Please explain. It is precisely my
>love (EROS) of getting to the root of a matter that has me wrestling with
>Biblical Greek.

Getting to the root of the matter is always good - the only question is
whether the root of a word's meaning is best found in the etymological
roots. Words can change their meaning significantly over time, so the
original etymology does not always convey the current meaning of the word. I
think it is generally best to explore how a word is actually used, in
context, in a number of different places; etymology offers further clues.

>God Bless,

And God bless you also,

Jonathan

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