Re: 2:7-8 and Contradictions?

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Tue, 23 Sep 1997 13:48:21 -0400

At 12:43 PM 9/23/97 EDT, Paul S. Dixon wrote:

>Anyhow, could you, Jonathan, state (or restate) a little more precisely
>what you mean by this? Do you, for example, mean that there are
>legitimate and real contradictions in John's epistle? If so, does this
>mean that John can be found saying on the one hand, A is true, and on the
>other hand, not A is true? This is generally what is meant by
>contradiction. If so, then I certainly see no contradiction between 2:7
>and 2:8.

I'm not quite sure which one of us is playing the straight man here, Paul,
but I'll bite: is John writing a new commandment or not? According to 2:7
and 2:8, the answer is yes and no. On the literal level, I consider this a
contradiction. Of course, John is using this contradiction skilfully to make
a point...

>And, regarding that which is on hold, I believe I have
>demonstrated there is no contradiction between 1:8, 3:9, and 5:16.

I believe there is probably no point in discussing that further. But I do
think that one can understand John better by appreciating the contradictions
to see what they point to.

Jonathan

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Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie
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