This kind of maturity would be expected, but has often not been the
case.
Professor Conrad is quite correct in his post. He is well experienced and has
himself been the target of such flaming, although rare, and usually from new
subscribers who sometimes insert both feet and swallow hard. Even so,
apologies are rare.
Those of us (most on the list) who have been trained in biblical Greek
from a particular seminary, have unfortunately been taught to see the
language from a perspective that supports a particular position, rather than,
what the text may actually say. This is why, I have found it very helpful to
hold in highest esteem the postings of the classicists. They are much wider
read, and do not seem to have a particular axe to grind. It is VERY difficult
to allow the text to mean something that might conflict with what we have
been taught it HAS TO MEAN in order to support a particular denominational
position.
May God forgive us for being so sectarian in dealing with His word!
Byron