From: dalmatia@eburg.com
Date: Mon Aug 31 1998 - 03:15:40 EDT
GregStffrd@aol.com wrote:
> One final note: my statement, "I will simply say that John 8:58 does not tell
> us anything but that Jesus existed before Abraham," is based purely on the
> grammar of the text. The grammar itself simply tells us that Jesus existed
> before Abraham. Anything else, a beginning or eternal existence, must be
> gathered from the immediate or larger context, or read into the text based on
> one's presuppositions.
This has been an amazing thread. The grammar of John 8:58 does not
tell us that Jesus existed before Abraham. [Or more correctly, before
the birth of Abraham.] The grammar clearly tells us that Jesus *is
[now] existing* prior to Abraham's birth. That grammatical fact, in
and of itself, argues strongly for the omnitemporal present of Jesus'
existence. Yet all parties want to translate the present [EIMI] as a
past tense. If you don't like the enigma of the present tense of I AM
in John, then you dont like enigma!! :-)
George
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