Sunday, July 16, 2017

He was destined before the foundation of the world. 1 Peter 1:20

It is very easy to misinterpret 1 Peter 1:20. This passage is all about Jesus' existence long ago and his dearness to the Father―long before his miraculous birth.

There is much that can be misunderstood about the passage even by Greek scholars. I am no Greek scholar myself; so I will write as if I were a fly-on-the-wall and listening to the scholars argue. Here is the verse in the NRSV:
He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
The most interesting phrase in this verse appears to be "before the foundation of the world," but, surprisingly, the word "destined" is equally interesting.

This verse appears to say that God planned our redemption by the blood of Christ before he even began to create. I will dispute two common conclusions from this verse. I dispute
  1. that this verse refers in any way to the time God created the world
  2. that this verse makes any claim about God's plan for blood redemption
foundation of the world?
The meaning of "foundation of the world" is not as straightforward as it appears in translation. The Greek is καταβολῆς κόσμου (katabolē kosmos).

Katabolē, according to Strong's, means "a throwing or laying down." Figuratively, it means to deposit semen into the womb or to plant seed in the ground. Secondarily, it means, according to Strong's, "a founding (laying down a foundation)." It seems that the English translations follow the King James Version which followed the Geneva Bible which followed the Vulgate. Someone, somewhere at some time (cough-Jerome) decided that katabolē means to lay a foundation. There are scholars who honestly question that assumption. Since the primary meaning of the word is to throw something down, some smart-types have suggested that katabolē ought to be understood as a moral falling or decay. Indeed, "throwing down" is the primary definition in Strong's.

Add to this investigation the fact that kosmos in the Bible indicates not "the world" but the people in the world.
For God so loved the world (kosmos) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)
So, "foundation of the world" is very likely better translated as "the moral failure of the people in the world." This understanding suggests the condition of the world in Genesis 6 that resulted in God destroying all life in the flood (but for those who were saved on the ark). Now, the New Testament sometimes mentions stuff that happened "from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; Hebrews 9:26; Revelation 13:8; 17:8) meaning "after the moral decay of the people of the world." The rest of the time, the New Testament refers to stuff that happened "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; and 1 Peter 1:20) meaning "before the moral failure of the people of the earth."

predestined?
In my mind, the only difficult verse of the collection is 1 Peter 1:20. The NRSV says that Christ "was destined before the foundation of the world." What does it mean? What was Christ destined for?

Again, we examine the Greek (leaning heavily on the experts). From the context, this verse smells like Jesus was destined before the great corruption to be redeemer. That smell is not correct. Please understand, I am not claiming that Jesus is not our redeemer. Jesus is definitely our redeemer. All I am claiming is that this verse does not describe Jesus as our predestined redeemer.

The word translated by the venerable NRSV as "destined" is the word usually translated as "foreknown" (προγινώσκω proginōskō). Apparently, the translators thought "foreknown" did not make sense since Jesus "was in the beginning with God" (John 1:2); so maybe they figured Peter meant "destined." Well, "foreknown" means "known" in some contexts (Acts 26:5 and the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon 6:13) and possibly "foreloved" in others (not in the "Biblical" sense, Romans 8:29). "Knew" means "loved" in these contexts: Amos 3:2; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 10:15; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 7:22-23;  1 Corinthians 8:3;  2 Timothy 2:19. Several translations understand proginōskō as "known" including ESV, NASB, NET Bible, God's Word, World English Bible and Young's Literal translation.
"He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you...." (NASB).
Although, I think "He was loved before the moral decay...." makes better sense.

In conclusion: "The foundation of the world" almost certainly refers to the moral decay of the people of the earth. In 1 Peter 1:20, "foreknown," "known" or "destined" means, in its clearest sense, "loved."

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