Earlier
today I received an email from another friend and brother in Christ who had
questions about Granville Sharp's "rule". Granville Sharp actually
produced six 'rules' of New Testament grammar, but it is his first
"rule" that has received by far the most 'ink'. A concise summation of
Sharp's six rules can be found at:
Sharp's
book on these six rules can be read, and/or downloaded at:
The
support for Granville Sharp's 1st rule within the Evangelical community has had
a long and substantive history—the following articles/essays are some good
representatives:
But,
there has been solid opposition to Sharp; the first I am aware of came quite
early on (1805) from the pen Calvin Winstanley. An online PDF version can be
accessed at:
The most rigorous
opposition that I have knowledge of has come via the former Jehovah's
Witness, Greg Stafford, who has produced literally hundreds of scholarly pages
on this issue, all of which can be accessed at:
Mr.
Stafford is also currently writing a full length book on this topic, which is
supposed to be released sometime this month:
The Sharpest Rule: A Review and Restatement of Greek's Most Tragic Rule
The Sharpest Rule: A Review and Restatement of Greek's Most Tragic Rule
I
sincerely hope I have provided interested readers enough resources to delve
into this subject with some serious depth.
As
for myself, I remain 'open' to both sides, calling the ongoing grammatical
debate a 'draw'. However, I suspect a number of folk will not give Stafford's
copious contributions an objective look simply because he is a former JW, and
will side with the Bowman's and Wallaces's without any serious reflection and
study; IMO, to do so would be a huge mistake, for Stafford has more than 'held
his own' with the best the Evangelical camp has had to offer. I shall end here
with a firm exhortation to all interested parties that they read through the
material without prejudice before drawing any firm conclusions.
Grace
and peace,
