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Contra Stavrinides
by Frank Nelte

PART XV: GOD IS A FAMILY

This new teaching is obviously an attack on the truth that God is building a Family of God-beings.

In his first lecture (tape #2), Dr. Stavrinides turned to Ephesians 3:15. This says...

Of whom the whole FAMILY in heaven and earth is named, (Ephesians 3:15)

He then told us that the word for ...

"FAMILY" is "PATRIA", which comes from "PATER" which means "FATHER".

Then he said that the English translation of "patria" as "family" is not good enough!

And then came the cruncher. He said:

"PATRIA, WHATEVER IT MEANS, IT IS A DIFFICULT WORD TO TRANSLATE AND I DON'T HAVE A WORD FOR IT!"

Talk about dishonesty!

Here is a simple little Greek noun. He knows the root very well. It is derived from the word "father"! If he cannot translate the word "patria" into English, then he is TOTALLY UNQUALIFIED to translate any other Greek word into English, like the numerous innuendos of the various tenses and moods of verbs, etc.

We are talking about a simple little noun!

A few minutes later, on the same tape, Dr. Stavrinides said that the Church had absorbed doctrinal problems because Mr. Armstrong was ..."not exposed to a DISCIPLINED WAY OF STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES". That seems a strange comment from a man who feels "THE SCRIPTURES" are not really a "theology" textbook and who wants us to study the ideas of "the Catholic fathers" from two of their "councils". "The Scriptures" don't really feature in HIS STUDIES either ... he can't even tell us how to translate the simple, old Greek noun "patria". Dr. Stavrinides' neglect and oversight of pertinent scriptures is notorious! They are not addressed unless someone raises them as questions,

So therefore let's now study the scriptures in a "disciplined way".

  1. In the New Testament different words are used to convey extended familial relationships. They include:

    None of these words have the root "father" in them.

  2. An interesting verse in this regard is 1Timothy 5:4.
    But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety AT HOME, and to requite THEIR PARENTS: for that is good and acceptable before God. (ITimothy 5:4)

    The expression "at home" comes from the Greek "ton idion oikon", from "oikos", a house. Thus it literally means: their own household. Notice the words "their parents" ("tois progonois"), which shows that this is talking about an extended family.

    While the root of the word comes from "house", the context makes clear that Paul used this word to refer to a family, i.e. those who live together in one house. But this is not the word God inspired for Ephesians 3:15.

  3. The word "patria" is used three times in the N.T. ... Dr. Stavrinides preferred to show us only TWO of those three places. He also turned to Acts 3:25. The third place where "patria" is used, which he did not turn to, is Luke 2:4. Let's look at these scriptures.
    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of THE HOUSE and LINEAGE of David:) (Luke 2:4)

    The expression "house and lineage" is "oikos kai patria". Luke uses both words to make very clear that Joseph was of "THE FAMILY" of David; descended from David. David was the "PATER" that Joseph could trace himself back to. That should be clear to anyone. It is not a difficult verse to understand.

    Here's Acts 3:25.

    Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE EARTH be blessed. (Acts 3:25)

    It would be equally clear to say: "all the FAMILIES of the earth".

    There's nothing mystical in this expression. It is EASY TO UNDERSTAND ACTS 3:25!!

    Now let's look at Ephesians 3:15, which is "very difficult" to translate and for which he "doesn't have a word". Let's pick up the thought in the previous verse.

    For this cause I bow my knees unto THE FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 3:14)

    The subject Paul is talking about is: GOD THE FATHER! That's clear, right?

    Now the next verse.

    Of whom THE WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named, (Ephesians 3:15)

    The Greek is "pâsa patria", literally "every family".

    The word "patria" is an old word, which comes from "patêr", a father, and by extension, a common ancestor. That's also very easy to understand, right? After all, the word has been absorbed into the English language. We don't have a problem understanding words like "paternal", etc.

  4. Dr. Stavrinides is very familiar with the LXX version of the O.T.. The word "patria" is also used in the LXX. Since the O.T. has a great deal more to say about families than the N.T., words for "family", etc. appear more often in the O.T..

    While the LXX is certainly not inspired, the usage of the word helps to shed light on its meaning in a supplementary way.

    In the LXX the word "patria" is used for related people in a sense of wider than "oikos" (see 1Tim. 5:4 above) but narrower than "phule", which means "a tribe". It is used in the LXX in such scriptures as ...

    Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth [day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to THE HOUSE of [their] fathers, a lamb for an house: (Exodus 12:3)

    and ...

    So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of THE TRIBES of the children of Israel: (Numbers 32:28)

    It is not a controversial word. It is not a word that the philosophers have attached their own private meanings to. The word is not an issue with any of the "Catholic fathers" ... nothing they have fought over and directed their "anathemas" against. And the LXX usages are in line with the three uses in the N.T..

  5. So WHY does Dr. Stavrinides say that it is "a very difficult word"? Only ONE reason!

    He does not LIKE the meaning of "FAMILY" purely because of what it says in Ephesians 3:15. That simply does not tie in with the Catholic teaching that he wants us to accept. And, since he has no way of twisting this word to mean something else, he takes the same approach that he takes with other words that he does not want us to know the true meaning of ...

    Somehow we non-Greeks are supposed to be impressed by such statements and just accept them at face value. We need to take note of the fact that his ideas rely heavily on accepting such difficult and "untranslatable" words. The fact that competent scholars of Greek, who have no doctrinal axes to grind, disagree with Dr. Stavrinides is immaterial. He is supposed to be the last word on Greek.

  6. Now let's look at the meaning of "patria". It should be self-evident.

    "PATRIA" comes from "PATER" and it refers to an entity of which a "PATER" is the head. We call such an entity "A FAMILY".That's it! THAT'S why it is called "PATRIA".

    Ephesians 3:15 tells us that the whole "PATRIA" in heaven and earth is named after God the Father. That means, it must be called "THE FAMILY OF GOD", not "the Kindreds of God" or "the Tribe of God". But even those words Dr. Stavrinides doesn't like in reference to God ... and THAT is why he doesn't have a word for "patria".

    HE SIMPLY REFUSES TO ACCEPT EPHESIANS 3:15 WITH ANY TRANSLATION!

  7. Notice once again that he has not made the slightest effort to tell us what the scripture DOES mean ... that's not his department, right? He doesn't care what God is actually telling us in this verse. HIS ONLY CONCERN is to do away with this verse. And then he says that Mr. ARMSTRONG is the one who was ..."not exposed to a disciplined way of studying the Scriptures". Is his way of IGNORING what this verse actually says supposed to be the way "disciplined theologians" treat the scriptures? Is it "misusing the Bible" (tape #2) to believe that what the scriptures actually SAY, the content of a verse, is supposed to tell us something ... or is this just part of "the protestant heritage", since the Bible is not a textbook about "theology"?

    Dr. Stavrinides' rejection of the scriptures is transparent!

  8. At the top of page 95 we looked at 1Tim. 5:4 and the Greek noun "oikos", which is used there to refer to a family. The adjective from "oikos" is "OIKEIOS" and this is used with the same meaning as "oikos". Let's notice two relevant scriptures.
    Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD; (Ephesians 2:19)

    This is "oikeioi tou theou" ... "the OIKEIOS of God"; In the next chapter it is "the PATRIA of God", as we've seen.

    Is Dr. Stavrinides, the authority on Greek, going to tell us that NEITHER ONE OF THESE TWO WORDS means "family" in Greek? Really?

    There is simply no way around it: in the Book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul talked about "THE FAMILY OF GOD"!

    Notice another place where "oikeios" is used,

    As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH. (Galatians 6:10)

    This is talking about the Church and the Church is referred to as "tous oikeious tês pisteôs" ... "of THE HOUSEHOLD of faith". It is Mr. Tkach himself who has made a big point out of the fact that "the Church is a Family" ...

    "WE ARE FAMILY" has become a slogan!

    Well, Paul said the same thing in Galatians 6:10. And Gal. 6:10 is EASY TO UNDERSTAND. No hidden meanings here.

    If it is easy to see that "oikeios" means "family" in Galatians 6:10, then how can you avoid acknowledging that it ALSO means "family" in Ephesians 2:19? You can't!

    In summary, Dr. Stavrinides is once again shown to be wrong!

    Now for the next topic ...

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