| The Problem | | Acts 2:38--The "Causal eis" Debate | | Acts 2:32--The Burden for the Causal eis | | Acts 2:38--The analysis of the Causal Eis | | Acts 2:38 - Blood Guilt: Forgiveness or Justification? | | Acts 2:38 -- Blood Guilt: Corporate and Personal | | Acts 2:38 -- Blood Guilt: Resolution and Closure | | Acts 2:38 --A Covenant People and The Covenant | | Acts 2:38 --A Covenant People and The Church Age | | Acts 2:38 --A Covenant People: The Structure of Acts | | Acts 2:38 --A Covenant People: Escaping National Judgment | | Acts 2:38 -- Conclusion |
|
Salvation and Water Baptism
by
Ronald R. Shea, Th.M., J.D.
Acts 2:38
|
Causal "eis": The The Analysis
To deny the existence of a causal use of "eis," many lexicons and commentaries have adopted the term "with a view toward." But this doesn't resolve the question, it only cloaks it in different language.
Let us consider again the words of Matthew 12:41:
"The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at ("eis") the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
Clearly they did not repent "in order to cause" Jonah to preach (a future event), but because he had preached! (Looking backward at a past event.)
It matters not whether "eis is translated "because of" or "with a view toward." If it is translated "with a view toward," the fact remains that the men of Nineveh were "viewing" something that had already taken place. The issue then, is simply: Can "baptism eis the remission of sins" be looking backward at a previous event, or does it necessarily have to mean that one seeks to accomplish the remission of sins through water baptism. And the answer is clear. The only way of logically understanding Matthew 12:41 is "because of" or "with a view toward" the previous message of Jonah. And if this is true, then it is a valid way of understanding the command for baptism in Acts 2:38 . . . "because," of the remission of sins, or "with a view toward" the remission of sins. Either way, it may refer to a past event.
Some have objected that the Greek word is not the "preaching" of Jonah (a participle having a verbal root), but the "message" of Jonah, a noun. By this distinction, they would suggest that there is no temporal quality to a noun, and therefore no cause and effect.
But again, this does not alter the reality of the sequence of events. A "message" is delivered at a point in time, and that point is either past, present, or future. The "message" of Jonah had been given before the men of Nineveh repented. However one seeks to cloak or nuance the word "eis" cannot avoid that this order of events was connected by the preposition eis. Their repentance was done subsequent to Jonah's preaching, whether "because of" or "with a view toward" that message.
|
Other Examples of "eis" in the New Testament
Other relevant usages of "eis," where "causal" or "looking backward to" include:
Mark 3:29 "But he who blasphemes 'eis' the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation." The Holy Spirit does not come into existence by blasphemy. He pre-exists the blasphemy.
John 5:45 "Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father: there is one who accuses you--Moses, 'eis' whom you trust." They did not bring Moses into existence by their trust in him. Moses pre-existed their trust, and was the object of their trust, just as our salvation occurs prior to our baptism experience, which is done "with a view toward" that great salvation.
Acts 24:15 "I have hope in (eis) God" Paul's faith did not bring about the existence of God, but was with a view toward the God who is.
Romans 4:20 "He did not waiver at (eis) the promise of God through unbelief." Abraham's wavering, or lack thereof, was at a promise that already existed. His steadfastness did not bring about the promise of God.
2 Peter 1:17 "This is my beloved Son, in (eis) whom I a well pleased." Whether God was please "because" of His Son, or "with a view toward" his Son, he clearly was not pleased in order to bring about the reality of His Son.
Whether the repentance of the Ninevites was "because of" Jonah's message, "with a view toward," that message, or some other creative linguistic frame, the fact remains that the repentance of the Ninevites was subsequent to the preaching of Jonah. Regardless how one frames the question therefore, Mantey was conceptually right about the field of meaning of "eis" in its relation to Acts 2:38. The "field of meaning" of the preposition "eis" is clearly expansive enough to permit that the baptism of Acts 2:38 was subsequent to the remission of sins.
If something occurs "with a view toward" a pre-existing event or thing, it is arguable "because of" that thing. But regardless of the validity of the causal nuance, it is clear the eis does, in many incontestable instances, refer to a pre-existing event or thing. Indeed, the most basic meaning of "eis" is "into." And though one might go forth "into battle" (a future event), none can deny that the most common meaning of "into" is with respect to an already existing entity. And theologically speaking, that is all that Mantey really needed to demonstrate.
|
|
Acts 2:38--The analysis of the Causal Eis |
|
|
