Does he who has been born of God? 1 John 5:18

Taras DYATLIK

Authors

Taras DYATLIK Since 2008 he has been Coordinator of the EAAA Research Center, and since 2011 Overseas Council Regional Director in Eurasia., Ukraine

Keywords:

1 John 5, 18, We know that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him, Christ keeps the Christian

Abstract

«We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.» (1 Jn 5:18, King James Version). One of the phrases in this verse has two readings, which are well attested to in Greek manuscripts: «keeps himself» and «keeps him». In order to determine the closest meaning to the original text, the author of this article has performed a short textual (external evidence), lexical, syntactic and theological (internal evidence) analysis. The theological analysis seeks to find the meaning of the phrase «born of God» in the context of the Epistle of John. Does the word «born» refer to a Christian or to Christ? Does Christ, who is born of God, keep the one who is born of God or does the one born of God keep himself? Based on his research, the author comes to a conclusion that the reading «Christ keeps the Christian» is a better match to the content and context of 1 John.

Author Biography

Taras DYATLIK, Since 2008 he has been Coordinator of the EAAA Research Center, and since 2011 Overseas Council Regional Director in Eurasia.

Taras Dyatlik holds a Bachelor of Theology degree from Donetsk Christian University (1997) and a Master of Theology degree with an emphasis in Greek New Testament textual studies (2005) from Evangelische Theologische Faculteit (Leuven, Belgium). Presently he is a Ph.D. candidate at ETF specializing in philosophy of theological education. Since 2008 he has been Coordinator of the EAAA Research Center, and since 2011 Overseas Council Regional Director in Eurasia. He is married with two children.

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