Allan,
I don't know the answer to the question about what word the Greeks used
for what we would call science, but in view of the attention paid in the
NT to combatting the Gnostic heresy, I find it hard to imagine that Paul
had anything other than Gnosticism in mind when he referred to the gnosis
falsely so-called.
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395
On Mon, 30 Jul 2001 SteamDoc@aol.com wrote:
> Most of us have probably seen the misuse of the KJV rendering of I Tim. 6:20
> used in "creationist" arguments. I'm aware that the word in the Greek is
> some form of "gnosis" and should simply be translated as "knowledge."
>
> A question that has come up with a correspondent is whether there is any
> possibility that Paul could have had science in mind when writing that. Was
> there a different Greek word meaning "science" (to the limited extent that
> science existed at the time) that would have been used had Paul meant that?
> If so, it would seem to rule out nearly 100% any idea that Paul was warning
> Timothy against falsehood specifically in the guise of science. Not that
> that seems very likely anyway, but some people have had "science falsely
> so-called" drilled into their heads for so many years that it is hard for
> them to read it any other way.
>
> A side question if Ted Davis or some historian happens to know:
> I think Harry Rimmer in particular liked to use the phrase "science falsely
> so-called." Did others ever take him to task for this usage that can't be
> justified by the original text? If so, did he have anything to say in
> response?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado | SteamDoc@aol.com
> "Any opinions expressed here are mine, and should not be
> attributed to my employer, my wife, or my cats"
>
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