Translations actually have a different use than telling theologians what exactly to think in order to form serious doctrines, doctrines that make up whole denominations. What a translation is there for is for the average Christian's benefit, for them to enjoy God's Word and have an adequate understanding of the essentials. Even then, people easily misunderstand the essentials.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about private linguistic ideas, and have always been careful to follow two of the most updated and critical sources for Koine Greek (and classical Greek in the case of the latter), Thayer and Vine's Expository and Liddel and Scott's. The reason it's crucial to go back to the original languages when trying to take a more disciplined look at what makes up church doctrines, is that there are many compound words in ancient languages and relevant philosophy behind their terms and the way they spoke. This is most important because in terms of grammar and vocabulary, our translations may basically cover what's going on but give us the wrong idea about connotations.
But I'm digressing a bit, from my first intended point that it is important to
compare what you see in your lexicon with information in a concordance showing the different ways that the word has been translated and where. In spite of the dust it's collected over all this time, Strong's Concordance is still perfectly suitable towards this end as it may not have the best in terms of vocabulary explanations, but it is quite an exhaustive concordance, showing everywhere that something is in the text and all of the different ways it has been translated in the AV.
The scholars who do this work can't be thanked enough, and the leading minds of Christian orthodoxy have always held a grave responsibility to carefully deliberate on this information they're given. Why is this so important? You obviously know and are noting the harm that misinformation can do to people learning about Christianity.
This is because they cherry pick single verses and spew them at each other ad nauseum.
Here's a great article on just what it takes to start speaking authoritatively on the scriptures:
http://www.bible-researcher.com/bible-study1.html
There is also great pleasure to be had in learning linguistics. Understanding more of these details of scripture will also bring people closer to God, their fascination with it another expression of love. The person who has truly committed to this kind of study would be rare if they couldn't agree with you on the milk.
Those first four ecumenical creeds are so biblical that they have enormous use down to this day. That so many people online think they know so much, yet they clam up at the sight of any language discussion or taking whole passages in context, displays a nature which I feel is disingenuous.
This isn't your typical public setting, though. Which is why there are a plethora of threads where people pick groups of single verses, thinking that the quotations will speak for themselves, and that simply showing what they've read will display their "great" discernment. Well, I'm sorry to tell them but there's been a long, long history of people who have made it their work in life to carefully educate themselves and edify others on this, and there has been substantial level of agreement on the essentials since apostolic times.
Every orthodox Christian, RCC, Coptic, or otherwise, understands that God is triune, that Jesus is the fully man and fully divine, that the Lord atoned for our sins on the day He gave His penultimate expression of
yom kippur, that it is through the atonement of the Son that we have been saved, and whatever model is agreed to, penance or no penance, etc., it is understood that salvation is God's gift and any good we do is also a gift. Any properly taught Molinist
or Lutheran would agree to that last statement.
It is distressful that any person claiming to be a Christian would not be able to agree with the first four creeds. This is why there must always be Christians who have been gifted with the opportunity and capacity to learn such technical issues, willing to do so, as these clear supports for the truth of the Gospel have always been agreed to and need to be upheld anew every generation. We must strive to be the Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, or Augustine of today if we can, because there is a grave responsibility laid upon the Bride of Christ.
What's even more alarming at times is people ignorantly spewing anathema at one another. You have to wonder if they are doing this in their every day lives, not fully considering the gravity of their claims and committing to the requisite learning in order to make such a grave proclamation. The proclamation of anathema is supposed to be one of concern and made in sensitivity to the Great Commission. In fact, the last Great Awakening in America (there were huge revivals in the 19th century), was compelled by people who preached on the seriousness of sin, and what it meant to reject God, how generous, glorious,
and righteously wroth He is.
This is made abundantly clear when you examine the fruits and apparent countenance of anyone disputing over doctrinal issues, or proclaiming anathema on someone. Are they comporting themselves in an empathetic manner? Do they really have loving ends in mind? Are they achieving those ends?
As always, I like to end with devotional prayer:
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LORIA[/SIZE] in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
LAUDAMUS te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam, Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
DOMINE Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe, Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis; qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
QUONIAM tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe, *** Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
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LORY[/SIZE] to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.
WE praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee, we give Thee thanks for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
O Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
FOR Thou alone art the Holy One, Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone art the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
