In New Testament Greek, the perfect tense is notoriously disputed and all sorts of semantic functions are attributed to it. For many, the perfect tense refers to a past event with on-going significance (e.g., William Mounce), for others it denotes a more intense proximity to the action described (e.g., Con Campbell), and for others it signifies the particular state of something (e.g., Stan Porter).
Well said, Mike, too much is often made of the Perfect in that way. I’m a bit surprised at Dunn’s readings. The much older Lutheran commentator Lenski does the same thing.
Perfect Tense Fallacies
Well said, Mike, too much is often made of the Perfect in that way. I’m a bit surprised at Dunn’s readings. The much older Lutheran commentator Lenski does the same thing.
Thanks Mike. Interesting indeed!