The Carmen Christi and Harpagmos

There is certainly no shortage of amazing statements on YouTube, especially on the subject of Koine Greek. You know, we live in a day where we have a tremendous amount of blessing. Bible works, librarnics, the ready availability of computer programs and books and things like that that are a great asset to the study of New Testament Greek.

But they just possessing a computer program does not make you capable of reading the language. There is a need to understand the grammar, the syntax, idiomatic phraseology, the way that languages express themselves.

And you go on YouTube and you hear the most amazing statements being made with a straight face by people who are using Strong's Exhaustive Concordance or they're clicking on a word in Bible works or something and somehow think that they know the Greek language.

It's an amazing thing and you certainly, you know, here we are on YouTube, beware. You really have to exercise a lot of discernment in what you're looking at because there's just a lot of bad information out there.

The Carmen Christi and Misreading Philippians 2

Someone's posted a response to some comments I made on the Carmen Christi. Now if you will look around you will find, for example, at Christian Soldiers Ministries, they got permission from CRI a number of years ago to post the text to a feature article I wrote for the CRI Journal in 2001, as I recall, on the Carmen Christi, Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 11.

It goes through the translation, provides my own translation, and then it goes through how this text is misused by various religious groups. It's a fairly in-depth study of that particular text. But someone posted a response where they attempt to look at Philippians chapter 2 and once again, you're just left somewhat amazed at the straight-faced comments that can be made about the Greek language that just simply don't have any connection whatsoever to the reality.

Let's take a look at what this gentleman says.

Humility of Mind in Philippians 2:1-5

First thing I'm going to look at is Philippians 2. The thing that people don't notice about Philippians 2 is this is Paul talking to his church. He says, Let this mind be in you as it was in Jesus Christ.

Now he never said Let this mind be in you about Jesus Christ. See, that's what DD Christ believers see. They're kind of blind to what's actually being said and they miss out on exactly what's being said.

It says, Let this mind be in you as it was in Jesus Christ. So Paul is telling them that whatever they're experiencing, that they should have the same mind as Christ. And that's simply that they received the Holy Spirit and they had the power of God, you know, to heal people and to heal a paraplegic and to do these things, these miracles and signs and wonders.

And he was telling them that they should be as Christ when they receive this power, that they should not lift themselves up or make themselves a king or whatever. Like in the modern day, if you was able to lay your hands on something, the Spirit was poured out as it was in the early church.

If you was able to go into a hospice and heal everybody in there, then the next day you could take over the world. I mean, so he was telling them that when you have this power as Jesus found himself to have this power, now God healed through him.

But when you have this power, he was speaking to his congregation, don't use it to lift yourself up and make yourself rich because Jesus didn't do that.

Let's take a look at the text itself and find out what it's really saying. Look at the context. Paul is exhorting the Philippians to act in humility of mind. Look at his words. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Well, notice what he's saying. He's not, there's nothing in this context about healing and raising dead people or anything else.

It's nothing about, well, you possess the Holy Spirit and you'll do miracles and therefore don't think yourself more highly than you ought to think. This is about the everyday life of the church and how Christians in that fellowship get along with one another.

And the key to Christian unity, in fact, is humility of mind. That is, you have certain rights, you have certain privileges, but you lay them aside in the service of others. And it is that attitude that was in Christ Jesus.

If this gentleman would study the text, he would see that the very same terminology of humility that is being exhorted of the Philippians is then attributed to Jesus Christ, who humbles himself. And he humbles himself by going to the cross, etc, etc.

That is the state of mind. That's the mindset that the Lord Jesus Christ had in himself and he then becomes our example. The Carmen Christi, Philippians 2, 5 -11, is a sermon illustration of the humility of mind.

There's nothing here about having miraculous, miracle-working power and not getting rich out of it. I mean, talk about complete eisegesis, reading into the text something that is nowhere near to be found in the text itself.

Harpagmos and Equality with God

Now the second thing about Philippians 2 that people don't notice is some of the newer translations translate robbery different. The statement is that he counted it not robbery to be equal with God. The problem with that is the word for pargamos, which is found in Strong's, that's translated robbery, is actually a noun.

So it's a noun. It's not a verb. It cannot be an action word or it cannot be an action statement. Now Strong's, from the Strong's coordinates, he was Trinitarian, so he had to put in the first definition a verb definition, which is not possible for a noun word.

So that's incorrect. And that's why the newer translations say it's a thing to be grasped. It is a thing, a person, place, or thing. It is a noun. So they've translated a thing to be grasped. So he counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal to God.

And that would fit with when Jesus said, If you'd love me, you would be happy for me because I go to the Father and the Father is greater than I. Jesus never claimed that he was greater than the Father or equal with the Father.

He always said that the Father was greater than him. And that's exactly what Philippians 2 is actually saying, that Jesus didn't count it a thing to be grasped to be equal with the Father. And I guess that's what this preacher is talking about when he says that they say that they always say that it's mistranslated.

Well, you have to remember that the King James translators were avid deity of Christ believers. They were Trinitarians. King James was a Trinitarian. He was also a persecutor of the pilgrims who refused his Bible because they said it was corrupt.

Since this is the standard mechanism that various groups use to try to get around the teaching of this text, let's take a look at it. Who existing in the form of God, no beginning point of this existence is given by the way, who existing in the Morphe Theou, what does that mean?

Our gentleman does not tell us what it means to exist in the form of God. It'd be interesting to find out. Did not consider equality with God Harpogmon, the accusative of Harpogmos. Now, he is simply wrong that nouns cannot inherently contain within their semantic domain action concepts.

No person who actually knows the Greek language has ever actually translated the Greek New Testament would make that statement. He is simply wrong. And there are entire books that have been written on this particular term and the moss versus moss stems and things like that, very much a part of the Greek language.

But here is the fatal flaw of this argumentation. Why is this sermon illustration being given? Remember what it was? Paul's exhorting his audience to humility of mind. What is humility? What does it mean to be humble within the context of the Christian community?

We have rights, but we lay those rights aside in the service of others. Now, how could we understand this text? How would Jesus be humble if he was in fact a creation, an inferior creature? How is it humility not to try to become equal with God?

That's not an act of humility. That is not seeking to commit blasphemy. That's not humility at all. But when we understand it as it naturally occurs, and that is that he had that equality with the Father, he did not consider that equality had something to be grasped or held on to at all costs, but for you and for me and for our salvation, he laid that aside in service to us, taking on the form of mankind, the incarnation, then it makes perfect sense.

It becomes the perfect, the absolute grand and glorious illustration of true humility of mind, and that is exactly what we have in the Carmen Christi. That is the only way to make the text hang together and make any sense.

And so context does determine that, but you'll notice that our questioner not only missed the preceding context in certain stuff about miracles and everything else, but sees no connection in his interpretation of Harpagmas to the issue of humility of mind.

That's why I say a little Greek is a dangerous thing. It's a beautiful passage. It's teaching is consistent. Thanks for watching.