Tuesday, November 03, 2015

"All" in Paul


When Paul says "all", what does that refer to? Depends on the context. This crops up in Calvinist/Arminian debates. However, there are passages like Rom 5:18 which are problematic for Arminians as well. Here's some useful analysis:

The use of "all"  [Rom 11:32] refers to either all of humanity, including Jews and Gentiles, or probably preferably, all in the sense of both groups of people taken as individual wholes, Jews and the rest, the Gentiles…The use of "all" may refer to all humanity, including both Jews and Gentiles, or, again preferably, all in the sense of both groups of people taken as wholes ("both"). S. Porter, The Letter to the Romans: A Linguistic and Literary Commentary (Sheffield Phoenix Press 2015), 221-222. 

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