neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 9:51 am
But why does Paul appear to describe his conversion as the moment when God revealed his Son
IN him, not TO him? That doesn't seem to sit well with everything else we think we know.
The Greek term ἐν has a wide range of uses ---
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/re ... lang=greek
The term with a noun in the dative
can be used to indicate instrumentality, as in this example from Matthew in which the Pharisees claim that the demons were cast out by the ruler of the demons. The wording indicates the action was “by means of” or “through the action of” the ruler of the demons ---
But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by (ἐν) the ruler (in the dative) of the demons.” (Matthew 9:34, NASB)
See also 1 Corinthians 6:2, and 2 Corinthians 7:7.
In a similar vein in Galatians, I think Paul is claiming that God chose him as the instrument, as the agent to reveal the Son to the Gentiles. Read here for ἐν, "by means of" me or "through" me ---
But when God, the one having selected me from my mother's womb and having called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son by (ἐν) me (in the dative), so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles … (Galatians 1:15-16)
Paul later elaborates on how he sees his role in that regard (the "we" and "us" here refer to Paul and his junior-partners) ---
… how that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself … and having put into us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We implore on behalf of Christ ... (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).