Different Greek words for ‘know’ distinguish false believers from carnal ones
Evidence
Matthew 7:23, where Jesus is talking to those who “professed” to be Christians and who “professed” to have prophesied in His Name, cast out devils in His Name, and done many wonderful works in His Name. Jesus doesn’t say, “I know you not,” like He does in Matthew 25. He says, “I never knew you” (i.e. they are not believers). And the Greek word He uses is ginosko, which means “to have knowledge of.” In other words, He is saying “I don’t recognize you at all! I never knew you to begin with. I never knew you at all.” In contrast to Matthew 25 where He says because they were not intimate with Him, He only knew them from a distance. — Chuck Missler, The Kingdom, Power and Glory, 686
Categorization
- QUESTION: This wordplay (oida versus ginosko) is doing enormous theological work; a careful reader should check whether the semantic distinction genuinely maps onto saved-versus-unsaved in these passages.
- recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
- XREF: connects to: Confident believers often lack the ability to articulate their own beliefs — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 860
Broader Connections
- Confident believers often lack the ability to articulate their own beliefs
#qualifies(0.72) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 860