1 John 2:2

Here it is in the Greek:
1 John 2:2 Greek biblehub.

In my opinion,
translations like the AV have added the words in brackets, " and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world." for continuity in the English language, and not because the text itself warrants it.

Other translations in English simply added it to the text itself with no apparent reason for doing so,
since the Greek does not support it:
" He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." ( 1 John 2:2, NIV ).

While still others did not:
" And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." ( 1 John 2:2, NKJV )

Your understanding of the verse ( all by itself and without the benefit of the rest of God's word applied to it ) aside,
the Greek in no way says "the whole of humanity", Van.

The Greek says "κόσμου", which means "world"...
Not "humanity" or "all of mankind" or even the Greek words for "all men".

But I can see how you might think that it says it this way,
as I once saw it this way as well.

 

Perhaps explaining how,

on the one hand that God credits a person's individual faith as righteousness,
and on the other hand that salvation does not depend upon the person who wills to be saved ( Romans 9:16, John 1:13 )...
is not in any way contradictory,

would address the questions of those who would have them.

I agree sir.

Faith is not works, because it rests in Christ's work for us as believers,
and not our own works of righteousness ( Romans 5:12-21, Titus 3:5-7 ).

 

OK, let's see how that works with another verse in 1 John.
1 John 2:15. 'Do not love humanity or the things of humanity. If anyone loves humanity, the love of the Father is not in him.'
Hmmm. Maybe not.

 

I've another for consideration:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." ( John 3:14-21 ).

What is the context of "the world" ( " κόσμου" ) here?
It has several definitions and can be understood several ways, can it not?

How about "κόσμου" in verse 16 being defined by "whosoever believeth in Him" from verses 15 and 16,
While in verse 17 the first "κόσμου" means "this present world, planet earth", while the second "κόσμου" means " all mankind", and the third "κόσμου" is defined by the "he that believeth on Him" in verse 18?
In verse 19, I see that "the world" is defined as "this present world, planet earth".

But I can see how many would disagree with my own understanding of it.
For example,
I once thought that God loved everyone, and then I saw this:

" The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." ( Psalms 5:5-6 ).

" The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth." ( Psalms 11:5 )

 

Perhaps rendering it into English as closely and accurately to the Greek, would be better Van.
For example,
I know of several who have taken Acts of the Apostles 13:48 and outright stated that, in their opinion, it should have been translated as:

" And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as believed were ordained to eternal life."

 

If you take these verses together, it becomes evident that 'whosoever believeth' is a synonym for 'the world.'
God sent His Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. He also gave Him that the world through Him might be saved. Therefore 'world' here means believers 'of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues' (Revelation 7:9).

 

Van,

Firstly, I am not a "Calvinist".
I picked up the Bible one day in 2003, followed the Lord's commands stated in 1 Peter 2:2 and 2 Timothy 2:15,
and what you see is my own private understanding of the Scriptures after long study in them over that time period.

I was never raised in the "Reformd tradition", I do not adhere to creeds and confessions, nor do I see any long-lasting value in commentaries.

Finally,
I do not, nor ever will follow John Calvin's teachings without questioning them at length and taking it all back to God's word.


Secondly, if you wish to insult people by characterizing their remarks as "twaddle",
then that is your prerogative to do so.

 

Is it so in the 1611 original King James Version or were the brackets introduced in a later edition?

 

I think Dave may mean that he is putting it in brackets. I've have never seen a KJV that had text in brackets. (Not sure. There are lots of things I have never seen, so that fact does not mean there are none that do so.) Some printings have the sins of in italic print. You can view the Barker 1611 printing here (which does not have italics or brackets).
I John in The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament and the New, Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, 1611

 

I believe that they were in the original 1611 edition, but they are not in brackets, but in italics as they are in the KJV today to show that they are not in the original Greek text.

 

I see @Van has been busy posting twaddle.
First he suggests that I do not believe that Kosmos ever refers to humanity. I do no such thing. I just doesn't mean that in 1 John 2:2, as I have shown above. Kosmos has about eight different meanings in Scripture; the context will show which is correct.
Secondly he correctly claims that I mistranslated 1 John 2:15, but does not have the wit to understand why I did it.
Thirdly, I showed why John 3:16 does not refer to 'fallen humanity, and I note that @Van was not able to refute my analysis.
Fourthly, no one is running away from 1 John 2:2 except @Van who invariably resorts to abuse when he can't answer arguments, but squeals like a stuck pig when someone doeas the same to him.
Fifthly, @Van does not know what 'propitiation' means; specifically that it does not mean 'means of salvation.'
1 John 2:2. 'And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.' Now if Christ is the propitiation for the sins of fallen humanity, then God is propitiated towards fallen humanity, their sins are forgiven, hell is empty and there will be no condemnation for anyone. But the Bible declares that not to be the case.

So what does the text mean?

We first note that kosmos can and does often mean 'the physical world' (eg. Acts 17:24); secondly, the world, being inanimate, cannot sin. But it is nonetheless under a curse because of sin (Genesis 3:17; 5:29) along with sinful mankind (Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10). Romans 8:20ff tells us that the creation is subject to futility - random events and disasters - and subject to decay (cf. Isaiah 51:6), but that God subjected it to this 'in hope.' What hope? The hope of 1 John 2:2. Not only is Christ the propitiation for our sins, but for the whole earth. In the new heavens and new earth, 'there shall be no more curse' (Revelation 22:3). Just as Christ's people will no longer be under a curse, but have new perfect resurrection bodies, so the world itself will be free of its curse, because Christ is the propitiation not only for our sins but for the whole world.

I don't say that this is the only possible understanding of 1 John 2:2, but I do say that @Van's exposition is not possible.

 

Ah! I stand corrected then. Sorry! Italics were not in the 1611 KJV. They are in every KJV that I have seen, but I cannot say when they were first introduced.

 

I do not deny it.

I simply disagree with your translation of it,
and see no need for you to translate it in any other way than what was performed in Bibles like the AV, for example.

What I'm doing is presenting my own opinion,
and giving you the details so that you know why.

If you wish to characterize it in another fashion, then that is your prerogative.

Read it in context Van.
If you don't see it the way I do, then we can agree to disagree.

 

Respectfully,
Scripture defining and giving understanding to the other parts of God's word,
is not "running away" from 1 John 2:2.
It is confronting it, squarely, instead of treating it as if it's all by itself in a vacuum.

The truth is,
no part of God's word stands alone and all by itself with respect to any other part of it ( Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4 ).

Therefore,
I see no reason to shy away from discussing other parts of Scripture in order to better define what one "verse" seems to say.

Personally,
I expect you to honor the Lord's commands regarding Christian conduct, which is our reasonable service as believers.

However, if you wish to characterize the responses of those who disagree with you as "twaddle",
then I understand that you don't really care about this:

" Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."