Quote:
Originally Posted by SteVee
Ephesians 6:12 ... powers... " exousia is used. It is the power of position; that is authority to command or direct force.
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Power of position is either something conferred by another, exerted by force, or granted by consent. But no matter how closely you think you can link power and authority, they are never the same thing.
Power is the strength, energy, etc., to do what is intended or required. Authority is the right to determine that it is to be done. You can have one without the other. And it can be problematic. But the fact that they are both required for proper use of the other does not confer a state of identity upon them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteVee
A human illustration is a general has exousia. His army has dynamis.
God possesses both. . . .
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Examples prove nothing. And there are contrary examples.
If the Supreme Court makes a decision about something, can they actually enforce it? They have the authority to make the judgment.
But they have no power to do anything. It takes the strength of other parts of the government to exercise that authority through its power. And there is said to have been at least one time that a ruling was so egregious in the sitting president's eyes that he simply said something like "well, let them enforce it."
Gangsters have power and effectively run things in some places. But they never have true authority. And the local authority, while retaining that right, too often lacks the power to make their decisions stick.
The problem with the beginning chapter of Spiritual Authority (aka Authority and Submission) is that it dismisses the significant difference between the two, and finding no compelling support for the kind of authority that was to be discussed, changed occurrences of "power" into "authority" as if they were synonyms. After making those changes, then the altered verse supported the next block in the thesis. But without that change, it does not.
So tell me, if the word actually used can't get you there, on what basis do you think that providing a different word should be any better? Either way, it is an exercise in having an answer and trying to find a way to make it work. So if the scripture doesn't support it as written, rewrite it at will. Just be sure to claim that it is not really a rewrite.
Nee was a hack. I honestly believe that he believed he was doing God's work in it. But if that means changing the Bible to get there, then it is evident that his honest belief was in error.