Some Catholic apologists have tried to dismiss the work of Eric Svendsen on New Testament Mariology as they claim he believed that, until the advent of Logos Bible Software, Bibleworks, etc., no one could engage in meaningful exegesis and lexiography. However, this is false. If one listens to his February 1997 debate on the perpetual virginity of Mary (vs. Gerry Matatics), he argues that such software allows for more thorough word searches and studies than what was available to previous generations (which is 100% true); also, in his PhD dissertation, we find the following table showing that he understood Bible search programs to be aids to word studies, not the final word.
|
Problems |
Aims
and Objectives |
Methodology |
|
What textual evidence is there
for the belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity? |
To investigate whether or not it
is possible to sustain the belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire
life. |
Use computer-aided Bible search
programs to examine all instances of this phrase in the NT, and analyze using
standard grammatical works such as Turner and BFD. |
|
Does the Greek phrase used in
Matt 1:25 indicate anything regarding the status of Mary’s ongoing virginity
after the birth of Jesus? |
To investigate the NT usage of
the Greek phrase translated “until” in Matt 1:25 to see whether or not it
provides us with any indication of Mary’s continuing status after the birth
of Jesus. |
Use computer-aided Bible search
programs to examine all instances of this phrase in the NT, and analyze using
standard grammatical works such as Turner and BFD. |
|
How is this Greek phrase used in
the LXX and the Hellenistic literature contemporaneous to the NT writings? |
To investigate the usage of this
same Greek phrase in both the LXX and the Hellenistic literature
contemporaneous to the NT writings to see whether it lends support for the
Roman Catholic understanding of the perpetual virginity of Mary. |
Use computer-aided search
programs such as Logos, TLG and the Perseus Project to examine all instances
of this phrase in the OT, LXX and Hellenistic literature contemporaneous with
the NT writings. |
Eric D. Svendsen, "Who
is My Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in the New Testament
and in Roman Catholicism" (PhD Dissertation;
Potchefstroom University and Greenwich School of Theology, November 2001),
xiii-xiv
I do believe that Svendsen’s
thesis and later book with the same title put too much weight into εως ου in Matt
1:25, at the same time, to dismiss him on this point is just bogus.
