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Well, my move was much more difficult than I thought it would be. However, I'm back online and will continue my blog very soon. Sorry for the delay.
Dave

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I will not be posting for about 1 week since I'm moving. I will be teaching New Testament at a great Christian university this Fall. We packed the truck today ... and couldn't fit all our stuff!! Arghhh! Please pray for smooth sailing and safe travels. Thanks!

An Argument for Altar Calls: Part 5

Acts 2:40 “And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’” (NASU)

Here are the several different ways parakaleo is translated in Acts 2:40: “offering” (them salvation) (BBE), “exhort(ing/ed)” (ESV, KJV, NKJV, NASU, NASB, NET, NRSV, RSV, YLT), “pleaded” (NIV), and “urg(ed/ing)” (NJB, NLT).

Any argument from this verse must be based upon the context, that is, Acts 2:41. However, it is stretching credulity and naïve to assume that every translation of Acts 2:40 translated parakaleo incorrectly. Rather, just because Acts 2:41 portrays what some might call an altar call or invitation, that does not justify stretching the semantic range of parakaleo to include “invitation.” Nothing demands parakaleo in Acts 2:40 to mean “invitation” and all these translation did a fine job (not too sure about the BBE, though) translating the word appropriately.

An Argument for Altar Calls: Part 4

Luke 15:28
"But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him” (NAS)

Here are the several different ways parakaleo is translated in Luke 15:28: “plead(ing/ed)” (NIV, TNIV, NKJV, HCSB, NAS, NRSV), “begged” (NLT), “entreat(ed/ing)” (ASV, ESV, RSV, YLT), and “request” (BBE).

Now, I should add that the Bible in Basic English (BBE) translated the phrase “pleaded with him” as “made a request to him to come in,” but this should be (mostly) written off as a typical expansion by the BBE without justification in the Greek words themselves, but by the overall context. This leads into why we can know that parakaleo by itself in this verse does not convey the idea of "coming in" or "invitation". Luke 15:28a says that the brother was unwilling to “go in.” Therefore, the translators of the BBE figure that the “going in” was the content of the father’s pleading/begging/entreaty. So, parakaleo simply conveys the idea of a request, an urgent request, maybe even begging. But no concept of “inviting” or “coming” is communicated by parakaleo in Luke 15:28.