OhioChessFan: I'll try to cover all the essential points <arifattar> You can tell me if you think I don't address something essential.<The Greek word paravklhtoß, ho parakletos, has been translated as ‘Comforter.’ Parakletos more precisely means ‘one who pleads another’s cause, an intercessor.’>
I'm okay with all of that.
< The ho parakletos is a person in the Greek language, not an incorporeal entity.>
I think this assumes the conclusion.
< In the Greek language, every noun possesses gender; that is, it is masculine, feminine or neutral. In the Gospel of John, Chapters 14, 15 and 16 the ho parakletos is actually a person.>
More of the same. Again, the Godhead is routinely described in the masculine case.
< All pronouns in Greek must agree in gender with the word to which they refer and the pronoun “he” is used when referring to the parakletos.>
That's because the Godhead is always described in the masculine case. There are some descriptions of God's attributes that suggest a feminine nature or side, but the pronouns are always masculine.
< The New Testament uses the word pneuma, which means “breath” or “spirit,” the Greek equivalent of ruah, the Hebrew word for “spirit” used in the Old Testament. Pneuma is a grammatically neutral word and is always represented by the pronoun “it.” >
I'm okay with that. But there is a difference between a generic usage of a word and a specific usage. I don't think I need to point out the difference between usages of the word pneuma when addressing breath and the holy spirit.
<All present day Bibles are compiled from “ancient manuscripts,” the oldest dating back to the fourth century C.E. No two ancient manuscripts are identical. All Bibles today are produced by combining manuscripts with no single definitive reference. The Bible translators attempt to “choose” the correct version. In other words, since they do not know which “ancient manuscript” is the correct one, they decide for us which “version” for a given verse to accept.>
This is fine, though it strikes me as a clumsy attempt to set the table for an unjustified conclusion.
< Take John 14:26 as an example. John 14:26 is the only verse of the Bible which associates the Parakletos with the Holy Spirit. >
And this is a big step backward. In the very same dialogue, in John 15:26, Jesus says:
<But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:>
the author of your quote is essentially affirming that is not the same reference as in 14:26. Just because the reference in 15:26 doesn't say "holy" spirit doesn't mean it's not the same thing. That is a real weakness of this whole point, a fatal one in my mind, and it permeates everything that follows.
<But the “ancient manuscripts” are not in agreement that the “Parakletos” is the ‘Holy Spirit.’ For instance, the famous Codex Syriacus, written around the fifth century C.E., and discovered in 1812 on Mount Sinai, the text of 14:26 reads; “Paraclete, the Spirit”; and not “Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.” >
More of the same. This is treading the line of sophistry.
<Muslim scholars state that what Jesus actually said in Aramaic represents more closely the Greek word periklytos which means the ‘admired one.’>
And on what objective basiss do they pick out a somewhat similar Greek word. What manuscript evidence is there for <that>? Sure, there are sometimes words that are hard to nail down completely, but that doesn't give one the ex post facto right to pick out an entirely new word with no manuscript basis whatsoever.
< In Arabic the word ‘Muhammad’ means the ‘praiseworthy, admired one.’ In other words, periklytos is “Muhammad” in Greek.>
Just show me the manuscript evidence for "periklytos" and you have at least a starting point.
< We have two strong reasons in its support. First, due to several documented cases of similar word substitution in the Bible, it is quite possible that both words were contained in the original text but were dropped by a copyist because of the ancient custom of writing words closely packed, with no spaces in between. In such a case the original reading would have been, “and He will give you another comforter (parakletos), the admirable one (periklytos).”>
Assuming the conclusion. Yes, such problems arise, but to invent a problem to prop up an already made conclusion is beyond shoddy scholarship.