`Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go

on unto perfection' (Heb. 6:1).

Whatever view we may entertain as to these `principles', this verse not

only says `leave them', but sets over against them `perfection'.

`Therefore Leaving ... let us Go On'.

Yet again, whatever place in the

doctrine of Christ we may give

`Repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of

baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and

aionian judgment',

the same verse says `not laying again the foundation'.  Leaving for the

moment the question of the exactness of this translation, we feel that no

system of sound exegesis can ignore the obvious relation established in this

verse, between the commands `Leave ... go on ... not lay again'.  `Leave' is

echoed by `not lay again', and by parity of reasoning and structural

correspondence, `the principles of the doctrine of Christ' are echoed by the

six items of doctrine mentioned in verses 1 and 2.  It must strike the

ordinary reader as somewhat strange to be urged by Scripture itself to leave

`the principles' of the doctrine of Christ, and therefore it becomes us

patiently to search the Scriptures to find the mind of God on the subject.

Casting our eye back to chapter 5:12, we find that these Hebrews who

for the time ought to have been teachers were so dull of hearing that they

needed to be taught again certain `principles' or the beginning of the

oracles of God.  The word `principles' in Hebrews 6:1 is the same word.  The

word `doctrine' is the ordinary logos, very like logion (`oracles') in verse

12.  So that the theme of Hebrews 5:12 is resumed in 6:1, `Therefore leaving

the word of the beginning of the Christ, let us go on unto perfection'.  Let

us return to Hebrews 5.  These believers who needed re-instruction in the

rudiments were `babes', who are set in direct contrast with `full grown' or

`perfect' (teleios); this is parallel with the thought of Hebrews 6:1 which

says, `let us go on unto teliotes'.  We are not told to forsake principles,

but leave rudiments, babyhood, beginnings.

`Not Laying Again a Foundation'. -- Most of our readers know that we

translate the words `before the foundation of the world' by `before the

overthrow of the world'.  In Part 1, in the last few pages of the article

entitled Ephesians, evidence is given of the usage of kataballo and katabole

in the LXX and the New Testament and the new rendering appears abundantly

justified.  The word `laying' in Hebrews 6:1 is kataballomenoi; and

has been translated by Erhard, among others, `not demolishing'.  Bloomfield's

note here is:

`"Not demolishing" is forbidden by the usus loquendi, for I cannot find

a single example of the Middle form in the sense "to demolish", but

only in the sense of jacere "to lay down", whether in a literal or a

figurative sense'.

While therefore leaving the new translation of Ephesians 1:4

unimpaired, we must allow this Middle form of the verb its meaning as in the

A.V. `not laying again'.  Hebrews 6:1 however differs from the references

that speak of a period, either `Before' or `From' the foundation of the

world, for not one of these references employs the actual word `foundation',

Greek themelion, whereas Hebrews 6:1 does.  Further, when the writer of