Amazing Grace is a film that tells the story of how the British Government banned slave trading. It follows the story from the perspective of the famous abolitionist William Wilberforce who steered the anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title of the film is in reference to the great hymn written by John Newton who was himself a slave trader that later spoke out against slavery.

There is another abolitionist named Granville Sharp . His fame in politics rests in his contribution to the abolition of slave trading in Britain and her colonies. In a sense, he’s the “Abraham Lincoln” of Britain. I learned about him today in Greek Grammar where he is also famous for the Granville Sharp rule.

It was Granville Sharp who noticed the article-substantive-kai-substantive construction involving personal pronouns which were singular and not proper names. When this construction is observed, the interpreter should always note that the grammatical construction is indicating that the two substantives express unity with regard to equality or identity.

This rule becomes quite significant to texts that support the deity of Christ such as Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. The rule is specifically seen in the phrase “our God and Savior.” In both of these examples “God” and “Savior” should be taken as equivalent, and then “Jesus Christ,” which follows, stands in apposition to the phrase “our God and Savior.” The text then is telling the reader that Jesus Christ is the one identified as “God” but also “Savior.”

…What a contribution to the doctrine of the Trinity

Thank you Granville Sharp.