Did Paul cuss?

[Chris]

Last Wednesday night, our bible study was taken from Paul's letter to Galatians. Our pastor shocked most of us when he said, "It's clear, here, that Paul was angry...In fact, if you read this in Greek, you'll find that Paul used cuss words." Do any of you Greek scholars agree or disagree that Paul used colorful language in talking to the Galatians? More important, does Omarosa have it on tape?

[William Thornton]

Assume the reference is to the me genoito strong negative. Seldom used. To call it profanity is a contemporary imposition, seems to me. But preachers like to be clever and hip and cussing is the route some take.

[Dave Roberts]

Clarence Jordan, one of the outstanding Greek scholars among Baptists, translated that in the "Cotton Patch" epistles as "Hell, no!" That is probably far closer than "God forbid!" The truth is that we don't know what the phrase meant in Paul's world, IMHO.

[Haruo]

In the fall of 1963, if I recall correctly, November 22nd, a lone gunman supposedly shot and killed JFK, ¿no? In the weeks that followed, I wrote a play, the script of what would now be called a docudrama, about that day's events in Dallas. My parents were (I think, but then I wasn't a neutral observer) rightly proud of their nine-year-old son's use of his literacy, and when we went to Spokane to celebrate Christmas with Grandma (my dad's mom), they showed it to her, expecting I think a positive, appreciative response. Instead, Grandma focused on the scene where, drawing the soliloquy directly from reports in the press, I had put into some woman observer's mouth the phrase "Oh my God! They shot the President" or words to that effect. She pointed it out to my dad and said, "John, you should wash out Lee's mouth with soap and water. He took the name of the Lord in vain!"