True meaning of John 3:16

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My brother has recently left the Catholic Church at the age of 47 after living his whole life as a Catholic. He has become a full blown Baptist quoting scripture and criticizing the Catholic church in true Baptist fashion. I find myself constantly defending the faith. One specific issue that we go back and forth about is the scripture of John 3:16. My Catholic Bible says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him MIGHT not perish but MIGHT have eterna. life.”
His bible King James Version says SHALL not perish and SHALL have eternal life. I asked him why they changed the wording to read shall instead of might. The word MIGHT to me tells me that I not only have to believe but I have to do the works of God as well such as good deeds, following the commandments, etc. in order to get into heaven. He believes that Shall means the same as Might when we are talking about the bible and that you will get into heaven strictly by believing.
My question is…Does the might in our bible mean the same thing as the shall in their bible? When our bible uses the word Might…does that mean the same thing as shall or will go to heaven? Thank you for your help?
-Suzanne
 
directly from the Haydock Bible Commentary

Ver. 16-17. Give his only begotten Son—God sent not his Son into the world. He was then his Son, his only begotten Son, before he sent him into the world. He was not, therefore, his Son, only by the incarnation, but was his Son from the beginning, as he was also his word from all eternity. This was the constant doctrine of the Church, and of the Fathers, against the heresy of the Arians, that God was always Father,[1] and the Son always the eternal Son of the eternal Father. See note on chap. i. ver. 14. (Witham) — The world may be saved. Why, says St. Augustine, is Christ called the Saviour of the world, unless from the obligation he took upon himself at his birth? He has come like a good physician, effectually to save mankind. The man, therefore, destroys himself, who refuses to follow the prescriptions of his physician. (St. Augustine)
 
I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m trying to refrain from being a “clip-and-paste expert”. However, I wonder if the whole confusion might be resulting from trying to assign modern understandings of the words “might” and “shall” that may differ from the original intent in both cases.

It occurs to me that prior to the incarnation “salvation” and “eternal life” (as the Christian understands it) were impossible. The Law could not fulfill this promise no matter how perfectly it was pursued (discussions of Abraham’s Bosum etc. not withstanding). Only through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was this attainable. Therefore, only through Jesus “shall” a person attain eternal life because only through Jesus “might” that be possible.

Just my 2 cents (which because they are Canadian are actually only worth 1.5 cents at the moment).😃
 
Another 2 cents worth:D

In the Greek interlinear John 3:16 reads:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In the Strong’s Concordance the # for should is 3195 which in part reads A strengthened form of 3199 (through the idea of expectation) shall, should, would, to come, will, things to come…

So I think that both words are acceptable and mean the same thing.

Hope this helps
Jeanne
 
this difficulty in interpretation does not lie in one’s knowledge of Greek, Hebrew or Latin, but in knowledge of English. Might means shall, only recently has an implication of “maybe” crept into connotation of this word. The differences between will, shall and might are slim but do exist and I will leave it to an English major to explain the differences in future verb forms.
 
take this in consideration from the Catechism
God’s love for Israel is compared to a father’s love for his son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother’s for her children. God loves his people more than a bridegroom his beloved; his love will be victorious over even the worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious gift: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son

God loves so unconditionally that he would anything for us because he wants to share himself with us and be with him in eternal happiness. He also wants us to recognize our faults so he sent his son to pay the ultimate sacrafice and plant the seed in what is the truth
 
slanzill said:
My brother has recently left the Catholic Church at the age of 47 after living his whole life as a Catholic. He has become a full blown Baptist quoting scripture and criticizing the Catholic church in true Baptist fashion. I find myself constantly defending the faith. One specific issue that we go back and forth about is the scripture of John 3:16. My Catholic Bible says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him MIGHT not perish but MIGHT have eterna. life.”
His bible King James Version says SHALL not perish and SHALL have eternal life. I asked him why they changed the wording to read shall instead of might. The word MIGHT to me tells me that I not only have to believe but I have to do the works of God as well such as good deeds, following the commandments, etc. in order to get into heaven. He believes that Shall means the same as Might when we are talking about the bible and that you will get into heaven strictly by believing.
My question is…Does the might in our bible mean the same thing as the shall in their bible? When our bible uses the word Might…does that mean the same thing as shall or will go to heaven? Thank you for your help?
-Suzanne
Click to expand...
Hi, Suzanne!

I do not think that there’s a problem with either term since grammatically speaking they both suggest something not yet attained… I think the problem is a theological one… some non-Catholics believe that once you “claim” Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are perpetually “Saved,” not able to lose Salvation.

This is of course a wonderful utopic dream… none of the Apostles spoke about their secured Salvation–there are several warnings that tell us that we should not become so complaisant that we lose our Salvation… but when quoted to them they always find some different meaning for them (much like the Jehovah Witnesses who’s theology reject the very Lord (Jesus Christ) they profess to follow).

There are two things that you can do to help your brother:
  1. pray for him, and
  2. immerse yourself in the Holy Scriptures and your Catholic Faith.
Maran atha!

Angel
 
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