The Definition of Repentance

If you could reduce the gospel to one word, most scholars would choose metanoia—the Greek word translated “repentance” in the New Testament… Most of the time we translate both “meta-noeo” and “meta-noia,” or literally “change of [meta] mind [noia],” as “repentance.” Some have called the translation of metanoia as “repentance” the “worst mistranslation in the New Testament.”

Some have translated it as a “turnaround,” a 180-degree change of direction. That is almost as bad, as if Jesus only takes us on a detour. The Aramaic of metanoia really means a “returning home.” When Jesus…