TheologyThoughts

Posted to the B-Greek list, on whether or not the participles are "causal..."

The participles are clearly predicate participles, which means it is
primarily the action of the verbs modifying the main verb, μαθητεύσατε,
MAQHTEUSATE. I would say that the the participles explain the action of the
main verb, and hence are epegetical or perhaps instrumental. They really
answer the question of "how" the apostles are to make disciples. If we
think that "baptizing" and "teaching" is what produces disciples, then you
could make a case for causal participles.

Now, normally I don't weigh in on these discussion, but I wanted to make a
point. This discussion illustrates the sometimes arbitrary nature of our
grammatical categories, much like Wallace and his multiplicity of genitives.
I am not at all sure that an ancient reader or hearer, who used the language
simply to communicate, would "hear" these differences, or even wonder about
them. He would understand what he was being instructed to do, however. And
that, I would suggest, is the main deal.