Metanoia
1. Metanoia is a wonderful Greek word that you find in the New Testament in literally hundreds of places. Literally, metanoia means "to change your mind" ( meta =change; noia , from nous =mind). And that literal translation is, in my view, the best one. Unfortunately, most biblical translations render metanoia as "repentance," which loads up a whole host of associations onto the word that reflect a very specific way in which one can change one's mind. Repentance is a kind of metanoia , to be sure, but I think that limiting the meaning of metanoia to "repentance" neuters the word of its full meaning. 2. If, up until very recently, you had asked me "do you think you have good social skills?" and I was answering honestly, I would have told you, "no." Not the worst, but certainly below average. Now, I was never actually asked that question in a direct way. If I had been pressed on this fact, I would have suggested that ...