"And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? (Romans 2:3)
MEANING OF THE WORDS 'SECOND' AND 'CHANCE'
Stop! If you've not read the Introduction, please go back to page 1 and read it before reading this chapter.
elcome to chapter 1 of this piece of work. Here we will solve the mathematics behind the phrase 'second chance'. In the introduction I said we will use what I call the 'divide and rule method', which simply means to break the phrase into words, find their respective meanings, and then fuse them together again to get the meaning of the phrase.
SECOND:
The word 'second' from a layman's view is simply the ''next after the first''. Numerically it is written as '2', or 'ii' in Roman numerals, spelt in English language as 'two', and alphanumerically written as ' 2nd '. In the arrangement of numerical codes (numbers), it is the next number after the first which is written as '1', or 'i' in Roman numerals, spelt in English language as 'one', and alphanumerically written as ‘ 1st ’..
From the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (6th Edition) we can derive four meanings of the word 'second', which are:
1 - ''Happening or coming next after the first in a series of similar things or people''.
2 - ''Next in order of importance, size, quality, etc. to one person or thing''.
3 - ''In addition to one that you already own or use''.
4 - ''A unit for measuring time - e.g. 60 seconds''.
In the context of our discussion, definitions 1, 2, & 3 are applicable.
CHANCE:
Personally, I will define 'chance' as an opportunity one has to do something.
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (6th Edition) has so many meanings and applications of the word 'chance', but only two of them are consistent with our discussion. They are:
1 - ''A possibility of something happening, especially something that you want''.
2 - ''A suitable time or situation when you have the opportunity to do something''.
From my own definition and that of the Dictionary, one word came outstanding, and that is 'opportunity'; so one can simply say that chance is opportunity.
Chance is all about opportunity. When you have the opportunity, you'll then decide what to do with it. Either you carry out the plan or take the action for which the opportunity was created, or you devise a semi-new or an entire new action; or simply do nothing.
Before you go over to chapter 2, consider this verse:
"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Romans 2:4).
