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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How inspired is the NAS Bible today? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 15467 | ||
Dear Tim, When it comes to the idea that present day versions are still inspired by God, there are a couple of obvious questions that come up. You address one very well. How can versions contradict each other or have mistakes and yet be inspired. This could lead into a discussion of inerrancy of scripture, which I believe already has a thread dedicated to it. However, I would generally say that in most cases the contradictions are not actually contradictions at all. I also believe that any mistakes or true contradictions which may remain would not be of any significance to the message which God is expressing. I think that we are probably actually closer to agreement than we think since you mentioned that you also believe that the message is authoritative. I would ask you though, how can this be without God's inspiration? In other words, if the translations are just the work of men, then what makes them any different than a commentary? Yet we don't hold commentaries to be authoritative, but only helpful. |
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2 | How inspired is the NAS Bible today? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 15490 | ||
The message is authoritative, not because it is inspired in its translation, but rather because it is translated from an inspired source. There is nothing miraculous about a translation. If I were to translate some other book, such as Don Quijote, from Spanish to English, how do I know that the text is authoritative? Because we have Spanish copies with which we can compare it The words may be different, but we can be confident that if I know Spanish and I know English, that my careful translation will be accurate to what Cervantes wrote. The same is true regarding Scripture. Scholars who know Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and understand principles of translation can carefully create a new translation. Again, there is nothing supernatural about such a translation, but the fact that it is an accurate translation from an authoritative text makes us comfortable that what its Author had to say in Greek is so close to what we read in English as to bear the same authority. --Joe! |
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3 | How inspired is the NAS Bible today? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 15497 | ||
Dear Joe, I like your point that a message is authoritative based on its source. To an extent this is true. However, a message from even the most authoritative source can become meaningless depending on the transmission of that message. For instance, a person could be reading a delicious recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Now I would submit that is an authoritative source (when it comes to cooking, nowhere near the Bible). However, if that person is dislexic, and puts in 61oz of an ingredient instead of 16oz, then that recipe will not be successful. I would submit that if left to only the minds and abilities of man, an "accurate translation" that you refer to, would be impossible to the degree which we currently have. Would you not agree that God had to have been involved in that process to some degree? |
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4 | How inspired is the NAS Bible today? | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 15535 | ||
Sir Pent: Your reference to a dyslexic's transposing numbers in a Betty Crocker cookbook reminds me of the story of the dyslexic agnostic who was troubled with insomnia and stayed up all night pondering the existence of doG. ..... I should hardly think that a sufficient number of copyists or translators of the Bible were affected by dyslexia or other aberrations so as to render their works spurious and invalid. ..... There is every reason for Christians to believe -- if they indeed believe anything at all about the sovereignty of God -- that God is active still in the affairs of men, as He was in the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; as He was at the moment of creation; as He has been throughout the annals of time...... The Bible presents the strongest evidence possible that it will endure. The words of Isaiah: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (Is.40:8). Peter quotes this passage from Isaiah and adds, "And this is the word which was preached to you." (1 Pe.1:25)..... That the Bible will be preserved for all ages is a given, if we believe the Bible at all. But that's simply all we know. I'm neither willing to engage in vain speculation about how God goes about His business of guarding and preserving the purity of His word, nor disposed to harbor any doubt that He is engaged in doing it. God has neither revealed the intricate details through His word nor to me personally through a vision or any other tailor-made divine revelation. Therefore I have no knowledge of this process beyond what He says in His word, and neither does any one of you. Time after time Jesus quoted the words of the prophets that had been transmitted down through time. His Apostles likewise quoted the words of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Neither Jesus nor His divinely-appointed Apostles seemed to be troubled in the least about the issue of their preservation or authenticity. Neither am I. Neither should you. ...... I am saddened and sick at heart that his forum is becoming alarmingly obsessed and derailed by wild, vain, and scripturally unsound speculations, babblings and sheer nonsense. Have we not developed a serious case of itching ears, not willing to endure sound teaching, but to engage in every controversial issue, every sensational topic, and every off-the-wall philosophical, crackpot idea that comes down the pike? This is not a salvo of digust pointed to you, Sir Pent, and no personal insults toward you or anyone else is being contemplated. This is a far wider-reaching issue than personalies or personal vendetta. We have, in my estimation, lost sight of the aim and purpose for which this forum was established -- if indeed many of us have ever troubled ourselves with finding out just what it is supposed to be..... Switching the focus for a moment: There is an excellent book that treats of the subject of the reliability of the Bible and how it has been carefully transmitted to us down through the centuries. The book is written by Josh McDowell and it is called "The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict" and is published by Thomas Nelson .... I firmly believe that anyone and everyone who is unwilling or unable to keep their focus riveted on studying and discussing with fellow members of this forum the eternal word of God, should at least demonstrate their personal integrity and civility by logging off and going elsewhere for their kicks. --Hank | ||||||