Bible Question:
To state that people who are not biblical scholars are “hacks” and “presumptuous” to even challenge commonly pressed beliefs is laughable! Spending an entire lifetime studying Greek, Hebrew or whatever, does not make a person anymore knowledgeable in the manifold wisdom of God; something considerably more important! For example, lets take the well known verse, John 3:16. In the NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament and Interlinear Translation by Alfred Marshall, published 1993, it reads: John 3:16 For this loved God the world, so as the Son the only begotten he gave, that everyone believing him may not perish but have life eternal. If we take the Lockman Foundation’s latest translation, the NAS Updated, we find it says the following: John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. NASU Interestingly, this agrees word for word with one of the most liberal translations, The Living Bible: John 3:16 16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. TLB It does not agree with the classic NASB, the KJV, the NKJV, the ASV or the RSV; all which use “should not perish”. What is significant about using the word “shall” versus the original meaning of “may” or “should”? Most people could care less that “shall” is absolute while “may” or “should” are conditional, i.e. what is stated is qualified by something else. This is fine for readers of the bible whose doctrine of salvation embraces “simple belief”. For those who understand that salvation is conditional, however, the NASU and TLB translations of this verse are simply wrong. Now this is not meant as a criticism of the NASU. As long as you are aware of the doctrinal slant employed in its editing it is still a useful tool (the TLB, well that is another story..). This merely highlights that “teams of scholars” are not infallible. Even though a “whole team of scholars” agreed upon the NASU translation, the earlier “team of scholars” for the classic NAS translation edited the same verse like this: John 3:15-16 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. NAS Whether this change was due to recently discovered advances in scholarship or to better fit the team’s religious doctrine to attract more readers (read “consumers”) we will never be able to know with certainty. It does highlight, however, the need for individuals to challenge what they read and hear regarding Scripture. To destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God is part of the work of God’s people today, just as it was of the Apostle Paul. Best regards, AO |
Bible Answer: AO: Hank wrote: 'Did it illustrate the utter folly of hacks who, presuming to know more than seasoned scholars who have spent their lives pouring over the ancient manuscripts, have the audacity to challenge and even change the decisions of translation, punctuation and capitalization that whole teams of scholars have agreed upon?' You then wrote: 'To state that people who are not biblical scholars are “hacks” and “presumptuous” to even challenge commonly pressed beliefs is laughable!' AO, what is laughable is that you misquote Hank to make him say something he did not say. Hank never said anything about "commonly pressed beliefs." What he did say was: 'decisions...that whole teams of scholars have agreed upon'. 'Commonly pressed beliefs' is not the same thing as that which whole teams of scholars have agreed upon. To deliberately or even carelessly misquote someone to make a point strains credibility, except among those whose ignorance of English is as great as their ignorance of Hebrew and Greek. --Kalos |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 2 | Author | ||
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lancer | ||
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eschiro | ||
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poohkie | ||
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katebote | ||
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demonkilla | ||
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gospelpearl | ||
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TheChosenone | ||
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lani | ||
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Aspiring Overseer | ||
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Hank | ||
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Morant61 | ||
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kalos | ||
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kalos | ||
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Hank |