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Word of God?
Before I get started, I just wanted
to write a few things about the particular copy of the Bible I'll be using and
the difficulty I am experiencing in blindly accepting what is placed before me.
I will be using the American Standard (OnLine) Bible. Why? Because it is
convenient and I can really see no difference - pro or con - in using it over
any other translated text. Too, by using this online version, those who wish to
can follow along with me and see exactly where I am coming from with my own
observations, comments and interpretations. I must admit that the "Rock of
Bible Honesty" blurb on the Bible page header had some influence on my
choice:
The American Standard Version (ASV) of the Holy Bible was first published in 1901. It has earned the reputation of being the Rock of Biblical Honesty. Although the English used in the ASV is somewhat archaic, it isn't nearly as hard to understand as some passages of the King James Version of nearly 3 centuries earlier. This translation of the Holy Bible is in the public domain, since its copyright has expired. You are encouraged to download, copy, and use this translation freely.
With some simple word replacements and a few grammatical adjustments, this would make a good Modern English Bible that could be kept in the public domain. This is being done with a new translation called the World English Bible.
The Bible has always been said to be
the "Word of God." The written origin & history of man together
with the rules for conducting our lives according to the instructions of God -
as relayed to and recorded by His prophets. Okay. . . perhaps I can accept that,
even without the argument over timelines - because science certainly has proven
that the world and man have been around alot longer than the 5 or 6 thousand
years (I think I recall) that some fundamentalists claim - INSIST - that
creation took place. But this brings us around to the argument over
interpretation and translation.
Depending on who I talk to (and what
age we are living in) the Bible must be either 1.) taken literally, word
for word, or 2.) interpreted - and both propositions pose several
problems when it comes to my personal understanding of God and the Bible.
I don't read ancient
Aramaic, or Greek, or Hebrew. Even if I did, I don't have access to the
original texts - very few do. As I understand it, all of these ancient languages
are quite difficult to translate - even more so than modern languages. So right
from the start, whatever I am reading in English is someone else's
interpretation of the original text. Quite likely, it is someone else's
interpretation of someone else's interpretation of someone else's interpretation
ad infinitum.
I own and operate a video and book
store. My personal experience is that whenever an original text is translated to
another language, not only is something lost but other things are gained in the
translation. Sit down some time and watch a foreign movie with a friend whose
native language is being translated, but who is also fluent in English. Without
fail - and this I can absolutely guarantee - they will tell you
that the subtitles are horribly mistranslated. Even easier, find an historical
document or book that has been translated from the original language into
English by three or four different translators. Get a copy of each of the three
or four books and go line by line and page by page and see how many different
takes you get.
Even worse, and adding to my doubt
and consternation, is the fact that many English versions of the Bible
already exist - and they all have glaring dissimilarities opening various
passages to widely different interpretation! It's a bit frustrating. Therefore,
I simply cannot accept that the Bible is meant to be taken
absolutely literally. Men are fallible, susceptible to... persuasion...
and they simply cannot be trusted not to put their own (or their overseer's)
particular spin on things - especially when it comes to religious political
intrigue. On the whole, each "version" of the Bible pretty much sticks
to the same story and conveys the same message - but the devil (if you will
excuse a minor pun) is in the details.
When we think of all of the truly nasty
things the various Churches founded upon this book have forced upon
centuries of mankind - illiteracy, wars, torture, exile and condemnation (and
the motivations for these actions which have so
often proven wrong in the years that followed) - flagrant attempts to hold back
progress and technology to the detriment of all mankind . . . well, you can see
why I might have a few unresolved issues regarding the Church and Religion-in-general.
All of these things (and more, and worse) have been committed by MEN, albeit
under the auspices of Church authority... and it is MEN who have
written the Bible.
Now, I'd like to think that those
who wrote the initial messages down for the first time, either by their fear
and/or love of God, faithfully recorded the exact message as originally
received. But how were these messages received? Not even the church
establishment can agree on who wrote some of the passages [see
Author
of Genesis] and that means many of the passages were received, not directly,
but through oral tradition. We have all experienced (or at least heard the story
of) how gossip can spread and change from person to person. This is an extreme
example that would not completely apply to the ancient peoples, who had no
written language. To them, myths, stories, bloodlines, recipes - and the
"Word of God" - were passed on with very little adulteration, often
learned by rote - sometimes without even fully understanding the language or
all of the words. It's hard to say how much of the original message has been
changed - no matter how faithful the recitation through each generation. Maybe
none, maybe tons. We just can't tell.
Making a leap of faith that absolutely
nothing of the original message was accidentally, or intentionally,
changed from the initial observation of fact all the way through to the initial
record in text, can we then also accept by blind faith that each successive
translation from the oldest known text to modern day Bible (knowing all that we
know about church politics and various reformations) is absolutely, positively,
without-a-doubt, a perfect copy of the original facts? Inconceivable. We can't
even agree on recent history or daily events in the news!
Many of the earliest texts are said
to be copies of even earlier texts - translated from one language to another.
God stopped talking directly to us a long time ago. I don't know why. I suspect
He got tired of being misquoted.
It's not the Church - or, for that
matter, the religion - that I am studying here. It's not the Church or the
religion that I care to understand. I won't hold the Bible responsible
for the actions of men. But I will be reading it with a critical eye and
suspicious mind. . .
I am biased, but there are two sides
to consider: On the one hand, I truly do believe there is a God,
and I am desperately trying to find enough of a combination of Faith and
reasonably logical understanding to justify, bolster, and affirm this belief. I
do not trust the church, nor put much faith in the various religions, but
without a God... well, it all would seem to be ridiculously pointless. I can't
believe that life, the universe, and everything is simply a big (and not very
funny) practical joke. If I thought that, then I would simply cash in my chips
for the eternal nothingness that the atheists tell us is all we have to look
forward to.
MEG
Sun. 27 Oct. 2002
Revised: Easter Sunday, 16 Apr. 2006
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