Don't get me wrong. I am Christian and believe most of what the Bible says.
However it has occurred to me. They say God through his prophets wrote the Bible. The prophets are human and had their own personal beliefs. How much of those personal feelings and beliefs have made it into todays Bible.
Its been copied and passed down over many many centuries. Who can say that the Bible is still what it was meant to be?
2006-09-05 05:55:05 · 23 answers · asked by Randall S 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The bible was written by man therefore it cannot be true.
The bible has gone through so many translations from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English that a lot of the original meanings have been distorted.
2006-09-05 06:02:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The accuracy of the bible is based on the number of ancient manuscripts available today. If you ask ten people to copy a story, then give one copy of those ten copies to 15 different people, and to 150 different people to copy, you will be able to compare all the copies and come up it the originals, because the first ten people may make mistakes, but not the same ones. Not only will you be able to come up with the original, but you will be able to know which of the 150 copied from which of the original copiest,
Old Testament:
In fact, the New World Translation is a scholarly work. In 1989, Professor Benjamin Kedar of Israel said:
"In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translation, I often refer to the English edition as what is known as the New World Translation. In doing so, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this kind of work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible. Giving evidence of a broad command of the original language, it renders the original words into a second language understandably without deviating unnecessarily from the specific structure of the Hebrew....Every statement of language allows for a certain latitude in interpreting or translating. So the linguistic solution in any given case may be open to debate. But I have never discovered in the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain."
New Testament:
While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.
“Here at last is a comprehensive comparison of nine major translations of the Bible: King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Amplified Bible, Today's English Version (Good News Bible), Living Bible, and the New World Translation. The book provides a general introduction to the history and methods of Bible translation, and gives background on each of these versions. Then it compares them on key passages of the New Testament to determine their accuracy and identify their bias. Passages looked at include:
John 1:1; John 8:58; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1
Also explored are passages involving "prostration" or "worship," gendered language, the "holy spirit," and the use of "Jehovah." Two hundred pages in all offering my most detailed examination of the issues and pressures involved in Bible translation. If you've found my comments, observations, and answers instructive or challenging in the past, now's your chance to get the complete picture.”
Thank you, and happy reading!
Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University
2006-09-06 09:56:32 · answer #2 · answered by TeeM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible has been translated many times, yet overall, most translations are very similar. If you have a particular passage that you are questioning, try looking at different translations.
http://www.biblegateway.com/ is kind of handy to instantaneously get many different translations.
As far as picking a very reliable translation, I would go with the Douay-Rheims. It is the first English translation and is very faithful to the Latin Vulgate as well as the original Greek.
The Bible is the Bible, and all Christian churches, even those that totally disagree with eachother over doctrine, will tell you that it is the inspired Word of God without error. It is just the way that we interpret the Bible that determines our churches doctrines and dogmas.
2006-09-05 06:04:16 · answer #3 · answered by anabasisx 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They keep digging up very old bibles - close to the time of the first ever bible. Guess what? Once translated they read almost identical to todays bible thus destroying the myth of corruption over the centuries.
As for the prophets - it will have their thoughts but they were God inspired thoughts as the bible rightly says so itself - so no problems there either.
2006-09-05 06:05:45 · answer #4 · answered by Young Man 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Translation vs. interpretation. The bible was written by men through the power of the holy spirit. Therefore technically the bible was written by God, through men. Many may interpret the bible. But the King James version of the bible is still, noted to be the best translation.
2006-09-05 06:07:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
the bible is God's word however it is a good idea to look at the original texts or a literial translation coz some times the translation into english is not compleatly accurate.
in the KJV where it says "unicorn" the hebrew actually means wild bull. and dragon in the old testiment in one place is in hebrew a female jackel. and in most other places it means monster of land or sea.
2006-09-05 07:20:28 · answer #6 · answered by attb 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe there are many important books missing from ancient prophets of old.
That is why as LDS, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly..."
2006-09-05 07:55:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are on the right track. Paul was a chauvinistic homophobe and all his writings reflect that. Please do some research, it will surprise you what was involved in assembling the bible to begin with. You will have no doubt that the bible is a book written by men.
2006-09-05 06:05:35 · answer #8 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
nobody will ever know. we are not meant to know. the bible is a reference to use in daily life. your faith in god is what makes up your christianity. many people distort the bible. preachers, priests, alot of people. they are humans just like us, yet they claim they have a superior knowledge and faith that that can interpret what it means and they have to pass the knowledge to us. i think people are naive to belive what someone as mortal as you are tells you whats god's book means. i think you should read it for yourself and rely on god to enlighten you for what he feels you need to know. to sum it up, i'll put something on your mind...how in the world can you develop so many different religons with different beliefs that go by the same book. presbyterians are different than baptists, as are catholics and methodists etc. i think they're putting their faith in their "leader" rather than in god. the true word has been very very distorted over time.
2006-09-05 06:04:35 · answer #9 · answered by melanie c 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The bible in no way shape or form resembles it's original form. It has been reinterpreted to mean whatever the next rewriter wanted it to say more times than I care to count. Even the most recent versions people interpret at their own whim and fancy.
CORRUPTED.
2006-09-05 06:03:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋