What if a new version of the Bible were found...?

Question

...and, somehow, it's "proven" to be THE bible we're actually supposed to follow. That it was a revision/replacement of the one we currently have and most everything in it is opposite of most everything you have ever believed or been taught. (Just for example, it might say that homosexuality is not a sin.)

Now, what if all the religious leaders in the world--including your own--decided to start using this new bible? And now they are preaching opposite what they've always preached. Of course, there will be some differences to it because everyone interprets the bible differently, which is why we have organized religion in the first place.

How would you handle this? Would you accept the new bible? Would you change how you view certain things or people like homosexuals? (Again, that's just an example.) Would you beg God's forgivness for having worshipped "incorrectly" based on the wrong bible? Would you lose faith? What would you do?

Wow J.P...thanks for the interest in my question!!

Answer 1

This probably has nothing to do with a new bible,but first off no matter what religion you are..no one should misjudge homosexuals. It's not our place. If we believe in God, it's God's place not just to judge them but ALL of us.
If it ever turned out that there would be another version of the bible, i would have to ask myself if the circumstances of this bible are similar to that of the old. I would pray to God and ask him to guide me to what it is he wants me to do. I do not attend regular church services because of so much controversy of beliefs and hypocrisy among people. I pray to God on my own time. As far as losing my faith.Hmmm,if I learned that things with Jesus never really happened in the new bible,that would have me raise an eyebrow because I have most of my faith based on Christ and his resurrection so I'd really have to know if that was a man printed bible or not.
As far as the current bible goes I follow the scripture of 2Timothy 3:16-"All scripture is inspired by God for teaching,reproving and for setting things straight.."

Answer 2

People will deem it apocryaphal as all the other apocryphal writings. Apocryphality (if there is such a word) is deemed according to how congruent the 'scripture' is to what is believed. so Any variation is inherently apocryphal.

Your flaw is in assuming that it can be ""proven" to be" true. conspiracy theories will be thrown at it and what not. At the end no one will believe.

personally i am a muslim. I would judge it's credibility in light of the Quran, i know its not scientific. Nevertheless, Its practically impossible to prove its true to convince the masses

As an afterthought, the same applies to prophets. just something to think about.

------------------------ Edition after JP's post-----------------------------

Now if supposing that it is proven. then i would take the message it has and that of islam and see if islam is still plausible. Remember islam is a religion that doesn't not reject Jesus as a prophet and we believe that the bible has been altered. So i would test the validity of Islam in light of the "proven" bible. If they are similar then my faith in islam would be even more affirmed, since it was right after all.

Answer 3

And here come the christians who can't understand the idea of a hypothetical question...

CORRECTED ANSWERS ------
terraform_mars later edited his answer to take into account the possibility that the 'proof' came in the form of God himself saying, "YO! People! I gave ya' the wrong one, here's the new one!" Yay for Terraform!

jamal later edited his answer to include an answer to the question as asked, and I considered it insightful and thoughtful.

A RUN DOWN OF THE ERRORS ------

terraform_mars (error - *CORRECTED*, formerly - arguing the question)

nanner888 (error - Arguing the question):
You change the question that was asked. See my explanation to terraform_mars.

The Captain (error - arguing the question):
It doesn't matter what's happened in the past. In the question, the current 'new version' is PROVEN (see answer to roostermanforever, slightly below). There's no reason to keep the old one because everyone on the planet KNOWS its wrong and the new one is RIGHT.

Jamal (error - *CORRECTED*, formerly - arguing the question)

roostermanforever (error - arguing the question):
The new version was PROVEN. For all intents and purposes, God himself came down, handed everyone a copy in the same instant to prove he is in fact god, said read it, learn it, live it, and went back to heaven.

USBaptist (error - arguing the question x 2):
Is it really THAT offensive an idea that you can't even, for the moment, play the pretend game? Your own bible tells you to become like little children, and the most important part of being a child is "WHAT IF?!"

If your god is so all powerful, then it shouldn't hurt to ask a few questions about his nature. No one said, "This is actually true," it was a, "Hey, okay, so just pretend for a moment..." Only the weak of faith cannot view another viewpoint. How's your faith these days? Hm. Know them by their fruits, I suppose.

Doctor (error - arguing the question):
See answer to USBaptist

Search4truth (error - rejecting the hypothetical ):
If the hypothetical method of debate is so meaningless, why'd you waste your time answering? Should I report you for point gaming?

[2:15am CST -- guys, if you update your answers, I'll have to update my post later. Please don't take this as a slight to those who correct their posts later, or as me accepting an answer as sound that is not sound because I haven't gotten to it. I've got to sleep, work in the morning.

My deepest appreciation to those who do come back and answer the actual question.]

Answer 4

I did find it, it's called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

It honestly shows Jesus to be a might person (a god) who faithfully serves his God Jehovah.

It honestly replaces God's name in the almost 7000 locations.

I did ask Jehovah to forgive me for being tied to false religion.

Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee wrote:
“Here is why we did not: You are right that Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2 1/4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’ Immediately, we would have translated for nothing. Nobody would have used it. Oh, maybe you and a handful [of] others. But a Christian has to be also wise and practical. We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition. It is far better . . .to follow the King James, than to have two thousand buy it and have the correct translation of Yahweh. . . . It was a hard decision, and many of our translators agree with you.”

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

Answer 5

You will never find another so-called new Bible. People re-write the Bible all the time, we call them different versions. The Bible to me is the 1611 KJB...plain and simple. It would not shock me however to have someone in the future make your suggested claims. And, it would not surprise me if world leaders would accept and claim that this so-called new Bible is the true Bible that everyone should read and follow. Personally, I would not. It would be set a blaze in my fire pit.

Answer 6

Well, the current Bible still hasn't been proven as "the" bible. Also the current bible wasn't found it was written, same with the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah. They were all written, by human beings. I would just remain as I am.

Answer 7

I don't think I'd lose faith. If it were proven to me beyond all doubt that the new Bible were indeed the absolute truth, I'd want to know more about it and see what messages it had for mankind.

Answer 8

I guess it all hinges on the word "proven"

If it is proven by God himself appearing and telling us, then obviously I would follow it.

Short of that, it is hard to imagine proven. But if my church believed it, I would seriously consider it.

Answer 9

Nope, already been found, tossed out the door... as alterations, even tho the manuscript was older than any of the current bibles on hand.

Answer 10

wow, such a nice question!

I think then many Christians will start to kill each other...( and still blame muslim "terrorists "in it)