Question for literalist Christians?

Question

People keep asking why there are so many different English translations of the bible, and they have a good point.

I understand literalists believe God made sure the word was perfect and that's why we shouldn't doubt anything, because every word means exactly what God wanted it too. However, the different English translations can convey slightly but still significantly different ideas.

Why would God allow His word to be changed now, but now before?

I meant "not before" sorry :)

I'm sorry Punter I don't understand cut and paste. But I'd be happy to read anyone's honest thought out answer.

You didn't answer the question Spanky. We know people have changed it. Which means, what you think is the perfect version may not be, because people would have had the power to do the same back then, right?

Answer 1

While we're at it, why did God allow languages to emerge which contained words and concepts which are fundamentally untranslatable? I mean, God was the one who orchestrated the whole Tower of Babel fiasco, right? I understand He didn't want people building really tall structures (okay, no I don't, but that's another topic). But didn't allowing the languages to have non-transferable concepts just pave the way for having problems translating His Holy Word into every language?

Like, the word Logos (from John 1:1) doesn't translate accurately into any English word ("Word" is definitely not accurate; "algorithm" is a decent approximation). Isn't that kind of an important feature of the Book of John? "In the beginning was the , and the was with God, and the was God" just doesn't carry much weight. So why allow such a miscommunication in the first place, if God has the power to control the whole translation process?

Answer 2

The original Bible was inspired by God and was recorded by different people at different times, in different languages (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic), but it was under direct inspiration of God, so that Word is perfect.

People would copy these originals word for word, making sure that nothing changed.

Since most of us don't read in those languages, we needed a translation. Many people attempted to get as close to the original meaning so we don't get things mixed up.

First was the King James version, it was a literal translation. They took things word by word and translated them. Except that later people found out that while it was a pretty good translation, King James had a hand in the final result, trying to use this translation to encourage people to obey him. So due to that and the fact that people today don't use the same English language as in King James' times, we needed a new translation. So then came the New King James version, which was just a slightly modernized version of the same thing. Then came the New American Standard Bible, which was based on the New King James version, but they also went back to the originals to double check everything and make sure that the KJV and NKJV versions got the translation right. So right now NASB is the most comprehensive and accurate modern translation out of all the literal translations, where the Bible was translated word by word.

Then some people realized that NASB is still not all that user-friendly and some sentences just don't make sense because sometimes a sentence means something as a whole in the particular time and culture, like when you use figures of speech. So they went back and translated the Bible sentence by sentence. Taking each sentence and asking themselves, what's the best way to translate that whole sentence into English and retain the original meaning? That's how the New International Version was born. NIV is easier to read and makes more sense most of the time, but is not as good for in-depth studies, because some words may not be literal translations.

Then, in order to bring the message of the Bible to a wider audience, some paraphrases were born. Ones like the Message. Which is an attempt (a pretty good one, too) to convey the bottom line of the message. So not only does it take whole sentences instead of words, but it actually interprets what was the meaning and the point of those sentences and writes them down instead. This is a popular one with youth. It is very good for discussions or when you're not sure what something means, but it's useless for an in-depth study.

There are are many other translations out there, but these are some of the main ones. I personally own an NASB and an NIV and use them both. This way I have the literal translation and the sentence-by-sentence translation.

So no, the original Word was never changed and God wouldn't let it be changed. But since we required a translation and no translation is perfect, and since it is so important to get as close as possible to it, many people tried different approaches to translate the Bible, which is why we have so many different translations today.

Answer 3

There have always been many different translations. Some are easier to read than others. The Vulgate, a literal translation in Latin, the Geneva Bible, which I use and King James, which was translated from the Geneva.

Modern day translations are man's doing not Gods. For the most part some of the modern ones are translated in a way that makes people feel good about not believing.

So they can go on doing what they want.

Don't blame this on God though. This is man's doing.

I stick with the Geneva Bible because King James had the version he authorized changed a little because he wanted to break away from the church, plus he was a pervert and wanted a Bible that didn't condemn him so much

Answer 4

In response to the first answer about the Quran being the word of God.......

The Quran is one mans consolidation of the books of the bible that he liked, followed by the addition of laws such Jihad allowing followers of the Quran to freely kill Jews and Christians with out considering that a sin. Islam is also a very young religion as compared to Christianity and Judaism. (the quran also basically just takes the same old bible stories, puts Muslim names on all the characters etc. 2000 years after they were originally written.

There are many translations of the bible because of the different ways that it is translated from the original Greek and Hebrew.
There are liberal translation such as "the message" that are easy to read for young people.( Basically, the 1st century slang is translated into 21st century slang.) Kings James versions that are translated more word for word tend to be very hard to read.

The reason that some book were "removed" (actually they were simply never added in the first place) is because they were part of another religion at the time called the Gnostic's. That religion was based on pure theology and not on the teachings of Jesus.

Answer 5

God gives us all a choice. He makes sure that the truth is out there, in a form that can and will be presented to all of us.

I am not sure what you think a "literalist Christian" is exactly, but as far as I can tell, you would probably consider me one of them. I do not believe that English translations are a very relevant point in your argument, I mean should you not be including all the other translations into other languages as well?

Most people do not realize that God's Word is Jesus, not a book. Therefore it is alive. The Holy Bible is like a letter written from God, to us. We can take the same letter, not change one thing, each one of us read it, and each one get a different meaning out of it.

The important thing is to try to understand what the letter is actually saying, and you cannot really do that unless you know God. If you read a letter from someone, you might get a rough idea of who they are, but the only way to truly understand what the letter is really saying, is to really know the person who wrote it.

This is why you have a lot of different translations. The people who do the translating may or may not know God, they may or may not understand what He is trying to say.

When the King James Translators translated the Bible, they tried not to copy the word-for-word, but rather the exact meaning without changing anything. They tried hard to see how a certain word or phrase was always used in the bible to see what it could mean later on in the bible, especially when it was something that was kind of hard to figure out. They assumed that the bible was 100% true and that the same God wrote it all.

Other translations might do this too. However, most translations seem not to care very much about who God is, or what He meant, or His purpose. Sometimes they have good intentions, but translating word-for-word sometimes does not work, especially if it is an old idiomatic phrase, euphemism, personification, or metaphor, etc. Other examples are words which we do not mean anything to us any more, like an extinct animal, tools or weapons that are no longer used, or old words for constellations of stars which we do not recognize.

In such cases, the meaning becomes paramount. These will be translated in different ways. Sometimes it does not matter how differently they are translated, as long as everyone knows what you mean. For example, if everyone knows that you mean someone "died" and a phrase was used that we do not understand anymore, and it was translated as "passed away" "fell asleep" or "kicked the bucket" then is the meaning lost? No, but what if Britain or Australia does not understand "kicked the bucket", but America does? Does this make the translation wrong or different? I can see it now, a new church being founded on "kicking the bucket theology" and don't tell me that does not happen, because it does!

Why does God allow it to happen? I think because He knows we are like children. Have you ever told a group of children something new and astonished and sat and watched them talk about it? You might get 10 of them saying all sorts of different theories on what you meant, then, suddenly, one of them gets it, explains it to the others, and they all go (at least in their minds) "oh, that's what they meant!" Sometimes they can't figure it out and start asking questions, and you have to answer them before they figure it out. That is what I think it is like, we are like children before God, and we need to be trying to figure what He means, and if we can't, we might have to ask questions (by praying).

Today is different than the past in that we live in a time where people have a different understanding of who and what God is. God does not change. We also might have a better understanding of what the words mean, like being sixth graders versus being first graders. Still, God is the same. So we try to figure it all out better. Today we have some that are like sixth graders, some who are like third graders, and some who are far beyond or who are like kindergartners. They have different understandings, not only will they translated the Bible differently, but also they will understand it differently. Sometimes it is simply the best that can be done. For instance, try to explain an elephant to groups of various ages who have never seen an elephant before and then ask them to draw an elephant. If you want them to all draw the same picture, then you are going to have to talk very differently to each one of them. Usually, if you talk so that the simplest of them can understand, then the rest of them can understand too.

However, sometimes, some concepts are not for the simple to understand, then things get really complicated, because you are forced to use terms and concepts that the younger ones will never get. Well, I think you get the idea.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

I asked a missionary about translating the Bible into this certain language for this particular people group one time. He said they had difficulty because this particular language and group of people did not have certain concepts in their language. So the whole translation team went into a time of intense prayer to ask God for guidance. What they felt impressed to do was to take the problematic passage and use an illustration from the lives of these people that they understood and were familiar with, and it worked. The "wording" was a little different but the exact same message was conveyed. And they understood. So it is with the varied English translations. The message remains intact while the fluidity of language helps different people grasp the meaning. I like the KJV and don't have any problem understanding it. But others need a more "modern" wording to understand. There are "translations" that need to be carefully considered before making basic doctrinal judgments. That is one reason that I always compare them to the KJV which has stood the test of time, and has no doctrinal errors in it.

Answer 7

There are certain Hebrew words that don't translate well into English. (Like the german word schadenfrude). In addition there has always been the argument about do you translate the phrase exactly or do you tweak it to make it understood (This is why there are two different versions of the Klingon bible. Apprently there is no Klingon word for 'fish' so one version uses 'water-animal' and another uses a different food - I'm not so much of a geek that I actually speak Klingon).

Anyway, hope this helps

Answer 8

Gods word is perfect as He is.
Man has tried to change the Bible,But for those who seek truth God will lead them to the truth.
Most people I know always go back to the King James version.<><

Answer 9

Why would God allow His word to be changed now, but not before?
God loves us...Jesus loves us...and we should love each other. That will always be in the Bible and that is the word of God.

Answer 10

It`s like trying to make someone from the street understand a complex language like hebrew and greek;so it`s translated into american english so we can understand it.Instead of thou shall not kill in the old english todays modern american is;You will not kill.It`s just to clarify so everyone can understand the word better.