How do you know if the bible writings are not just someones interpretations of the original?

Answer 1

You don't.

Imagine you're a bored, lazy monk in the 14th century or thereabouts. You happen to be charged with creating say a German translation of the Bible.

You are a slacker, a sinner. You don't particularly care for the senior monk of your house, and you tend to enjoy the sacramental wine too much. Yet, you try not to let this get in the way of your work.

You come to a passage in the Bible which has some words which have no equivalent in the German tongue. You don't particularly care to get up off your butt and traverse the courtyard to visit your German-born brother across the way, and instead decide to improvise a translation.

Your translation source tells that it is a "sin for a man to lie with another man if one of the men is dead, for necrophilia is just plain nasty". You have no idea what necrophilia's German equivalent is, so you simply blot out the entire portion of the text and go on your merry way, making it sound like man lying with man period is just plain nasty. No one is auditing your work, and you proceed with the "best of intentions", even though you know in your heart you've falsified the Holy Book.

Seem unlikely? I think quite the opposite, it's very likely this kind of thing could've happened. Laziness is just one of the vices that could come into play to cause human beings to screw up the so-called words from the mouth of God.

Answer 2

Well I have relatives who are historians, and it is a historical fact that the bible was changed through different interpretations as it was copied.

The "Revised Standard Edition" (I think that's the one) was put together by 32 bible scholars and used the oldest versions of the gospel documents available and it is really very different from the king james or other (more recent) versions.

There have been a lot of editorial changes in the past 1800 years, things like the holy trinity we know were added (at sword point in some cases, bishops would threaten others with death if certain made-up passages weren't included). There are records of councils, meetings, and journals where we know things were added to the bible, re-written, changed, erased, and so on.

It is entirely and unequivocally certain that the bible has changed (typically based on different interpretations from the copiers or re-writers) quite a lot from the original version.

Though it goes without saying that it shouldn't matter much, as it's all just a bunch of fairytales anyway. :p

Answer 3

You can't, but the nature of sacred writings is such that, by the time they get written down, they are in a form that the believers are comfortable with. Subsequent believers are strongly motivated to copy them as exactly as possible, even as language and culture change and the text becomes more archaic. Occasionally copyists errors, glosses and marginal clarifications get incorporated into sunsequent copies but there are usually independent copies to compare with them.

If by "original" you mean the original events, all of history is interpreted. An event does not arise with an attached "meaning". This has to be determined by the people who experience it. And as cultures change, it is up to subsequent generations to adapt the interpretation to the issues of their own times.

Interpretation is essential. The alternative is irrelevance.

Answer 4

It is someone's interpretation from the original, otherwise we would still speak ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic today.

The best translations are done by groups of language scholars who pour over the original manuscripts in the Alexandria library, among other places, and come to a group understanding of what each word and phrase means and what context the passage discusses. They then translate it into English, Spanish, French, Filipino, Russian, Chinese, Portugese, modern Greek, modern Yiddish, modern Aramaic, Pashtu, even Klingon (for Pete's sake) to get a meaningful translation in the way that people and societies speak today.

Answer 5

If they were, then why can't anyone find a copy of the original?

The Bible is the most scrutinized and the most criticized book in history. Skeptics have been trying to debunk the Bible for hundreds of years. All of the ancient copies of the Bible that they have dug up so far have only differed in matters of grammar and spelling for the most part.

If the Bible had been altered at some point, then someone should have found an alternative version of the Bible out there somewhere by now. Apparently they haven't, and people have been looking.

Answer 6

The Bible is scientifically accurate. In a time when science knew nothing, the Bible somehow knew about ocean currents, mountains at the bottom of the sea, the jet stream, the expansion of the universe, and the roundness of the earth. Science thought there were 6,000 stars in the universe, but the Bible called them "innumerable". Other "holy books" thought the earth was held on the backs of turtles, elephants, or Atlas. The Bible said that the earth hangs on nothing. It is suspended in space.

It is historically accurate. The Dead Sea Scrolls show us that our modern day translation is extremely well preserved, just as Jesus promised. It hasn't changed. Plenty of sources outside of the Bible verify such things as Jesus' death and the empty tomb, the brutal killing of early Christians (because they had seen the resurrected Christ and dared to believe), the worldwide flood, and basically everything that ever happened to Israel. Speaking of the flood, the Bible says it happened about 4,400 years ago and wiped out all life. It's interesting to note that the oldest living trees are about 4,400 years old. The oldest reef is about 4,400 years old. 4,400 years ago all of the ocean waters would have been fresh, not salty. And applying the average growth rate to the 4 couples that came off Noah's ark, 6 billion is the number we would expect after 4,400 years.

It has been proven prophetically accurate. If even one Bible prophecy can be proven wrong, then the whole faith is false. But every prophecy has now been fulfilled except for those that are reserved specifically for the future, the "last days". Jesus was born, lived, and was killed exactly when and how the Old Testament foretold. Because of disobedience the Jews were scattered among the nations as prophesied in Deuteronomy. Then Israel was restored as prophesied in Jeremiah. Knowledge and travel have increased as prophesied in Daniel. The fact that God once flooded the earth is being denied, as prophesied in 2 Peter.


Check it out for yourself. This barely scratches the surface. And if all of this is true and was known before man could have known it, then what other conclusion is there? God inspired these fallible men to write his infallible Word, because he wants to be known. God gave us his name and we are to use it, but man has taken it out of his Bible. God's name is Jehovah. Ps. 83:18

Answer 7

The Bible writings are the translations of the original, not the interpretation of them. Interpretations we call commentaries.

Answer 8

We don't and that is where faith comes in. I however believe this book has been corrupted by man. It is like the game telephone you played as a kid. A message goes to the first person and by the twenty fifth person the message completely changes

Answer 9

How do you know Einstien developed the theory of reletivity. Have you worked out the theorem on your own, or do you just take his word for it. Chances are you use faith to believe it. That is why we believe the Bible, we have faith that it is what God wants it to be.

Answer 10

I think a better question would be, how do we know that the bible isnt just a complete fabrication based on fantasy and whishful thinking.