A scriptural question for Bible readers?

Question

Why do certain Bible substitute the word "charity" for love in 1 Corinthians 13. The greek word agape is the word for love, yet King James and other Bibles have inserted instead charity. Is this corrupting the word of God?

Consider this definition and ask yourselves, honestly, does this definition truly mean charity?
Substitute both the words love and charity, and see which one makes more sense.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Answer 1

That is God's definition of LOVE and the following scripture is Love never fails.
Agape'...unconditional love
Philadelphian....brotherly love
Storgeic....family love
Eros...sexual love

Answer 2

Golago,
Agape means a specific kind of love. It can be considered as Charity in some writings. I am sure that agape is called a number of different things by different people who have transcribed the Bible from it's original tongue. The King James Version is one of the best that was ever done according to most of the Greek and Hebrew language experts. Have a wonderful week.
Thanks,
Eds


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Answer 3

There just isn't a good translation for the word. That's it. There is no direct translation for the work agape--if that's the word. I'm not sure whether Corinthians was translated from Hebrew or Greek but Greek makes much more sense since Corinth is actually a place in Greece. Love had three or more Greek words--one was agape, one was eros, and I can't recall the other. But the point is that it was an attempt to make a fair translation, but the language switch is always difficult. You should always be mindful of this when considering any passage.

Answer 4

No. The KJV translation of Greek Agape , means selfless love (I Cor 13). Charity in some translations are used in relation to helping the poor (Luke 11:41; Acts 9:36; 10:4,31). Either way it means the same thing.

God bless

Answer 5

The King James Version was translated in 1611. Since that time, many English words have changed in their usage.

This is one example. Today the word "charity" brings to mind the act of helping someone, but in the KJV it carries more of the thought of caring for them. It is loving to the point of putting it into action. Sacrificial love; the very meaning of Agape!

There are many, many English words that have changed over the years. "Gay" now means homosexual, rather than happy, for example.

But when you think of true "charity", really the word has changed just a little. It still carries the meaning of caring for others!

Answer 6

I think there are several examples of Bible translations varying this way. I think 'corruption' is much to strong a word for these variables. You can find editions of the Bible meant for children where all of the words are reduced to their most basic and elementary forms so that the youngest readers can handle it. I believe that as long as the 'moral' of the story isn't lost because of these relatively minor word changes, we can't get too caught up in semantic games. It sounds like you are a 'purist' and want to be sure that you are reading the 'real' thing and I admire your dedication--but without having the original writers or being 100% sure of translator accuracy, I'm not sure we can ever be sure of every word in any version we have available...

Answer 7

It is not corrupting the word of God!
The Greeks had many different words for "love." The word "charity" is actually the best approximation of agape, which is self-giving love.

Answer 8

Your god's word is very much corrupted by this. This is hypnosis on a subconscious level. It's the whole money changers in the temple, and Jesus' gripe with that. These men were businessmen and politicians who were able to fund and get this written, don't think there was massive editing as well.
I'm no religious anything, but I've read different versions of the bible cover to cover, quite the amazing anthology.

Answer 9

No, not at all.
Agapē (IPA: [ɑˈgɑ.pε] or IPA: [ˈɑgɑˌpε]) (Gk. αγάπη [aˈɣa.pi]), is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. The word has been used in different ways by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia—an affection that could denote either brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection, and eros, an affection of a sexual nature, usually between two unequal partners. The term agape is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another.

Answer 10

The Bible went through many different languages on its way to English, and one of those languages was German (the Gutenberg version, from which the English version was derived) and that was not the 'gentlest' language known to mankind

probably the closest German term for agape was charity