How can people beleive in the Bible word for word if it wasn't written in English?

Question

How can people believe something word for word that wasn't written in the language they speak? Even translations among modern languages are very flawed due to grammar, sentence structure, and additional or lack of vocabulary. Even a small change in subject verb agreement can have a big meaning in a sentence, and Latin and Aramiac are dead languages. Whoever first translated it into english could not have translated it perfectely because the Latin/Aramiac they spoke woudl be diffrent than ancient, and they probably translated it into old Enlgish which of course is diffrent from modern English etc... I understand that some people beleive its the word of God so they must follow it, but the bibles they have cannot possibly be literal translations so how can they beleive what they have is the exact word of God?

Answer 1

Good point. That's why Catholics believe that Christ established a Church with teachers to be the final teaching authority with the protection of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is infallible, but translators are not, and no translation is perfect. That is why the Protestant tradition of "Sola Scriptura" (Bible alone) has lead to thousands of different protestant denominations, because everyone will interpret different Bibles differently.
In Acts 15 it was the elders and apostles that made the final decision on doctrine (in this case regarding circumsision) , and that is the example the Catholic Church folloew to this day.

To "belladonna" : Those careful copying techniques you mentioned - you can thank the Catholic monks over the centuries for that.

Answer 2

The doctrines and meanings are conveyed adequately enough. The languages of our present times do NOT or CANNOT carry the complete meanings of the original Greek, Hebrew, etc., where one word now has to have perhaps a couple words to get the meaning. Mostly though, there isn't this problem.
What I have a problem with are the people that swear by King James only. While it is the best English translation, it is just that- a translation.
Doing the word, acting on what it says PROVES in the life of any believer the validity of the words.
All arguments against the Bible and it's authority is basically the same thing as trying to get people to believe that an Almighty God was UNABLE to preserve His words for a mere few thousand years.

Answer 3

Those factors are all taken into account in a translation. Some are better than others. Study Bibles, like the Ryrie Study Bible, has footnotes for verses where potential other meanings could be derived, or context may make something hard to translate in English. Nevertheless, your concerns have been well mitigated over time by well-educated linguists and translators.

Answer 4

Nothing man does is going to be perfect? It's like the computer its as good as man can make it, but as time goes by man keeps improving the computers ability. It's the same in understanding of God's word, we find errors as you say, then we correct them as best we can, this means that basically we get to understand things better. Like the computer, but if you don't give the bible the same chance as the computer you will never know what God's purpose is for the earth and where you fit into his plans?
If you want to ask a question and see if i can guide you to a scriptural answer, do
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Answer 5

Well done, eltigre!

THIS is the kind of question that makes ME laugh -- not with ridicule but with delight, because i'm muttering "Why didn't I think of that?"

I wish to add the information that the ancient "otiote" (Hebrew characters we call OUR alphabet) did not even contain vowels. One could not read the text accurately without previous instructions, verbally transmitted information, to which i (myself) have no access.

BTW, Muslims please? What's the distinction between the Aramaic language and the language of Arabic? The modern language is Arabic, is it not?

Answer 6

I can understand people believing in the essence of the bible, but this is something I have always wondered about. With over 2300 known translation errors, how can one adhere to the exact word?

http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/kjverr2.html

http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/kjverror.html

Answer 7

Because people smarter than you and I translated it. And I don't buy your assertion that it is full of errors. There may be some, but, when you consider how many smart people have vetted it-there can't be that many. Sometimes, you just have to trust--otherwise, you'll question everything. If you own a Japanese car, the manual was originally written in Japanese. Are you sure it was translated correctly?

Answer 8

It's called revelation. Did you really think truth could be found by any other means other than revelation from God?

Well, you cannot be given revelation until you first decide to believe in God, and seek his truth, and not your own truth that feels good to you. So, good luck with that relativism thing. Hope it works out for you.

Answer 9

1. Unparalleled manuscript support ( quality and quantity )
2. Careful copying techniques
3. Validation from archeology
4. Validation from secular sources

Answer 10

Greetings,
It was not written in English,But as so years passed away and people communicated others.Some of the scholars decided to communicate and translate it.
God Bless.