Thursday, March 02, 2006

Thinking about being exclusive...

As I left the computer, I promised more thoughts about the "Authorized Version Only" movement.

I can't honestly tell you what God thinks about this situation. I, however, find it a devisive movement, especially when its proponents have started character assination of translators of other Bible versions.

My thoughts are as follows:
  • During the years prior to the Reformation in the 1600's, many people, including John Tynsdale were martyred or persecuted for translating the Bible into the common language of the people. The King James version was such to the English Speaking people of the day. (I once had someone tell me that the King James Bible was the first one translated into English -- Tynsdales Bible beat it by many years).
  • The common language today is not the King James english. Many of those words have lost their common meaning of that day and mean something totally different. One common example of this is the word Charity in I Corinthians 13. It is not that they typical person can not determine the meaning of passages but for someone who does not study the Bible and may not be, in fact, interested in the Bible, it is more of a distraction.
  • Many cultures do not have a full Bible, maybe only a chapter or page to draw from. Sort of reminds me of "Farienheit 451". I would doubt that that version is a King James.
  • After seeing "End of the Spear", I realized that not only is the Bible translated literally but also culturally in order to reach people. In other words, our concept of heaven does not translate well into every culture.
Ultimately, I believe this sort of movement will tend to chase people away from, not toward God.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beware the "Keepers of the Gate", or at least people who think they are. I'd much rather travel the road with fellow sojourners and figure out life and faith as we walk.

These people would probably want to lynch Rob Bell for writing "Velvet Elvis", the book I'm currently letting my CD player read to me.

Ian Franklin said...

You're throwing the baby out with the bath water on this one. Just because Gail Riplinger is accurately criticizing the translation, does not mean that she is doing something counterproductive. If she tells the truth, you should not consider telling the truth a movement. There are 6 billion people on this planet and we all may have different ways that God wants us to serve his will.