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Originally Posted by Guest
Don Baldwin
Well...you can't show me the black villages...the black Oxford...the black IBM.
How about showing me proof that Jesus existed. Contemporary records from the time of Jesus. The earliest record I know is Josephus and it's 30 some years after the fact and doesn't mention Jesus by name as the Christ.
What about the reshuffling of the Bible? The removing of "difficult" books? All the different translations? How many versions are there?
"Currently, there are more than 40 different versions in English, from the King James Version, which was published in 1611 and is still going strong, to modern versions, some of them in very simplified English."
They're ALL the direct word of God? I don't think so.
There IS no purpose debating me. ALL you have is faith.
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This response is not for Don, who knows the answers to many questions that he asks, just to be argumentative. But, for others who are curious about the decision of what books were included in the Bible, and the different versions, I offer this.
First, those who believe in the Bible being literal and inerrant only believe that this was true of the original text, and they acknowledge that there are not original texts still in existence. They acknowledge that copying mistakes might have crept into the many copies, which were made by hand, but do not believe that it has made a significant difference in the message.
Of course the original books of the Bible were not written in English. Much of the Old Testament originated in Hebrew; much of the New Testament in Greek. Since the major international language at the time that the Christian Church began to grow in Europe was Latin, translations into Latin were frequent.
At the time of the Protestant Revolution, Luther translated the Bible into German. In England, in the 1300's, John Wycliffe translated the Catholic Latin Vulgate Bible into English. He was often in conflict with the Catholic Church and after his death he was declared a heretic and his writings were burned.
But by 1611, England's King James authorized an English translation of the Bible, which is, in updated versions, still used in the United States today. This version is considered to be suitable for people with a 12th grade education. There are other, simplified versions for people with less reading skill.
There have been a number of translations over the years, some simply upgrading existing translations, others going back to the oldest available copies in Greek, and trying to be as literal as possible, while still readable. The New American Standard Bible is one such translation.
What is noteworthy, is that none of these various translations have produced any significant difference in the understanding of Christian Doctrine. They are simply directed towards audiences of varying reading skills.
With regard to what books were selected to become the "Canonized" books of the Bible, your web browser will take you to many articles on the subject. See the last paragraph in the linked article.
How and when was the canon of the Bible put together?
Carl in Tampa
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