Posted on 12/21/2001 11:03:14 AM PST by FormerLib
The King's English Bible
Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired
by Benson Bobrick
New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001
(379 pages; $26.00, cloth)
In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture
by Alister McGrath
New York: Doubleday, 2001
(340 pages; $24.95, cloth)
Have you, from time to time, seen a man fall flat on his face and lick the dust? I don?t mean to put words in your mouth, but, here in the land of the living, have you ever expected a man to go from strength to strength only to see him end up, perhaps because pride goes before a fall, succeeding only by the skin of his teeth? Or have you ever considered a person to be a mere thorn in the flesh, only to discover, once the scales fell from your eyes, that he was in fact the salt of the earth?
Whether or not you have had experiences such as these, you have almost surely heard or said the italicized phrases, and that?s because they are found in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, the Scripture translation that reigned among English-speakers from the mid-seventeenth through the late-twentieth century, when the New International Version overtook it at the sales counter. To this day, politicians say that they are "fighting the good fight," mothers tell their children to "turn the other cheek," and vacationers refer to their respective paradises as lands of "milk and honey."
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So, what denomination of Deacon are you?
I don't believe the review implied that it was used to write the KJV. He merely mentions that the Wycliffe was the first English translation.
A popular misconception. Actually, the edition of Stephanus' Greek Text with this publisher's blurb attached (with no church or other authority whatever) was published after the KJV. Little-known, but true.
The issue of a lack of commonly-accepted translation is a vexing one. I recently read and very much enjoyed the new Holman Christian Bible New Testament, which has many fresh and more accurate renderings, but some puzzling practices as well (for no apparent reason, the Greek Christos is sometimes "Christ," sometimes "Messiah").
Joel Belz of the wonderful WORLD magazine suggested months ago that the then-future English Standard Bible might become the Bible used by Christians. I bought it as soon as it came out, and am generally very enthusiastic and hopeful about it. (See his article here, and our discussion board where a thread was started titled "New Bible Translation: check it out!" here.)
Dan
Another problem with all these translations is it makes people wonder if we DO have the word of God at all!! And, we DO. We have the most faithful translation into English, the King James.
As the NT and the OT were written in the language and dialect of the day, I think it's beyond rational doubt that we need genuine translation in our language. The only issue is which translations are more truthful and helpul.
Perhaps if you read the essay linked in my previous posting?
Dan
Where in the world did you read that the KJV denies anywhere the deity of Christ??
And where I read it was in the Bible, not to be a smart-you-know-what. For instance, the KJV of 2 Peter 1:1 speaks of "the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," as if God and our Saviour [sic] Jesus Christ were two different persons. What Peter actually wrote in Greek was "the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ," thus calling Jesus both God and Savior.
Modern translations such as the NIV, NASB, ESB and on and on catch what the KJV misses here.
Likewise, in Titus 2:13, the KJV mentions "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," again as of two Persons. Paul wrote in Greek, however, of "the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Once again, what the KJV misses is caught by NIV, NASB, ESB, and most if not all other modern translations.
Or again take 1 John 5:20. The KJV says, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." The meaning of the last sentence is a bit obscure. In the English Standard Bible, which I mention above, the last sentence reads, "He is the true God and eternal life," making it crystal-clear that the apostle is saying that Jesus Christ is the true God.
So in closing yeah, I've heard that about modern translations denying the deity of Christ, and I've checked it out by the Bible, but really Race, it's baloney.
Dan
There are at least 2 pages to this web site and this topic, the second page covers whether there are extra words in the KJV and explains NO!!
I'm disappointed in your response. You asked for passages where the KJV obscures the deity of Christ and modern translations don't, I gave you three. Do you care about the evidence? Or are you locked into a position that forces you to overlook evidence?
God spoke in Hebrew and Greek. When I'm readig His Word in English, I want the best translation in my language I can get. No one can argue rationally that the KJV fits that description.
Dan
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