Can a Translation be Inspired?
Can a Translation be Inspired?
Can a Translation be Inspired ?
We are frequently told by modern bible version proponents that no translation can be inspired and that only the originals were inspired. This may be what they learned in seminary or from some other Bible teacher they happen to admire, but is it the truth?
Most Christians will affirm that the Bible is our rule of faith and practice. It is a little self-contradictory to stand in the pulpit and say the word of God is inspired, when in his heart the pastor knows he is not referring to any book here on this earth that people can hold in their hands and believe.
He really should say what he believes - that the word of God WAS inspired [note the past tense] at one time but we no longer have it, so the best we can do is hope we have a close approximation of what God probably meant to tell us.
It also seems a bit inconsistent to say he believes the originals were inspired, when he has never seen them, they never were together in one single book, and they no longer exist anyway. How does he know they were inspired? He accepts this by faith. Yet he seems to lack the faith to actually believe that God could do exactly what He said He would do with His words. God said He would preserve them and that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would not pass away.
So, if the Bible itself is our rule of faith and practice, does it teach us a translation can be the inspired words of God? The answer is an emphatic Yes, and it does so many times.
In the Book of Genesis, chapters 42-45, we have the record of Joseph's reunion with his brethren. That Joseph spoke Egyptian instead of Hebrew is evident by Genesis 42:23 "And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter." Joseph spoke in ancient Egyptian yet his words are translated and recorded in another language, which turns out to be the inspired words of God.
A translation does not have to be a "word for word" literal carry-over into another language for it to be the inspired word of God. If we have the God given text and the God given meaning of that text communicated by way of another language, as we do in the King James Bible, it is still the inspired word of God.
God's words are like water in a vessel. If the same water is poured out into another vessel, even a vessel of a different shape and size, and there is no addition of foreign matter or subtraction of substance, it is the same water.
Again we see the same thing in Exodus chapters 4 through 14 where Moses confronts Pharoah and speaks with him face to face. Pharoah does not speak Hebrew, so Moses undoubtedly uses the Egyptian language in his verbal exchanges with him, yet the whole series of conversations is recorded in another inspired translation.
In Acts 22 we see another clear example of how a translation can be the inspired words of God. Acts 21:40 tells us: "And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, HE SPAKE UNTO THEM IN THE HEBREW TONGUE, SAYING...". There then follows a lengthly sermon of 21 entire verses preached by Paul in the Hebrew tongue, yet not a word of this sermon is recorded in Hebrew but in inspired Greek. Was Paul's sermon inspired? Undoubtedly. But God also inspired the translation of this sermon into another language.
Depending on which book of the New Testament we refer to, between 40 to 60% of the New Testament is simply the Old Testament Re-Quoted. In other words, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but the Apostles quoted it in Ancient Greek and those sections are part of the same Inspired New Testament Christians have been using and following for Thousands of years.
If no translation can be inspired of God, then how do those who hold this unbiblical position explain all the Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament? They were originally inspired in Hebrew but then the Holy Ghost took these scores of verses and translated them into another inspired language. Not only that, but the Holy Ghost sometimes did not use a strictly literal word for word rendering. God sometimes adds a little more detail or explains further or makes a different application of the original verse to a new situation. This is how God does it and how the Bible itself teaches us about inspired translations.
Brother James Melton has written an interesting article on why he believes the King James Bible is the true word of God. In his article he mentions what the true Holy Bible says about the word "to translate". (http://www.av1611.org/kjv/knowkjv.html)
Brother Melton writes:
The words "translate" and "translated" occur three times in the Bible, and GOD is the Translator each time. The scholars insist that the KJV cannot be infallible, because it is "only a translation." Do you suppose that such scholars have checked II Samuel 3:10, Colossians 1:13, and Hebrews 11:5 to see what GOD has to say about translating?
In II Samuel 3:10 we are told that it was God Who translated Saul's kingdom to David. We are told in Colossians 1:13 that Christians have been translated into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and Hebrews 11:5 tells us that God translated Enoch that he should not see death. God was the One doing the translating each time. What's the point? The point is that a translation CAN be perfect, if God is involved in the translating.
When the New Testament writers would quote the Old Testament (Mt. 1:23; Mk. 1:2; Lk. 4:4; Jn. 15:25; Acts 1:20; 7:42; I Cor. 2:9; Gal. 3:13, etc.), they had to TRANSLATE from Hebrew to Greek, because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, THEY wrote in Greek. So, if a translation cannot be infallible, then EVEN THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE "ORIGINAL GREEK" ISN'T INFALLIBLE, because it contains translations from the Hebrew text! -
(end of quotes from brother Melton. See his article. http://www.av1611.org/kjv/knowkjv.html )
Which language did the Lord Jesus Christ speak while He was here on earth, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic or a combination of the three? No one knows for sure, but we do know that He spoke to Paul in the Hebrew tongue yet His words were translated into Greek. "And when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul. why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." There then follows another four long verses all spoken in the Hebrew tongue by our Lord, yet none of it is recorded in Hebrew but is translated into another language.
" And that from a child thou hast known the HOLY SCRIPTURES, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:15,16.
It should be noted that Timothy did not have "the originals" yet what he had in his home is referred to as inspired scripture. In fact, in no case of all the references in the New Testament to the Scriptures that people read and believed, is it ever referring to "the originals only".
So when you hear someone tell you with firm conviction: "No translation can be inspired. Only the originals were inspired" you should know that he didn't get this teaching out of the Bible or from God. If a professing Christian chooses not to believe in the possibility of an inspired translation, he does so contrary to many God given examples in the Bible itself.
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MYTHS ABOUT THE KJVO POSITION
MYTHS ABOUT THE KJVO POSITION
One of the moderators at the Study Light Forum (Keith) wrote this summary of his views of the King James Bible debate. Response and Comments follow each point.
Keith writes:
Satan must be jumping for joy, seeing as how the KJVO myth is fairly wide-spread. Here are some things the KJVO myth does:
1. The KJVO myth challenges God's ability to bring inerrant scriptures down to anyone in any language. Anyone who sincerely believes in the KJVO myth would have us believe that God can bring His inerrant Word down only to those who can read English. Pray for them.
Hi Keith, thanks for your prayers. However it is the King James Bible believer who affirms that God has indeed brought down the inerrant Scriputures to us. It is your side that denies any Bible or any text to be the inerrant word of God. Look at the polls. Look at your own answers. Never once have you affirmed the Bible to be the inerrant word of God and then identified this inerrant Bible for us. At least, I have yet to see a clear and unequivocal answer from you.
2. The KJVO myth and those who constantly perpetrate the spreading of the KJVO myth bring division among the body of Christ. These seek no likemindedness among the members of Christ's body, only a division fostered by Satan. Pray for them.
Again, thanks for your prayers. But we do seek a likemindedness among believers. A like-mindedness that there really is an inerrant Bible. Your "likemindedness" is the modern consensus of opinion that no Bible is now the inerrant word of God, and it seems this is the only unity your view results in. Truth always brings division.
Remember this? Pastor Michael Youseff's Message on His "Leading The Way" program. The title of todays message was "The Bible, The World's Most Relevant Book - Part 2
In his message he gave statistics of a poll that was conducted.
Here is what the poll revealed:
85% of students at America's largest Evangelical Seminary don't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.
74% of the Clergy in America no longer believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.
3. The KJVO myth and those who keep spreading it would have us believe the inerrant Word of God came in only a single Bible version. Although other Bible versions may tell of the creation of the world and of mankind, the fall of mankind, God's love for mankind, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, and of future things, spreaders of the KJVO myth would have us believe that all other Bible versions are errant because they may use a few different words than the King James Version. I dare say there is not a believer in the KJVO myth anywhere who can show us a "modern version" which does not teach all these truths. These spreaders of the KJVO myth are constantly guilty of claiming God's Word is false, unless it is the KJV itself, thus making a mockery of the Word of God. Pray for them.
Keith, I have repeatedly affirmed that the gospel is found in any version, but that does not make them the pure word of God.
The article about NO Doctrines Are Changed ? has been repeatedly posted and so far no one, including yourself, has addressed any of these examples of changed, altered, mutilated and perverted doctrine.
see the Article now: No Doctrines Are Changed ?
In addition, your argument may seem initially as though it is complete, until you realize what the Data and the Details of the Modern Versions of the Bible demonstrate:
A. Most of the Modern Versions use Translators who DENY that Jesus is the Christ and the subsequent Doctrines of Christianity.
B. Most modern Versions where the Scholar who translates the Hebrew or Greek Words into English MAY claim that some of their Translation Team members are sincere and True Christians. Even where that is the case, the Greek and Hebrew Manuscripts that they are using were edited into their Modern Form by those who Denied the Central Doctrines of Christianity.
This applies specifically to Westcott and Hort, as well as to Kittel. Almost All Modern Versions of the Bible use the Greek Text of Westcott and Hort and the Hebrew Text of Kittel. But Westcott and Hort and Kittel all 3 denied that Salvation [Eternal Life] was accomplished through a belief in the literal death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore, by defending modern versions, you are asking Christians to use and rely on Intermediaries who are:
1. Unreliable
2. Apostate, and
3. Unregenerated by the Holy Spirit
Those Modern Versions may allude to the doctrines that you refer to. How could they not, since the Bible is the source of those doctrines, and the topic here is Bible Translation ? However, there is a difference between:
A Bible accurately translated which allows for the Correct understanding of those doctrines, and
B. a False Bible from either the Wrong Manuscripts or through the Wrong Intermediaries where the result is that Damage is done to the explanations and the Clarity that is present in the Older and accurate Bible Translations.
Your point presents itself as a defense of the doctrines you seem to imply that you hold dear. But the very method of the defense of these doctrines - the Modern Versions - does Serious and Deliberate Damage to those doctrines.
It is intellectually inconsistent to state that you hold to those doctrines and to the importance of their accurate explanation, and yet promote versions of the Bible
Let's examine this argument again, paying attention to the words in blue color:
those who keep spreading it would have us believe the inerrant Word of God came in only a single Bible version.
That is incorrect: the arguments of KVJO is NOT that the Word of God came in only a single Bible version. It is rather that the Word of God is IN an accurate version (such as the KJV or the Geneva Bible) and further the Modern Versions, by their own definition, their own scholars and their own false Greek and Hebrew manuscripts are NOT it.
4. Spreaders of the KJVO myth are guilty of idolizing a specific Bible version. Most of those of the KJVO persuasion place the KJV in a position where the version itself is given status equal with the Trinity. The KJV becomes their "golden calf" in a sense. They want a "god" or a Bible version they can worship because they can see it and hold it in their hands. Pray for them.
This is an old myth and a false allegation. we do not worship or idolize the KJV. I toss it on my desk or in the back of my car, I write notes in it, I spill coffee on it, and I have no altar or burning candles where I celebrate it.
But we do believe it is the inerrant, pure, and always true word of God.
Idolatry is giving worship and adoration to an object, or doing the actions that idolaters commit when conducting their idolatry. You will not find King James advocates kissing their Bibles, or treating it as something to sit pretty on a shelf, comforting themselves because the Book deserves to be treated as an Idol.
On the other hand, there are Many modern versions, who approach the Modern Textual Critics with the sense of awe, reverence, and mystical experience that is itself close to idol-worship. To continue to treat the Modern so-called Scholars as though they were infallible, when there is direct evidence to the contrary, not to mention many of their own statements where they plainly state that they themselves do NOT believe the Word of God, those who follow those men are placing their own loyalty to these Modern Version Translators ABOVE their commitment to God and the Versions of the Word of God, which 1. are known to be accurate already and 2. produced fruit and lives of exemplary courage, leadership, discernment and spiritual strength.
The King James Version has a track record of stable and productive spiritual lives, that produced genuine connectedness to God. That track record is 400 years old, and it continues to be consistent.
Modern Version Advocates have no such Book as the King James Version anywhere on this earth that you believe is now the inerrant word of God and it is your unbelief that is spreading like a cancer, with the results it brings.
5. The majority of those who spread the KJVO myth are masters of deception and confusion. Like Satan, the father of the KJVO myth, they love to cause confusion and divisiveness among the body of Christ. Those who believe in the KJVO myth are "brothers," but anyone who disagrees with the KJVO myth is normally treated like a child. In fact it is those who adhere to the KJVO myth who are stuck in the "milk" of the Word and who cannot advance to the "meat" until they reach a more mature level in their Christian walk. Pray for them.
Thanks Keith for another excellent summary of the situation as you see it. It is so nice of you to characterize us Bible believers as "masters of deception", "like Satan", and "stuck on the milk of the word", while you guys are so sweet and loving towards all your fellow non-believers in an inerrant Bible. We Bible believers are just a bunch of nasty folks who use unloving and unkind language when talking about other Christians, aren't we?
However, your comments do need to be responded to, on a more serious level, so we will here below:
The majority of those who spread the KJVO myth are masters of deception and confusion. Like Satan, the father of the KJVO myth, they love to cause confusion and divisiveness among the body of Christ. Those who believe in the KJVO myth are "brothers," but anyone who disagrees with the KJVO myth is normally treated like a child. In fact it is those who adhere to the KJVO myth who are stuck in the "milk" of the Word and who cannot advance to the "meat" until they reach a more mature level in their Christian walk. Pray for them.
Let us remember the Terminology: "the KJVO". This means "King James Version ONLY". Yet in the great majority of cases, those who defend the King James Version ALSO defend the Textus Receptus AND the Geneva Bible. Clearly then, many KJV advocates are not KJVO in the strict sense, since they defend the Greek and the Hebrew texts on which the KJV is based. What "KJVO"s are and remain, is opposed to the vast majority of Modern Versions that betray the God and the Gospel that those Modern Versions are supposed to advocate.
"KJVO" is simply a LABEL that is used by those who are Modern Version advocates, who want to portray those who love the Historic Copies of the Word of God, as though they had abandoned reason, clarity, logic or the historic records.
The facts tell a very different story. Over and over, it is KJVOs who use the ancient records, who use the Earlier Versions, who publish articles and documentation that embraces the record of Historic Christianity. The Modern Versions by contrast, did not even have a false text to defend, until this was given to them by Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort (followed by Nestle and Kittel) so that they could use this as the basis to try to attack Christianity from within.
6. The KJVO myth is founded on the presumption that there are many people who are totally ignorant of the fact that God can spread His Word in any form He choses. The KJVO myth relies on the gullibility and ignorance of how God spreads His Word of those who continue to spread the KJVO myth. Pray for them.
Keith, let me ask you this. Does God spread His word in a multitude of conflicting and contradictory versions that results in the majority of Christians now holding the view that No Bible is the inerrant word of God? Is this how God does things? I trow not.
We King James Bible believers are the only ones in the world who actually believe there is such a thing as an inerrant Bible we can hold in our hands, and yet you call this belief a myth.
Keith, I see this whole thing in a very different light that you do. Is it the "myth" that God has kept His promises to preserve His words in a Book here on this earth, or is the myth the view that No Bible is the inerrant word of God?
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Timothy 4:2-4
"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way." Psalm 119:128
The KJVO myth is founded on the presumption that there are many people who are totally ignorant of the fact that God can spread His Word in any form He choses.
No, the Facts of the KJVO position reflect the truth that it is Errant and Counterfeit Bible Scholars who have been trying to hide the historic records of Bible Translations and Translators today, who will NOT disclose how the translations are financed, who will NOT go on the record about which translators even claim to be saved [though we find out in anycase], and who attempt to conceal the FINANCIAL interests between
1. the Translators
2. The Publishing Company and
3. The University or Seminary that benefits from the publicity for the Modern Version.
The KJVO position supports the use and the Translation of the Bible in all possible languages, and desires that those in OTHER lands would ALSO have access to Accurate Versions.
The Modern Version advocates continue to try to Bottleneck Translations to a foreign public, so as to spread a counterfeit Christianity on the planet through False Versions and False Doctrines. They have a head-start from the last 100 years, but they have lost this in the past 10 years.
But IF Modern Version advocates are in favor of Foreign Language versions also, which are accurate, then they will surely not object to accurate FOREIGN Language translations,
will they ?
The KJVO myth relies on the gullibility and ignorance of how God spreads His Word of those who continue to spread the KJVO myth. Pray for them.
Well it is an interesting kind of gullibility. Apparently, it is the kind that asks people to pray more, read their Bible more, memorize it more, show Greater kindness to others and to strangers, and continue to lovingly proclaim Jesus Christ and the importance of being grounded in HIS WORD. For that kind of Gullibility, please pray that we would have MORE.
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For those who object to this article
I understand that If I object to this article, that I need to take certain steps:
1. I need to clearly understand for myself what is the specific basis of my objection
2. I need to remember that other people cannot read my mind and may not understand what I have a problem with, and I will need to be patient in explaining my objection.
3. I need to examine my own motives and decide what is pushing me or motivating me to respond about this article. If there is an issue of lack of accuracy, then I do need to bring this up.
But if the issue is that the article is accurate, then I need to understand how I should be responding to the parts that I already know and understand are true.
4. I need to be wise, so that I do not use my own lack of knowledge, as the basis for objecting too fast. There are many questions and much documentation that can be provided to those who may object. If I have a problem I can ask for this documentation, but I need to be sure and ask myself just what I am placing my SECURITY in, as a fellow Christian.
5. does the article upset me because it may be TRUE, and I am disturbed because I am finding that I have put my security in a Version of the Bible that either is NOT accurate or that was NOT accurately translated ?
6. does this mean that I may be in spiritual danger, and that I need to do much more research personally, for myself, and stop taking the word of some Pastors or leaders who are simply telling me NOT to worry about these issues, but to be warm and filled and go back to sleep ?
7. Do I need to undertand that even though some of these Pastors who "bless" all versions may have good intentions, that they may not have the gift of Biblical Discernment, and therefore they may not understand either their own need to do a great deal of personal research on this matter, so that they do not endanger the Congregation and individual Church members that they have been entrusted with ?
8. Is the church that I am going to either part of a denomination that now is Liberal or has turned its back on God or historic Christianity, or part of a group that is endorsing Unbliblical or Anti-Historic Practices such as Word of Faith or selling the Gospel by Trends such as using Church Consultants that are far more committed to Church NUMBER growth, and NOT the individual Spiritual Maturity of the Christians that are ALREADY there ?
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The Real Question is what are you going to do with the information that was presented in this article.
Is the Information True ?
Is the Information Accurate ?
Is the Information documented ?
Do I - before God - have a responsibility if I am a Christian to accept and act on the information in this article ?
Am I comfortable in the knowledge, that some leaders under the guise of clarifying the text of the Bible, are actually changing that text, and changing MY understanding of what God wants to share with me through His Holy Word, the Old Testament and the New Testament ?
Do I understand that these "small" changes number from the hundreds to the THOUSANDS depending on which Modern Versions I use, and that these changes serve to cut away the clarity and the specific understanding found in the Greek New Testament, that these new modern versions are preventing me from understanding ?
Do I understand that most of these new Modern Versions were not developed because there was a genuine need, but because the teams of Bible Translators were Hired by PUBLISHING companies who are eager to make a profit on the Word of God, which remains the Number ONE bestseller every week of every year, and that these Publishers decided to cash in ?
Do I understand that the problem was that if these Bible Adjusters and Correctors did NOT make the changes that they chose to, that they would not be able to claim copyright protection, and therefore they would not be able to make a financial Profit from their new versions ?
Do I understand that there are Spiritual Forces that want to prevent me from having GREATER spiritual understanding about God, but that God himself is always in MORE of a hurry than I am, for Me to get to know HIM ?
Do I realize what my personal state of preparation will be, within me, when Islam becomes the Dominant Religion in the United States, as it is already in Europe, and how I will personally be required to defend my Faith, by argument and persuasion, using knowledge of the Bible and of History and of Christianity, and that God will rightly hold me accountable because I am claiming to be His Child and a personal follower of Jesus Christ ?
In view of these facts, should I try to set aside more time for the study of the Word of God, and more time for the study of History and the true history of the Christian Church, and to learn about how other Christians in the past, actually learned to have and to gain GREAT spiritual strength ?
If no one reaches out to help prepare me for the coming challenges, whose job is it STILL for me to be prepared to answer these challenges and questions ?
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