Tanglefoot

Here’s an excerpt from Gary Amirault that I thought was interesting in regards to an errant Bible.

"Recently, we received a copy of the Holy Scriptures produced by the Jewish Publication Society. Of course, being the Jewish Bible, it did not contain the New Testament. In reviewing it, we discovered some interesting things. One shocking observation was discovering hundreds of footnotes as the following: Exact meaning of Hebrew uncertain, syntax of Hebrew unclear, the traditional reading madhebah is of unknown meaning, grammar of Hebrew unclear, meaning of first line uncertain, meaning of verse uncertain in part, force of Hebrew uncertain, construction of the verses uncertain, etc.. This was very shocking. Those of us coming from a conservative Christian background are usually told the Bible is inerrant. The Jews were the guardians of the Old Testament who were extremely diligent to preserve the text that not one jot or tittle was added or removed. Nearly all Christian Bibles rely on the Jewish Masoretic Hebrew text for translating the Old Testament into current languages. How was it possible for the translators to produce an "inerrant" Bible, when the "guardians of the so called 'inerrant' Hebrew text", did not know the meaning of many words and passages? "

lauraclay

That's really interesting. I always thought perfect word-for-word preservation seemed fishy.

And you know how parts of the Bible were passed down orally at first? I refuse to believe that anything preserved orally is 100% accurate. Rumors can't even travel through school intact over a few hours, let alone intricate stories over years.

__________________

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.

Chapstiquelova

Becuz people tamper with it, add and take away from it.

Tanglefoot

Not sure if any are the most accurate in some sense. The King James original version that was introduced in 1611 actually had 80 books in it, as compared to the 66 we have today. Evidently they did not go by "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will Stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8

Telimaktar

Wow, I think a year late here but found this little tid bit interesting.

Isaiah 45:7.

KJV:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

NASB
The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.

Now I checked my bible and there is now indeed calamity instead of evil.
Clearly this "little" completely changes the meaning of that line.

God creates calamity: floods, earthquakes, etc.
God creates evil: satan, hate, etc.

If this small change was made in recent years then what of so much else in the bible that was translated, copied and so forth.

And even so both sentences are quite different.

noeticcenter

Noeticcenter

Bible: Purported Flaws

In all these comments there is a fundamental error of judging the Bible- a collection of books penned by over 40 writers of diverse backgrounds of priests, prophets, princes, poets, philosophers, physicians, farmers, fishermen, government officials and so on, in three different continents over a period of about 3,500 years- for what it does not stand for, totally ignoring what it essentially schematize. It is NOT a book of science, or philosophy or psychology or law or morals or ethics or religion though occasionally it does refer to all these accurately and reliably.

The central subject of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is ONE SINGULAR PERSON – the Messiah. The central mission of the Messiah is REDEMPTION. The WAY of Redemption is the same in the Old and the New Testaments. To be effective, a testament involves the death of the Testator. The DEATH here is from the JUDGMENT of ‘Capital Punishment’. The Judgment is pronounced by the Creator Testator on a WILLFULLY rebellious creation. The Creator Testator takes the judgment upon Himself. The judgment is CANCELLED for ever through the RESURRECTION of the Creator Testator, to those who WILLINGLY accept it. Now, this is the Bible in representative forms of the Old and the actualities of the New Testaments. Note: A substitute term for Testament is Blood Covenant. Covenant alone will not do it.

Noetic