Do you see how this could be construed to give carte blanche permission to dismiss any if not all english versions of scripture? Have we NOTHING to lean on without a working knowledge of greek and hebrew? Us poor shmucks are believing something akin to fairy tales according to the educated class or worse yet, we believe what we are TOLD to believe! Is there no anchor for the barely literate? Can a person have a glimmer of hope of Heaven if we read the wrong (read that "English") Bible? Better yet, is God so powerless as to be unable to grant to a society His Word and they believe in a hope impacting eternity? What about that darkened class of humanity void of an english Bible prior to the "AV" or Wycliff or even Gutenberg's press? Or the child with little to no knowledge of the loftier things to believe in something- ANYTHING!?Old notions of every kind, and most of all religious notions, are hard to dislodge from the mind. It does not matter how unscriptural they may be, or illogical, or even absurd, if only they have been believed for generations, if only they have been entertained by good and learned men, if only they have found a way into the current versions of the Bible, they are reverently received, and become “fixed” ideas.
The original Scriptures were divinely inspired, and therefore all their statements on a given subject are in full accord one with another; but the translations of the Scriptures, like the ecclesiastical systems which produced them, were not inspired, and the peculiar reverence frequently given to their opinions is not grounded in reasons, and would often be amusing if it were not sad. Traditions of good men and current versions (even though “authorized”) are broken reeds to lean upon, and those relying thereon are certain to experience disappointment.
Vladimir Gelesnoff (1877-1921)
Unsearchable Riches, vol. 5
It's not an Hegelian dialect, @Maddog. Gelesnoff isn't suggesting that one should throw the baby out with the bath water -- rejoice about the baby, and live confidently with the knowledge that the overall essence of the baby is a Gift from God, but also recognize that, before one concludes that the baby is a full manifestation of God and somehow free from the potential to behave in some ways in completely nefarious manners, be willing to do some deep diving into the background of the particular Version one prefers to limit one's Bible study to, in order to be able to learnedly throw out the bath water and bring in some new soap and water to prevent coming to global conclusions about minutiae in proof texts.Do you see how this could be construed to give carte blanche permission to dismiss any if not all english versions of scripture? Have we NOTHING to lean on without a working knowledge of greek and hebrew? Us poor shmucks are believing something akin to fairy tales according to the educated class or worse yet, we believe what we are TOLD to believe! Is there no anchor for the barely literate? Can a person have a glimmer of hope of Heaven if we read the wrong (read that "English") Bible? Better yet, is God so powerless as to be unable to grant to a society His Word and they believe in a hope impacting eternity? What about that darkened class of humanity void of an english Bible prior to the "AV" or Wycliff or even Gutenberg's press? Or the child with little to no knowledge of the loftier things to believe in something- ANYTHING!?
I am not defending all common english renderings of scripture nor the translators with a bias or prejudice but would not a Just and Omnipotent and Omniscient Creator have the ability to give common man a legitimate hope of truth? Does humanity need the "whole counsel" of God or is the simple truth contained in a 2 cent "Chick Tract" enough to garner faith leading to Heaven? I am reminded of the unnamed criminal who found the smile of a savior as he asked, "remember me when you come into your kingdom." Am I so crazy or mad as to believe this Jesus and the words of eternal life? Perhaps.
"No plan survives contact with the enemy." General David Petraeus
I wish he had said, "You can never understand what love is until you can break bread with Judas." Because love doesn't come in amounts the way desire does, which the word "love" is unfortunately confused with. Love comes only from God, and you either have it or you don't, just as you either have or don't have the Spirit. You don't possess either in varying degrees, although our sinful nature can inhibit the expression of either and cause the appearance of variation. This confusion is what leads to the erroneous thought that a man's love will be divided if he takes another wife. That error of thought is so bad, I know of women who are even adamantly refusing to give birth to more than one child because they are afraid they will be taking love away from the first child. That ain't love. That's not how it works. Love changeth not.“You can never ever understand the amount of love that God has for you until you have broken bread with Judas.”
Tore Maras