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You don’t have to become an
expert in theology, linguistics, and textual
analysis to choose a Bible that is accurate and
reliable.
The key is knowing the
ingredients that produce a trustworthy
translation.
In a world shaped by postmodernism, the most
important ingredient is a clear understanding of
the supernatural nature of the Bible.
In
the first three articles of this series, we discussed
the right motive for Bible translation — to
accurately and faithfully translate the text
from the original languages into the language of
the reader. We also saw that we live in an age
of postmodern thinking about words and meaning.
As one textbook on translation puts it, the
focus of translation used to be on getting the
message right, but today the focus is on the
reader’s opinion of the message
(Nida & Taber,
Theory & Practice of Translation;
E.J. Brill, 1974; p. 1).
The Evil of Focusing on Reader Opinion
This evil mindset, the presumption that the
reader may take the place of God in determining
truth, has produced Bible versions in which
translators often arbitrarily change the
original words and meaning to please readers or
suit an agenda. The result is the production of
Bible versions that are linguistically and
spiritually corrupt.
In our time, the evil motive of political
correctness produces Bible versions that are
gender-neutral where the original text is
clearly gender-specific. Some even remove the
male references to God to avoid offending
certain readers. In one blasphemous feminist
version of the gospels, Jesus becomes “Judith”!
Some versions also mistranslate or even
eliminate words of the original that deal with
the sin of homosexuality, for fear of offending
some readers.
These are extreme examples (but sadly,
increasingly frequent ones). However, even some
Bible versions that appear to be safe choices,
ones that are endorsed by prominent Evangelicals
and find wide usage in the church, have serious
but sometimes less obvious problems of their
own. Sometimes postmodern thinking influences
translators. Sometimes translators alter the
authentic Word of God for what they believe are
good
reasons, but which are in fact bad ones.
Faced with the confusion of competing Bible
versions reflecting a mixture of motives, what
is the Christian to do? You don’t have to become
an expert in theology, linguistics, or textual
analysis in order to recognize problems, or to
choose a Bible that is accurate and reliable.
The key is knowing the ingredients that produce
a trustworthy translation of God’s Word.
Ingredient #1: Nothing But the Word of God
Finding the right Bible requires the right
starting point: We must recognize that
the actual text of the Bible, and nothing else,
is the Word of God.
The Bible is different from every other book in
the world. It is
the only supernatural Book.
From passages such as 2nd Peter 1:16-21, 2nd
Timothy 3:16-17, and 1st Corinthians chapter
2, we understand that God the Holy Spirit is the
Author of all Scripture. He
gave the words of Scripture to holy men of God
by inspiration without error in the original
manuscripts, so that those secondary authors
wrote not merely their own words, but the very
words of God.
Therefore, the Bible alone among all books bears
the attributes of God who gave it — holiness,
perfection, infallibility, inerrancy, and
absolute consistency. Therefore, the Bible alone
contains no contradictions, and is completely
accurate and authoritative in all subjects on
which it speaks, whether on history, science, or
spiritual matters. It is a unified revelation
from beginning to end. The Bible alone is God’s
supreme authority for mankind.
Dear friends, this is serious business. God
pronounces severe judgment upon those who would
add to, subtract from, or alter a single word of
the text of
His
Word (Deuteronomy 4:2-3, Proverbs 30:6,
Revelation 22:18-19). Tampering with even a
single word of the Bible can jeopardize the
sense of the whole. Such tampering hinders our
ability to accurately compare Scripture with
Scripture. It also hinders our ability to test
what we are taught by human teachers against
God’s Word itself, as the Bereans did in the
book of Acts (17:10-12).
Bible translators, and anyone who evaluates the
trustworthiness of a translation, must always
remember that no word of any man or church may
be substituted for, added to, or subtracted from
the Word of God. Doing so places the word of man
in authority over the Word of God. (For a more
in-depth discussion of these important points,
see the article,
“How Do We Know the Bible is
God’s Word When Human Beings Wrote It?” in
our
Bible Knowledgebase.)
Part 5
—
Ingredient #2: Authentic Source Texts
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