Sunday School-The Word Of God or "words just words"

Via-Jer's Notes

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

How many times have you heard that the Bible is the "Word of God"?  I suspect that if you are a Christian you have heard it your entire life. Depending on your  denomination and the teachings of your particular denomination the Bible is the core of your faith and regardless of of how much emphasis your particular denomination puts on the Bible there is no doubt that the Christian Bible is the foundation of all Christian theology and the underpinning for all its teachings about man's relationship with God.

As I have written before this unwavering belief in the Bible as the literal words of God has wreaked havoc on the Christian church.

The idea that scriptures are the Word of God and to be taken literally and without dispute has turned many an inquiring and I might say logical mind away from the faith.

It has led to hostilities against Christians by those whose only crime is common sense. It has attempted to defeat logic and science instead of embracing them for the glory of God.

Simple common sense would show that the Bible, though much of it is inspired by God can not be viewed as either infallible or completely literal. Even those parts of the Bible that a spiritual person might recognize as truly inspired have been so corrupted by man's hand as to be  of little actual spiritual value.

To put it simply, you can not know the truth that will set you free, if the truth has been edited out.

Take the passage at the top of the page as an example. There was an Apostle named Paul who in the first century actually did write a letter to a man named Timothy. All that is necessary to know what Paul wrote is to translate the letter  from its original Greek to English, or whatever language you speak. It is true that translating languages can sometimes be more an art than a science but for the most part the general  meaning of what someone says or writes in one language can be conveyed in another.

Currently there are at least 40 different translations of the Bible into the English language-why? The sources from which the translations, both Hebrew and Greek have not changed so why are there so many different translations into English? If all these various translations were the same or very similar you would say it is just a matter of the various publishers wanting to get in on the Bible market. To some extent this is true, but the fact is that all these various translations are not the same, in fact they can be very different even changing the entire meaning of what is said.

Christians use the Bible as teaching tools so a passage such as the one at the top of the page would be used to teach the proper way to approach the study of scripture, "the word of truth". In fact that is precisely what Paul was instructing Timothy, his follower and an early Christian pastor, in this portion of the letter. So today a Christian would read this passage or a minister would quote this passage for guidance on how to approach the study of the Bible. Pretty straight forward right?

If you go here you will see all the English translations of 2 Timothy 2:15. If the Bible is "The Word Of God" why are there so many versions of it and why are they so different? Let's just take one small segment of the above verse "rightly dividing the word" as an example. A list of the different translations for this short phrase leaving out obvious duplications and very similar translations

• rightly dividing the word
• handling aright the word
• interprets the message
• correctly analyzing and accurately dividing the Word of Truth.
• deals straightforwardly with the Word
• teaches only the true message
• cutting in a straight line the word
• applies the true teaching in the right way
• use the word of truth to the best advantage.
• guiding the word of truth along a straight path.
• laying out the truth plain and simple
• uses the true teaching in the right way.
• correctly explains the word
• Tell the true message in the right way.
• treating the word of truth.

As I said there really was a Paul who really did write a letter to Timothy. Now to "rightly divide" or "correctly analyze" scriptures is nothing at all like "teaching", "explaining" or "laying out" scriptures and certainly is not the same  as , "deals straightforwardly",or " use the word of truth to the best advantage". 

All of the above purported instructions from Paul to Timothy might be good advice, depending on your view it might even be better advice than Paul actually gave, but the purpose of a Biblical translation is not to improve on the "Word of God" or change it is it?

Taking such liberties with  translations is nothing new, in fact it is as old as the Bible itself. From the dawn of  Christianity, men  have "interpreted" scriptures for their purpose. Unfortunately these mistranslated or misrepresented verses combined with fallible or even corrupt humans have distorted the truth rather than reveal it.

I did not choose the above scripture at random, though I probably could have and gotten similar results, modern Christianity being basically a seeker of narratives rather than of truth.  If within the Bible there are God inspired words then we must know what the actual words are, not what some ecclesiastical leader or scholars preferred words or doctrine are. As the man Jesus said (New International Version) when he walked the Earth, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."

If you do believe that God is speaking to us through Paul through his letter to Timothy, don't you think it is important to know what Paul actually instructed Timothy? If anyone can just insert what they think he should have said rather than what he did say, why bother reading the Bible at all.

Well not surprisingly the most accurate translation is the one you will find the least in the dozens of various Bible translations available to the public. Paul used the Greek word orthotomeo which means dividing or more accurately dissecting or to be even more accurate "cutting in a straight line" Obviously when referring to the scriptures a Greek word  that translates into something akin to cutting straight is more accurately defined as dividing rather than handling or teaching.

This "dividing" translation, which is how the King James version has translated the passage for centuries now, creates a problem for the common Christian narrative. If in fact Paul is instructing Timothy to rightly divide the word of truth that presupposes that scriptures must be dissected in order to find the truth. Remember Paul instructed Timothy to be a workman in pursuit of this important knowledge.

Some people reading this may think that this is way out there, that the Bible is the Word of God and that's that. Well I would just point to the the single verse we have just dissected and the fact that we have multiple translations that  greatly vary the meaning of the verse.  Is that any way to treat the supposed irrefutable Holy Word of God? Knowing that men are not only fallible but prone to corruption is it not possible that the "devils had his due" when it comes to our understanding of scriptures? I would say the chances are pretty good, actually knowing what I know there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind or more importantly in my spirit that most of Christian doctrine and teachings are to put it mildly, unGodly.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Therefore let no man glory in men. 

Over the coming Sundays I will be making posts on the Bible and Christianity. For those who visit Jer's Place, don't worry I'll still be posting on politics etc. but I feel led to unleash  a lifetime of Christian study and knowledge on the world :) Feel free to ignore the posts if you wish though if you read them with an open mind you may begin to see God and Christianity in an entirely different light over time. My purpose is only to plant seeds, God will give the increase if it be  His will. Truth be told I need this more than anyone who may actually read it.

I will be setting up a new Tab at the top of the page called Bible Study where these posts will be available along with any other spiritual or religious items I wish to save and share, I recommend that you read the post I linked above which is sort of a companion piece to this one.

God Blesses Us All
Jer