HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Sept. 12, 2006 It doesn't take a scholar or a professional academic to see the discrepancies and contradictions in the Bible. Without even knowing about the latest critical Bible research anyone can see the differences between the Creation story in Genesis 1 and the summary of Creation in Genesis 2. You also don't have to be a genius to know that the number 2 and the number 7 are not equal. So, in the story of Noah's Ark God tells Noah to take seven each of all the clean animals into the ark and then a couple verses later he tells him to take two of every clean animal. Obviously this doesn't add up. Something is wrong with the story. In another example of Biblical errancy we find Abraham having a face-to-face conversation with God in Genesis chapter 18. This contradicts what God supposedly told Moses at Mt. Sinai. In Exodus 33:20 God allegedly says to Moses, "But...you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Of course contradictions like this are what make Bible study so tenuous and controversial. How can we know what is true and what isn't? These kinds of discrepancies cast doubt not only on the Book of Books but also on the faith of the believers themselves who claim that it is indeed the inspired and infallible holy Word of God. It also brings up another question which seems to be unrelated at first glance. What was the language of God? If the Bible is his Word wouldn't it make sense that he would write it in the language he ordained? Would that be Hebrew or Greek? Does he even like English? At this point we can hear theologians and seminarians voicing their objections. It has long been assumed that Biblical translation was a work of love and devotion since the Great Commission compels us to "...preach the gospel to every creature." The only way to do this, they assert, is to translate the Bible into as many languages as possible in order to convert sinners to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course this has been an issue since the very beginning of Biblical composition because we already know that the Bible was written in at least three different languages. The Old Testament was written for the most part in Hebrew with certain late passages in Daniel and the prophets written in Aramaic. The entire New Testament was written in various forms of Greek. The problems start as soon as you endeavor to translate these original manuscripts into anything other than their original languages. A brief synopsis reveals that the first major translation of the entire Bible was done by Jerome and was commissioned by the Catholic Church in about 400 CE. It was done in Latin and became the main Bible used by the Catholic Church for 1000 years. The problem with this translation was two-fold. First, any translation loses something if you cannot find an accurate word in the new language that portrays the old word correctly. This was true of the Latin Vulgate and is evident in words like "nephilim" from Genesis that was translated as "giganteum" by Jerome. Later English translators accepted Jerome's account and so in Genesis 6:4 we have the curious statement by this writer that there were indeed "giants" living in the earth in those days. The second problem with the Latin Vulgate is simply that most Europeans were illiterate back then and so no one could read the Bible for themselves. Even if they had been educated, Latin was not the common language of the people even though it was used by those in power and had been spread across Europe by the Romans. Add to this the fact that the Bible was widely unavailable until the printing press was invented in the 15th century, so the average person had to depend on the priest to tell them what the Bible really said. With the Protestant Reformation came the greatest English translation the world has ever seen. King James of England commissioned this huge project solely for the purpose of undermining the authority of the Catholic Church and establishing England as a dominant Protestant country in the struggle for power in Western Europe. He used Jerome's Latin Vulgate for source material as well as the Masoretic texts and other fragments then available to ensure the greatest accuracy possible in a translation up to that time. The result was the King James Version of the Bible and it was the sole version used extensively in both Europe and America for the next 300 years. When the British Empire expanded to include many African and Asian countries, the KJV went with it. In fact its use was so widespread and pervasive that it became revered in its own right as containing the absolute, inerrant, infallible Word of God. Anyone with any sense at all can see the ludicrous nature of this belief. As noted above the mere translation process itself contains unavoidable errors and encourages the promotion of mistranslation and misinterpretation. Additionally, when any book becomes revered to the point of veneration it is impossible to seriously pursue the truth about the original intent and motives of the original writers. Skip ahead now to the late 19th century and we see a proliferation of English translations due to the fact that archeology has given us insights into ancient Hebrew and early Christian cultures that were unavailable previously. This caused widespread commotion among Christians because until now they had been taught that the KJV was the Word of God and was not to be tampered with. However, some of these upstart newer versions actually had the audacity to change some of the more famous and reliable scriptures implying doubt as to their veracity. The most famous new translation was the Revised Standard Version which actually reflected the most accurate and extensive research into the original languages of the Bible. While it was openly embraced by academics and Bible critics, it was soundly rejected by fundamentalists and evangelicals. In 1973 an ecumenical council released The New International Version of the Bible amid much fanfare and controversy. The council members came from all walks of life and many different denominations so that any particular bias could be avoided. The result was an easy to read English Bible that appealed to conservative evangelicals, moderates and liberals as well as to Catholics and reflecting the doctrinal beliefs of a wide variety of denominations which brought a sense of unity to Christianity as a whole. As of this date the NIV has largely replaced the KJV as the Bible of choice for most Christians. Why have I digressed into this short history of Bible translation? Merely to point out that the fact that the Bible even needed translation casts doubt on the accuracy of this book as the Word of God. How can it be when it does not exist for most people in its original language? Couldn't God in his infinite wisdom make the Bible (His Word) available to everyone in every language? Is this beyond his abilities as a supreme deity? I think the truth is a bit more disappointing than that. There is no perfect language nor is there one that is spoken by everyone in every culture throughout the world. English is gradually gaining ground but it is not perfect and changes with use over time so that the English of King James is not the English we use today in America. All this only goes to show that the Bible is a work of ancient religious literature and as such can never again be seriously considered to be the infallible Word of God. We have too much at stake in the future of our species to limit our evolution to the precepts of an archaic and contradictory book of human invention. It would be like doctors using leeches to cure illness. It would be like soldiers using bows and arrows to fight against tanks and machine guns. In other words, now that we know what we do we don't need the Bible to tell us how to live. We have plenty of reason, logic, science and common sense to guide us into the future and the Bible can stand as a sad reminder of the age of ignorance we have so recently overcome. That means that our very future depends on our ability to shake off the tyranny of ignorance by pursuing the truth about the universe and our place in it. There is no other choice. ------------ About the author: Keith Cantrell lives in a small town in Oregon where he was a fundamentalist, born-again, evangelical Christian for over 35 years. After many years of questioning and research he has finally become an agnostic. He has written a book entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Book" and it tells the history and origins of the Bible. It's the only book on the market that takes the Bible from cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation and explores who wrote it, where it came from and how it all got put together. It's the 21st century. Isn't it time you knew the truth about the Bible? This book is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks and Amazon.com. Read it and tell me what you think! After all, I could be wrong! Email: kwcantrell@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
