Bible - Why Bother? #4 Series

? Transition: Where ever you fall in the debate about what is to be called the inspired word of God, the earlier believing communities gathered these writings, claiming them as the texts by which they would lead their lives and derive their understanding of God, the world and one another.

? The primary language of the day was at first Hebrew, transitioned to Greek, then in the 4th century to Latin and then in the 1390, the entire Bible was translated from the Latin to English. This was so shocking to the established church that some actually wanted John Wycliffe and his associates tried as heretics. It was in 1536, that another translator was tried and burned at the stake for his work, William Tyndale. Do you find it as fascinating as I do that just the change in language (words really) created such an uproar.

? I was hanging out with my family and some of the next generation on father’s day. I was amazed at the difference in language between generations. Just say cool to a person over 80 and see how they respond. Or use the word hook-up with the next generation to describe getting together for coffee. The list is endless but the point is language has a big influence on our perception of the world. I think its becoming even more important as we add technology in the mix. Different mediums, like texting, the phone, face-time, email and even plain old paper change how we receive and perceive messages.

? NEW SLIDE: It’s why there is always some discussion about which Bible translation a person uses. The different translations can affect the way one process the information.

? This is a great chart of differing translations of God’s Word. (Scale of translation slide-p.28)

? Read the Different translations – RSV, NSRV, NIV, TNIV, ESV, etc.

? The translations all vary slightly depending upon the translators’ philosophy and views of what is the most accurate form of the biblical text. This is often called textual criticism and there is two forms:

• Formal correspondence (word for word) vs. dynamic equivalence (Paraphrases). Formal correspondence attempts to get a word for word translation and Dynamic tries to get as close to the original meaning taking into account nuances in the original language.

• Most translations fall somewhere between the two extremes. KJV, NKJV, RSV lean closer to original wording and structure. NRSV, NIV,NNIV are one step closer trying to make the text more readable while remaining faithful to some language and some structure of the original.

? I remember a few years ago, I was up in the youth room and a youth brought in a youth bible based in street slang. It was so funny to watch the kids listen to the reading and then compare it to the NIV text. There was a line in the Old Testament from Moses and the 10 commandments that read: “Yo Dudes, Let’s chill it on the sleeping around scene!” We were howling about the words used but the kids did say the comparison was somewhat helpful. There are all types of these translations out in the world, the deeper question for some is does it remain the inspired word of God?