What Do Modern Bible Translators REALLY Think about the
Bible?
Granted, these are but a few quotes from the
numerous translators of modern day versions of the
bible, however, upon further study, you'll find that the
ideas and faith (or rather 'lack of') is found in
every circle of modern day translators.
Credits are given to the respective authors and their
books.
HIGHLIGHTS AND EMPHASIS ARE MINE
"Revelation has sometimes been understood to consist in
a holy book. ... Even on Christian soil it has sometimes
been held that the books of the Bible were practically
dictated to the writers through the Holy Spirit. ... I
DO NOT THINK THAT THIS IS THE DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN
POSITION.
If God once wrote His revelation in an inerrant book, He
certainly failed to provide any means by which this
could be passed on without contamination through human
fallibility.
... The true Christian position is the Bible CONTAINS
the record of revelation"
(Clarence T. Craig, The
Beginning of Christianity).
"The mere fact that a
tomb was found empty was CAPABLE OF MANY EXPLANATIONS.
THE VERY LAST ONE THAT WOULD BE CREDIBLE TO A
MODERN MAN WOULD BE THE EXPLANATION OF A PHYSICAL
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY"
(Ibid., Craig).
"The dates and figures found in the first five books of
the Bible turn out to be altogether unreliable"
(Julius Brewer, The
Literature of the Old Testament).
"The writers of the New Testament made mistakes in
interpreting some of the Old Testament prophecies"
(James Moffatt, The
Approach to the New Testament).
(William Albright, From
the Stone Age to Christianity)
"He [Jesus Christ] was given to overstatements,
in his case, not a personal idiosyncrasy, but a
characteristic of the oriental world"
(Henry F. Cadbury, Jesus, What Manner of Man?)
"As to the miraculous,
one can hardly doubt that time and tradition would
heighten this element in the story of Jesus"
(Ibid., Cadbury).
"A psychology of God, IF that is what Jesus was,
is not available"
(Ibid., Cadbury).
"According to the ENTHUSIASTIC TRADITIONS which had come
down through the FOLKLORE of the people of Israel,
Methuselah lived 969 years"
(Walter Russell Bowie,
Great Men of the Bible).
"The story of Abraham comes down from ancient times; and
how much of it is fact and how much of it is LEGEND, no
one can positively tell"
(Ibid., Bowie).
"WE DO NOT PRESS THAT GOSPEL [JOHN] FOR TOO GREAT VERBAL
ACCURACY IN ITS RECORD OF THE SAYINGS OF JESUS"
(Willard L. Sperry, Rebuilding Our World).
"This phrase [`Thus saith the Lord'] is an almost
unfailing mark of SPURIOUSNESS"
(William A. Irwin, The
Problem of Ezekiel).
"Only bigotry could bring
us to deny an EQUAL VALIDITY WITH THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
in the religious vision of men such as Zoraster or
Ikhnaton or, on a lower level, the unnamed thinkers of
ancient Babylonia" (Ibid., Irwin). (Note: In other words, he
thinks the Babylonian "religious" men were equal to the
prophets of God)
"The narrative of calling down fire from heaven upon the
soldiers sent to arrest him is PLAINLY LEGENDARY"
(Fleming James, The Beginnings of Our Religion).
"What REALLY happened at the Red Sea WE CAN NO LONGER
KNOW"
(Ibid., James).
"We cannot take the Bible as a whole and in every part
as stating with divine authority what we must believe
and do"
(Millar Burrows, Outline
of Biblical Theology).
A more recent illustration of Modernism comes from the
pen of John Shelby Spong, a bishop in the Episcopal
Church in America: (yes, the one who decided that the
abominable practice of the ordination of homosexuals as
priests is a good thing):
"Am I suggesting that these stories of the virgin birth
are not literally true? The answer is a simple and
direct `Yes.' Of course these narratives are not
literally true. Stars do not wander, angels do not sing,
virgins do not give birth, magi do not travel to a
distant land to present gifts to a baby, and shepherds
do not go in search of a newborn savior. ... To talk of
a Father God who has a divine-human son by a virgin
woman is a
mythology
that our generation would never have created, and
obviously, could not use. To speak of a Father God so
enraged by human evil
that he requires
propitiation for our sins that we cannot pay
and thus demands the death of the divine-human
son as a guilt offering is a ludicrous idea to our
century. The sacrificial concept that focuses on the
saving blood of Jesus that somehow washes me clean, so
popular in Evangelical and Fundamentalist circles, is by
and large repugnant to us today"
(John
Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop
Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, Harper, 1991, pp.
215,234).
Upon reading this damnable quote, it is no wonder that
homosexuals have a prominent place in the Apostate
Episcopal Church!
I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can say that I
WILL NOT use a modern translation of the bible that
was mishandled by these types of men who
cannot even follow the most basic teachings of holiness
and righteousness.
I refuse to take my instruction from men who cannot
understand the basic scriptures and who refuse to turn
away from their wickedness.
You, however, must decide for yourself. Who will YOU
follow?
