(03-13-2022 01:27 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(03-13-2022 12:53 AM)JRsec Wrote:  I would strongly suggest you use texts which are 1948 or older as all after 1960 have political agendas baked into the translations, or worse paraphrases.

The original KJV used Latin translations used by the RCC and had a Royalist bias. The Leningrad Codex, the Vulgate and the Dead Sea Scrolls (at least most of them) and a working knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Aramaic will help you. Study of the customs of ancient Israelite and the custom of the surrounding Canaanite tribes as this will help with interpretation as well. Things which seem obscure can often easily be recognized if you know the customs of those cultures. If you use Lexicons you need to go back prior to 1948 for the same reasons. At seminaries you need to go to the archives section of the libraries to search for these books. Lexicons, alleged studies on ancient cultures, and interpretations of words and meanings have all been altered for political and sometimes denominational reasons since 1948, and the modern commentaries based on them as well. The truest materials are now in the archives and in some seminaries locked unless a professor clears you.

A mild example would be the Hebrew for "to kill". Three words exist. One means murder and manslaughter and it is the one used in the 10 commandments. Another is used for life taken in combat for your nation (tribe) or self defense. The third for executions. The last two are not the words used in the 10 commandments. I've known many a Veteran who labored under a sense of condemnation because this is not taught, my father was among them.

The more severe I won't discuss here and I think you can figure some of them out.

And we aren't even dealing with how it was pieced together and why.

Just some things to consider for those seeking truth.

As someone who had studied the Greek and Hebrew texts along side multiple English translations, none of that is really an issue for me.

God did not write His Word in a vacuum, the plan before the world was made was for it to be translated into multiple languages across the entire earth, particularly in the latter days. He never expected people to HAVE be theological experts on Canaanite culture to understand the key doctrines of the NT.

While there is no doubt clear examples where a deeper understanding of those cultures can bring deeper understanding to light (as well as a serious study of Hebrew and Greek), there is not one single key Christian doctrine that is dependent solely upon knowing any of those things.

The NT text is clearly designed to break past the language barriers by repeating and expounding an all key NT doctrinaires throughout the NT to pierce though any such losses in translation on vital doctrines. One of the most basic examples of this is that most of the NT books are written by Paul specifically to the Gentile Churches across Asian Minor who had a very limited understanding of the OT law and those other cultures. They were conversed pagans from completely different cultures.

Its purposely written and designed to simplify and explain those key doctrines a level that anyone from anywhere in the world can comprehend though careful study. Even for people on the other side of the planet living thousands of years later. That was God's intention from before He made the world.

And the entire Gospel is contained within, "Love God with your whole heart, with all of your soul, and mind." "And love your neighbor as yourself."

The first is from the Gospels and the latter from Paul and the Gospels. It's simple and to the point. How well are we doing?

When you have interpretations which call the sin at Sodom a violation of hospitality customs you have a major departure. When you have translations which downplay eschatology you have problems.

I wasn't addressing your study Eric. I was illustrating the extent of the effort that academia has undertaken to alter the interpretation of scripture and to manipulate the meaning of passages of the Bible to accomplish humanist ends and political ends. It affects hundreds of millions and when past interpretations are archived, removed from the stacks, and sometimes locked away it is an effort to erase "that old time religion" it is most definitely a problem. When Satan can't reach those who study Sola Scriptura, he alters what they read and study.

The message of Christ is even clearer than Paul's. "Go ye therefore and teach all nations to observe these things which I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the Earth" Of course even this is now translated until the end of the age. How nebulous. Faith therefore is best witnessed in action. And to that end I agree that study is less of a commission. But for those seeking scripture for truth and inspiration, accurate interpretations presented in an unbiased manner remain essential. And in the illustration of Veterans who feel judged seeing the differences in word study are essential. Some people will not believe you until they study it for themselves so you better know the best tools to recommend and the best place for them to start looking.

It's not one or the other. It's all of it that matters. After all it is life or death. My favorite Pauline scripture is, "If there are any among you who will not work, let them not eat." It's practical, but Christ never covered that one. You will find Paul to practice situational interpretations with nuance to fit the issues within particular churches. The fact that he does makes those letters all the more authentic.