One Of The Reasons I Find It Difficult To Take The Bible Seriously

[sooda]

Earlier you said you believe the Hebrews were a tribe of Canaanites, so there is no reason they would be anything other than landless and impoverished also or have any reason to demonize the other Canaanites.

They were fringe people unaffiliated and landless... The other Canaanites were not.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I disagree. Just because you believe the flood is a myth or you only accept information interpreted through the perspective which denies the flood, does not negate the character or validity of someone or the reliability of a source.

I can show how we know the flood story to be a myth, though I will have to ask you some questions first. And please, let's not make false accusations. I do not "deny" the flood myth, I refute it.

When you use a source that believes a story so fantastical that anyone that paid attention to science in high school could refute then that source is not worth anything in a debate. Sooner or later one must lie to support those views.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I have already said that God is Spirit and therefore cannot be tested by naturalistic means, but that He must be sought in other ways, so that would be up to you...or not.

That is just handwaving. It is not a definition.

 

[Skwim]

But .....but......

It's all divinely inspired!

That and wooden nickle will get you kicked out of the running for a Pulitzer prize.

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[Evangelicalhumanist]

May be instead of Googling find time to read Jaynes.

Why? I've never seen anything to suggest that this is an important person to pay attention to.

 

[74x12]

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Lack of consistency among it various translations.


Take the four Bible verses below, which should make any student of the Christian religion tear their hair out in exasperation.


9 different translations of Philippians 3:8, "Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. . . ."

Substitutes:

Refuse
Garbage
Rubbish
Filth
Worthless
Less than nothing
Manure
Sewer trash
​

So, which is it?


10 Different versions of John 14:2 "In My Father’s house are many mansions;"

Substitutes:

Places
Dwellings
Dwelling places.
Room
Room to spare
Rooms
Abodes
Places-to-stay
Homes​

So, which is it?


11 different translations of Isaiah 45:7 ". . .I make peace, and create evil; "

Substitutes:

Disaster
Calamity
Doom
Woe
Sorrow
Trouble(s)
Bad times
Discords
Hard times
​

So, which is it?

12 different translations of Psalm 10:5 "His ways are always grievous;"

Substitutes:

Firm
Prosper
Secure
Twisted
Successful
Succeed
Prosperous
Endure
Well
Defouled
Pain​

So, which is it?


Then there are reference in one Bible that are simply omitted in another. Take Mark 9:46 where the KJV says: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

Now, quite a few translations (26) do include references to the worm, but quite a few do not. Their version of Mark 9:46 reads:

CEV
You would be better off to go into life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

TLB
Better be lame and live forever than have two feet that carry you to hell.

NIRV
It would be better to enter God’s kingdom with only one foot than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

MSG
You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire.

Phillips
It is better for you to enter life maimed than to keep both your hands and go to the rubbish-heap,​

Other verses also disappear . Take Matthew 18:11 where in the KJV it says “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” But in some translations the verse is missing altogether , although it may make mention of the verse and its source in a footnote. Translations such as

(CEV) Verse removed
(NIV) Verse removed.
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
​

Personally, any book that has so many inconsistency would be extremely difficult to take seriously no matter what else it has to say. Of course there's always the up side in that a person can choose whatever version best fits one's theology and be comfortable that it's backed up by the Good Book.

.
.

Then learn Hebrew/Greek

 

[Skwim]

Then learn Hebrew/Greek

Are you suggesting that when I do I'll be better able to interpret ancient Bible sources than the scholars who have devoted their whole careers to doing just that so as to put together the most accurate Bibles possible? Surely you jest.

.

 

[Lionel Refson]

Read the Bible a very different way.
Start at the beginning with one objective to find God, remembering that God is Perfection in all things
Reject anything that is biased to one race or religion. Reject anything that is tribal or spurious
You will get to Genesis 9:19 and then stop.ie after The Blessing and the Covenant
Then you will understand.
Read my book/website if you need more help understanding.

 

[1213]

.

Lack of consistency among it various translations.


Take the four Bible verses below, which should make any student of the Christian religion tear their hair out in exasperation.


9 different translations of Philippians 3:8, "Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. . . ."

Substitutes:

Refuse
Garbage
Rubbish
Filth
Worthless
Less than nothing
Manure
Sewer trash
...​

.

I find it difficult to take you seriously, if you see some meaningful difference in the meaning of those translations.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Are you suggesting that when I do I'll be better able to interpret ancient Bible sources than the scholars who have devoted their whole careers to doing just that so as to put together the most accurate Bibles possible? Surely you jest.

.

It does aid one's confirmation bias enormously. Of course that still does not answer why there are so many different believers with such contradicting interpretations of doctrine. How many thousands of different sects of Christianity are there?

 

[Skwim]

I find it difficult to take you seriously, if you see some meaningful difference in the meaning of those translations.

See post 21

.

 

[Skwim]

It does aid one's confirmation bias enormously. Of course that still does not answer why there are so many different believers with such contradicting interpretations of doctrine. How many thousands of different sects of Christianity are there?

Don't know about sects, but . . .

". . .according to the World Christian Encyclopedia there are at least 33,000 Christian denominations in the United States."
source
​

Pretty much something for every possible Christian theology there is. A cherry picker's orchard of denominations.

.

.

 

[Faithofchristian]

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Lack of consistency among it various translations.


Take the four Bible verses below, which should make any student of the Christian religion tear their hair out in exasperation.


9 different translations of Philippians 3:8, "Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. . . ."

Substitutes:

Refuse
Garbage
Rubbish
Filth
Worthless
Less than nothing
Manure
Sewer trash
​

So, which is it?


10 Different versions of John 14:2 "In My Father’s house are many mansions;"

Substitutes:

Places
Dwellings
Dwelling places.
Room
Room to spare
Rooms
Abodes
Places-to-stay
Homes​

So, which is it?


11 different translations of Isaiah 45:7 ". . .I make peace, and create evil; "

Substitutes:

Disaster
Calamity
Doom
Woe
Sorrow
Trouble(s)
Bad times
Discords
Hard times
​

So, which is it?

12 different translations of Psalm 10:5 "His ways are always grievous;"

Substitutes:

Firm
Prosper
Secure
Twisted
Successful
Succeed
Prosperous
Endure
Well
Defouled
Pain​

So, which is it?


Then there are reference in one Bible that are simply omitted in another. Take Mark 9:46 where the KJV says: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

Now, quite a few translations (26) do include references to the worm, but quite a few do not. Their version of Mark 9:46 reads:

CEV
You would be better off to go into life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

TLB
Better be lame and live forever than have two feet that carry you to hell.

NIRV
It would be better to enter God’s kingdom with only one foot than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

MSG
You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire.

Phillips
It is better for you to enter life maimed than to keep both your hands and go to the rubbish-heap,​

Other verses also disappear . Take Matthew 18:11 where in the KJV it says “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” But in some translations the verse is missing altogether , although it may make mention of the verse and its source in a footnote. Translations such as

(CEV) Verse removed
(NIV) Verse removed.
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
​

Personally, any book that has so many inconsistency would be extremely difficult to take seriously no matter what else it has to say. Of course there's always the up side in that a person can choose whatever version best fits one's theology and be comfortable that it's backed up by the Good Book.

.
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There lays your problem, in those books that you listed, man incorporated his teachings in them.
Where as the king James 1611, taking from the scriptures, of the Hebrew and Greek language and translated into English language.
As they did the best they could with what limited tools they had at that time.

 

[Muffled]

Gosh, I would have included talking snakes and donkeys in the list somewhere!

I believe I can't imagine why unless you are viewing it too literally.

 

[Muffled]

I sincerely doubt that. In fact I am sure that you cannot support that claim. For example I understand Genesis better than you do since you think that it actually happened.

I believe you just justified my claim. Your claim to understand is mired in falsehood.

 

[Muffled]

Sorry, but that is a lame excuse. Unless you can support your claims it is pure personal attack. And your claims of only the spiritual can understand the Bible is refuted by the constant disagreements between sects.

I believe there would not be differences if the people were equally inspired. Differences tells me that some people are mired in their own predilections and traditions rather than being spiritual.

 

[usfan]

Lack of consistency among it various translations.

Your Anglocentric bias is showing.

How can you blame the bible for varying English translations? English has changed a lot, over the centuries. That is a lame reason to reject the biblical manuscripts..

Aren't you sick of posting negative threads like this?

I also noted that your excellent rebuttal, which examined each word in question from the original Greek, was ignored, in favor of pounding the propaganda narrative.

The goal of many, in these forums, is not understanding, knowledge, or enlightenment, but to push a narrative.. an anti-christian caricature to smear it as an ideology.

That seems to be the intent of the OP, not a sincere question about English translations..

 

[Subduction Zone]

I believe you just justified my claim. Your claim to understand is mired in falsehood.

This is where you are demonstrably wrong. If your God cannot lie then the book of Genesis cannot be true. The evidence against the book of Genesis is so clear that the only other possibility is that your God put false and misleading evidence down if you want to claim that Genesis happened. In other words when you claim that Genesis is true you also claim that your God is a liar. You can't have it both ways.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I believe there would not be differences if the people were equally inspired. Differences tells me that some people are mired in their own predilections and traditions rather than being spiritual.

The difference are so endless that you would have to claim that over 99% were "not inspired". That almost certainly includes you. But if there was no inspiration at all the huge variation is what we would expect. Also the huge number of variations tell us that your God is incompetent when it comes to passing his story down. Once again you insult your version of God.

 

[Skwim]

How can you blame the bible for varying English translations? English has changed a lot, over the centuries. That is a lame reason to reject the biblical manuscripts..

What does it mean to "blame the bible for varying English translations"? Wouldn't the only entities to blame for the different translations be the translators? Of course it would.

The goal of many, in these forums, is not understanding, knowledge, or enlightenment, but to push a narrative.. an anti-christian caricature to smear it as an ideology.

Interesting that you know this to be a fact; as if you have gotten into the minds of these "many."

That seems to be the intent of the OP, not a sincere question about English translations..

I didn't frame the OP in the form of a question so why expect it should be one?

.