Plans for a Book on Biblical Texts and Translations

I am doing more research on the Biblical project, and I expect to write Biblical books from now on. For example, the I AM sermons in John would be a good topic that many could use.

The original text is neglected almost universally. One reason is the lack of Biblical languages in college and seminary. Augustana College provided two years of Greek in the 1960s, for those planning to attend seminary. Years later, when we stopped at their book store, they no longer sold Greek New Testaments. When I told the dean at Waterloo Seminary, Ontario, that I was taking Hebrew, he said, "Why? You won't get academic credit." I said, "To read the Old Testament in its original language." He was obsessed with counselling. Now that school is a separate university where the pastoral track is the least populated. 

Yale Divinity had endless opportunities for Hebrew and Greek Biblical studies. I took Genes in Hebrew for a semester, Thessalonians in Greek, and NT Christology where the languages were assumed. Notre Dame was fairly limited, as one might expect.

All seminaries have weakened the Biblical language requirements, whittling them down to a "summer Greek class" at best. 

Like most, I have never touched an ancient manuscript - unless my college transcript counts. People can buy photographed manuscripts, but they are rare and expensive. A Greek New Testament has notes to indicate what was allowed or omitted, but that is pretty limiting and rarely used.

I am saying - it is easy to fool a clergy population with "little Latin, and less Greek" and no Hebrew. (That is an old jab at the actor Shakespeare, somewhat expanded, because he was the frontman for the Earl of Oxford.)

I am not sure the clergy really care to learn about manuscripts and translations, even though the information is fascinating - and definitely central for understanding the Bible.

The book will consist of three parts:

1. Introducing books on manuscripts and translations.
2. Showing how the "rules" can be used to water down the text and reverse meanings.
3. The issues concerning the Greek New Testament, replacing a good text with a horrible one - the 1880 swindle.
4. Deceitful translations building upon the freedom to butcher the original text.

This will be written largely for the laity. I am going to use a little Greek, but not much.

The fish symbol spells out the titles of Jesus, which helped early Christians connect when meeting strangers. One would make the arch in the sand or soil. The second would scratch the other half of the fish, if he was a Christian. Otherwise, the first mark really meant nothing by itself.

After the Walther Book Is Done

 My first Greek New Testament was a Hort-Wescott.

A conversation with an MDiv made me consider the book to be written after Walther the American Calvin. I realized that a detective novel that I once planned was already on my bookshelves, ready to be written and released. The plot is simple - three men with a hidden agenda plot to get rid of the King James Version of the Bible and its text. Their labors were long, difficult, and packed with intrigues, lies, and Romanism. But they were not quite successful - Attempted Murder! - they longed to kill the traditional text of the Bible and its translation. They broke the foundations of Biblical understanding - as rationalists with chips on their stooped shoulders - and that provided the path for corrupt translations. Thus -

Attempted Murder: Broken Biblical Foundations and Corrupt Translations

The challenge is to gather information from my books on text criticism and translations. Next I need to explain matters so they make sense for those with little or no Greek and Hebrew - that is - the typical WELS-LCMS-ELS pastor.

My preference is always the King James Version, so I would like to see clergy and congregations move entirely away from the NIV-ESV broken Bibles. The text is the first, foundational issue for the Bible. If the text is butchered, as it is in the NIV-ESV, then the translation is an adiaphoron. Those heavily promoted and over-priced versions present a damaged product that reminds us of what the Bible once was. They are like Hollywood stars who have undergone far too many plastic surgery operations.

The evidence is there in black and white. The criminals let their laughable theories and fables remain in the archives, so the crime scene remains fresh and easy to examine.

This is just a sample. There is nothing wrong with the concept of text criticism, sometimes called Lower Criticism. The next stage was Higher Criticism, where the new ideas provided a basis for questioning the meaning of the Bible.

Text criticism looks for the best possible text. In the course of copying, there are easy to understand mistakes. Other mistakes come from careless copyists. Still other errors come from those with an agenda.

Wescott and Hort chose the worst sources for their Greek New Testament. As Bishop Wordsworth wrote, the two men changed 50 times as much as the project needed. What the pair loved most were the worst manuscripts, a tiny fraction of the thousands existing from ancient times. The overwhelming majority of texts are in complete agreement (minus the typos, or writos). Hort scorned them at the beginning and invented silly "laws" to explain his pernicious changes. Like arsenic, the poison was not immediately fatal but was slow acting.

Hort has his way now. Very few denominations allow the King James (and modern King James updates) to be discussed, let alone used. The Hort completely dominates all seminaries under the name Nestle-Aland edition - same style, same prejudice, same blunders, different brand.

Hence all translations begin with corruption.