Hello everyone my names Matt im a 23 year old Muslim. I have been a Muslim my whole life (though not always truly practicing my faith) and have very little knowledge about Christianity and other Faiths. I would truly like to learn more about Catholicism especially.
Questions:
- How come there are many versions of the bible? Who altered them? Did they speak to God too? Im confused because there are so many versions how do I know which one is correct? Thanks.
- I have been told by Imams and Scholars at meetings and conferences etc that not a Single Word has been altered in our Holy Quran throughout 1400 years. Is this fact? I have been on Christian sites where they say this is not true though some of these sites seem a little suspect. I have been lurking here for a while and can tell that for the most part this is one of the most honest forums on the net!
I can’t comment on your second queston because I don’t know much about the authorship of the Quran.
In the case of the Bible, you need to be aware that the Old Testament is what the Jews would call the Jewish Scriptures, but in the Christian Bible the various Old Testament books have been re-arranged in categories (Pentateuch, History, Poetic books, Prophets, Psalms and Proverbs), whereas I understand the Jews had a different order. But the books are essentially the same. These were originally written in the Hebrew.
In the case of the New Testament, this comprises the Gospels which basically detail the ministry and sayings of Christ, the Acts of the Apostles which details some of the work of the early church, the Pauline letters and some other texts. Since Greek was the lingua fraca of the time, just as English is the predominant language today, they were generally written in Greek.
Somebody else has commented already on the linguistic origins and the subsequent Latin translation into the Vulgate version, since Peter and Paul went to Rome, were martyred there, and over time Rome became the head of the Western Christian Church. Being the heirs to the latin speaking Roman Empire, the official language of the church was Latin, hence the need for the Latin Vulgage version.
The Eastern Church, based in Constantinople, based it’s language on Greek, and even today the parts of Europe which were dominated by the Roman Church have a Latin based alphabet, and the parts dominated by the Eastern Church have a Greek based vocabulary. That’s why Russian letters seem similar to Greek, with a few additions and modificatons.
Since the early days, various manuscripts and parts of manuscripts have come to light which the earliest translators didn’t have. In particular the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948 had a significant impact.
The (English) King James Bible, after the Reformation took place, was a result of King James getting sick of all the arguments over the “correct interpretation”. He banged a few heads together, and had an official translation made which was then enforced as the official Bible in England. It had a poetic feel about it, being written in the time when educated Englishmen spoke like Shakespeare.
But it was still based on the original Bible texts as far as could be determined till then.
There are some quasi-Christian groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses which modilfy the Scriptures (to their eternal peril) to suit their preconceived prejudices. However they are not regarded as Christian in the full sense.
Of the numerous translations today, the fact is that most still say pretty much what the original texts stated. One word of caution, “The Living Bible” while a favourite of many, is in fact a commentary, and not an accurate translation. It both translates and explains at the same time. Strictly speaking, it’s not a Bible.
I’ve seen arguments myself about Bible translations, but unless you intend to become an expert in Bible studies, I’d suggest you get a modern version from a Catholic bookshop and stick to that. Or go to a Bible Society Bookshop and ask for a Catholic version of the Bible.
This may sound a bit complicated, but the Bible was written by quite a number of different author. It’s main purpose is to point to Jesus Christ. It’s a pointer, and He’s the object of the search. All through Jewish history God was working towards Christ’s coming. As He Himself said, “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I bring a sword, From now on …” He then went on to say that men would be divided over Him, and they are. Jews don’t accept Him as Messiah, Moslems regard Him as a prophet and not the Son of God, atheists deride Him, and families are divided over Him. Mormons try to say He’s an also-ran with Joseph Smith, and even within the Christian family, there are dissensions over His teachings.
And today there appears to be an increasing stand-off between Christianity and Islam, partly fuelled by Israel’s existence, home to the Jews. So despite what seems to be the increasing secularism of the West, it seems God refuses to take a back seat.
