How do we know the true word of God? (Edited title)

[butchharden]

i have been reading about differences in bible translations.also the scriptures were written many years after the lord Jesus died for us .then they were written not by the apostles but other people. how do we really know what the true word of God is. with the bible being revised over and over . obviously leaving out some phrases or words that can change the meaning

 

[babs57]

One important thing to remember is that it is the Holy Spirit at work in our scriptures. Even though translations seem to differ, we can know that the Truth is calling us through them, to come closer to God.

One of the things I like to point out to people who have doubts about the accuracy of the scriptures, is that of all the ancient texts we have, from all the cultures and places, the scriptures have been the most faithfully preserved in their origional integrity. So, we have pieces of manuscripts that go back many hundreds of years, and pieces of the same text that are from a more recent time. But the the renderings of the script will be virtually the same. It is true that there are some minor differences, and that some things may appear to have been added that may not have been there origionally. On the other hand, they may have been! There are also some things that may be missing. But what we do know is that what we have is the most accurately rendered collection of books ever.

That being said, it is useful to note that there are different “kinds” of translations. There are very literal translations, (each word being literally translated), and there are some that are not so literal, using the meaning of certain phrases rather than the literal translation. For instance, what would you say the meaning of "cool!" is? Does it mean lack of warmth, or very fashionable? You have to know the context it is being used in. "Raining cats and dogs" doesn’t actually mean “raining cats and dogs”, does it? But we find these kinds of phrases in ancient liturature, as well as modern. Then, there are also translations that are called “dynamic equivalancy” translations, which really sort of re-say what is being said, only in modern language. For instance, 1Kings 1:1 “Now King David was old and stricken in years, and they covered him in clothes, but he gat no heat.” might become, “Kind David was always cold because of his great age, even though they bundled him up.”

My suggestion to you is to read from several different translations. Also, if you get an Interlinear bible, and a lexicon to go with it, you can look up the origional Hebrew or Greek for yourself.

Blessed Reading!! [BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]

 

[Julia_Mae]

i have been studying differences ibible verses. how do we know the true word of god when everything is mostly secondhand knowledge from years later and then revised over and ovar leaving out important words or phrases?

You ask the Church.

 

[Rainaldo]

i have been studying differences ibible verses. how do we know the true word of god when everything is mostly secondhand knowledge from years later and then revised over and ovar leaving out important words or phrases?

Funny how people never say that about biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, history textbooks, newspaper articles (well, sometimes).

If I told you stories about my childhood, and my sister told you hers, would you expect both of us to say the exact same things in the exact same order using the exact same words?

And if we told you stories from our parents’ childhoods, what would you expect?

Remember, these are not things that just happened once while we were not really paying attention. These are stories that we have heard and have been told over and over again all our lives, and we know them backwards and forwards. They are not going to “change” over time and we are not making them up,

So why are you holding the Bible to a tougher standard?

 

[babs57]

Regarding what you said about people other than the apostles writing the Gospels, well…

Many scholars are pretty sure that the apostle Matthew wrote Matthew, that it was Mark (sometimes referred to as John Mark, the guy who traveled with Paul and Barnabas, and the guy who was a sort of secretary to Peter) that wrote Mark, that it was Luke (another guy who traveled with Paul, who also wrote Acts) who wrote Luke, and finally, most people attribute the Gospel of John to John himself (as well as Revelation).

It seems like these people were close enough to the events and people to get it right.

[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]

 

[ahs]

This is a great question. How do we really know the Bible we are reading is giving us the true message it was intended to give? One can’t very well rely on oneself for the answer (evidenced by the 20,000+ denominations today)…and Scripture doesn’t say “the following message is preserved in its original intent and is to be understood in the following way…”

We have to have some Authority that can tell us this. I believe Christ provided us with a source of such information when He established a Church and handed Peter, and only Peter, the Keys to the Kingdom and told His Apostles, and only His Apostles, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” and that they would be guided by teh Holy Spirit in all Truth.

 

[babs57]

This is a great question. How do we really know the Bible we are reading is giving us the true message it was intended to give? One can’t very well rely on oneself for the answer (evidenced by the 20,000+ denominations today)…and Scripture doesn’t say “the following message is preserved in its original intent and is to be understood in the following way…”

We have to have some Authority that can tell us this. I believe Christ provided us with a source of such information when He established a Church and handed Peter, and only Peter, the Keys to the Kingdom and told His Apostles, and only His Apostles, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” and that they would be guided by teh Holy Spirit in all Truth.

That’s right. We trust the church, as Julia Mae said. After all, it was there in the beginning and has been faithfully passed down to us.

 

[fisherman_carl]

i have been reading about differences in bible translations.also the scriptures were written many years after the lord Jesus died for us .then they were written not by the apostles but other people. how do we really know what the true word of God is. with the bible being revised over and over . obviously leaving out some phrases or words that can change the meaning

The word of God comes to us in two ways: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. And these are transmitted authoritatively through the Magisterium of the Church. No translation of the bible is guaranteed to be without error. However the doctrines on faith and morals from the Church. And the original message the authors conveyed in the bible is without error.

"The Apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ was sent from God. Christ, therefore, is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ. Both of these orderly arrangements, then, are by God’s will. Receiving their instructions and being full of confidence on account of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and confirmed in faith by the word of God, they went forth in the complete assurance of the Holy Spirit, preaching the good news that the Kingdom of God is coming. Through countryside and city they preached; and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. "

• Letter to the Corinthians, (20), St. Clement, bishop of Rome, AD 80

“Take care, therefore, to be confirmed in the decrees of the Lord and of the Apostles, in order that in everything you do, you may prosper in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in Son and in Father and in Spirit, in beginning and in end, together with your most reverend bishop; and with that fittingly woven spiritual crown, the presbytery; Jesus Christ was subject to the Father, and the Apostles were subject to Christ and to the Father; so that there may be unity in both body and in spirit.”

• Letter to the Magnesians, (47a), St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, AD 110

 

[inkaneer]

I think the OP’squestion is not aimed at the Bible in general but rather at which translation of the Bible. Here tyhe answer is simple. The writings of the Bible are considered inspired only in their original language. The old phrase, “It loses something in the translation” is very appropriate here. There are problemsin translating Koine Greek into modern language, especially English. So picking up a Bible and reading a verse does not guarantee that one would understand the verse as originally written. This is a problem that affects protestants particulary as Catholics have access to the early church writers who, in many cases heard the Apostles preach or were only slightly removed in time from the Apostolic Age. Protestant insistance on sola scriptura and personal interpretation of the scriptures, however, removes the early church writers as a resource. Thus the wide diversion of protestant beliefs.