walking by a Lutheran church: this we believe

As I mentioned before (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/11/walking-by-lutheran-church-no-930.html), I started reading "This We Believe" from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod website (http://www.wels.net/). I'm including two quotes that have made me think what it means to be a "true" Christian. Of course, I might be wrong.

Although I've heard the concept that the Old Testament predicted the coming of Jesus many times before, the words in the following quote made this concept clearer to understand and believe.

"5. We believe that the entire Bible is Christ-centered. In the Old Testament God repeatedly promised a divine deliverer from sin, death, and hell. The New Testament proclaims that this promised deliverer has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus himself says of the Old Testament, 'These are the Scriptures that testify about me' (John 5:39)."
http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/statements-beliefs/this-we-believe/gods-revelation

Maybe I'm desperate to understand and find God that I'm too naive to be eagerly attracted to any likable text (not saying that such text could be wrong, as of yet). I just fail to question my beliefs at times. I also fail to remember that people are imperfect and that human understanding and comprehension are painfully limited.

Then again I should point out that the following quote also from "This We Believe" makes lots of sense. We should keep in mind that some books referred to as the "true" or "best" interpretation of the Bible aren't quite the Word of God. Some of these translations could be biased or simply erroneously false willingly or not.

"11. We believe that the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament and the Greek text of the New Testament are the inspired Word of God. Translations of the Hebrew and Greek that accurately reflect the meaning of the original text convey God's truth to people and can properly be called the Word of God."
http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/statements-beliefs/this-we-believe/gods-revelation?page=0,1

Of course, we should admit and understand that it's hard to say which Bible's truer or better than another (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-bible-vs-your-bible.html). For the time being, I keep jumping from NRSV to KJV to WEB.

In all, the WELS website's got lots of good information to understand and reaffirm what it means to be a Christian. Nonetheless my curiosity doesn't mean that I'm planing to change churches any time soon. If there's one thing that I've learned and that's changed me, it's been the opportunity to be a servant of God by serving others. This last concept -- heavily driven into our minds at FAPC -- seems to be the truer meaning of being a Christian, at least to me within my limited humanoid understanding.

Geneva Bible (1599)

The English language has changed in the past four centuries or so (well 411 years to be precise).

For the past three weeks, I've been reading (or trying to read and make sense of) the Bible brought to the Americas by the Pilgrims -- the Geneva Bible of 1599 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Bible). It all started as a comment from a minister when we were talking about the different translations of the Bible and all the possible errors that these translations might have as the result of erroneous interpretations. As usual, I got curious.

For this little project that I decided to take, I installed the Geneva1599 module (http://www.crosswire.org/sword/modules/ModInfo.jsp?modName=Geneva1599) on Xiphos (the Bible study program that I currently use; http://www.xiphos.org/). This way I can read this version of the Bible side-by-side with other versions -- like KJV (1759) and WEB -- in order to have a guideline to the language used then -- many differences in the spelling of words (like "euill" instead of "evil").



For a better idea of what I mean regarding the possible errors in translations or interpretations, I'm including one of my favorite quotes of the Bible -- Psalms 23:1-6.

1 A Psalme of David. The Lord is my shepheard, I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to rest in greene pasture, and leadeth me by the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soule, and leadeth me in the paths of righteousnesse for his Names sake.
4 Yea, though I should walke through the valley of the shadowe of death, I will feare no euill: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staffe, they comfort me.
5 Thou doest prepare a table before me in the sight of mine aduersaries: thou doest anoynt mine head with oyle, and my cuppe runneth ouer.
6 Doubtlesse kindnesse and mercie shall follow me all the dayes of my life, and I shall remaine a long season in the house of the Lord.
- Psalms 23:1-6 (Geneva Bible, 1599)

Without a doubt, the language used then is beautiful. It delivers the word of God with the proper drama and visuals.

Of course, the comparison between versions makes me wonder how mutilated, mutated, wrong and changed the original Word of God -- written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek; translated to Latin then to German -- is in comparison to the Word that we currently have and hold as true. Perhaps this is the reason why we have many translations of the Bible in English -- not to mention the whole lot of translations and interpretations in all other languages worldwide.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want

It's funny how ignorance can affect us in all aspects of life including our faith.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
-- Psalms 23:1-6 (KJV)

I always thought that Psalm 23:1-6 meant that, yes, God's our protection and guidance (shepherd), but we'd still reject him.

In other translations of the Bible, it clearly says that we need nothing else since God's our protection and guidance (shepherd).

1 Yahweh is my shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in Yahweh's house forever.
-- Psalms 23:1-6 (WEB)

Ignorance can be painfully bad, aside from making us look stupid at times (like in my case with these verses). This is yet another reason why we should study the Bible (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-need-to-read-bible.html).

my Bible vs your Bible

There are several versions and translations of the Bible in any given language (about 20 in English alone). Ever since I started being curious about being a "true" Christian (about a decade or so ago), I've really realized that there are so many Bibles. I've since also wondered about the differences between the different versions and/or translations of the Bible.

What's my choice? I personally opt for the easiest to read and understand. I have
1. KJV on my phone (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/06/bible-in-my-hand.html) and my old Palm Visor Deluxe,
2. NRSV (http://www.nrsv.net/) that I bought at church,
3. KJV (http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/)/ESV (http://www.esv.org/) side-to-side comparison that I got as a present,
4. KJV (http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/), NET (http://www.enetbible.com/) and WEB (http://www.ebible.org/) if not more modules at different times on Xiphos (http://www.xiphos.org/)
5. and NET (http://www.enetbible.com/) and NLT (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/) bookmarked.

All these versions and/or translations say pretty much the same sometimes using exactly the same words. Nonetheless many groups of Christians would argue that their Bible of preference is the "correct" Bible. This is clearly a stupid argument and it has become one of the biggest excuses that we -- Christians -- have to quarrel and separate into factions.

Said all this, am I right or wrong to read and try to make sense of the Bible in its numerous versions and/or translations? Well let's just say that I hope I'm not wrong.

By the way, for Trekkers there's a Klingon (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/aliens/article/70638.html) version of the Bible (http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Bible%20Translation%20Project). For those who think that this might be of bad taste, let me point out that Klingons -- if they existed -- would also be part of creation and hence also children of God. Besides religion should be enjoyed and not experienced as a punishment of sorts.