I am no fan of the KJVO myth. Simply put, there is n Scriptural evidence that one translation is the only translation that we can use. In fact, practice from within the Scriptures show that the Apostle used both the Hebrew and the Greek. This past week, on Facebook, I posted a verse,
And the King will tell them, `I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40 NLT)
Silly me. Here I was thinking that with all my friends on FB which may not know Christ, an easy translation would be a good way to start a conversation. After all, this is one of the most underused verses in the bible, it seems, and one which I use to reach both conservatives and liberals. It is the center of Christian compassion to treat others as if we were doing those things to Christ. More than anything else, it is a piece of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, it didn’t really go to plan -
I was told that we had to read the KJV and that as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, I had to support that claim. (I have looked or confirmation of that in our Constitution and by-laws, but have not found it.) I said that in public speaking inside the fellowship circle, I would use the KJV, but for everything else, I would readily use other versions. I was then hit with this:
God sees all and u should never be quoting from any other version except for the KJV, if u wouldnt do it church why on earth would u do it where u r reaching so many other souls…
I countered with the fact that the KJV has never saved a soul, only Christ - but I got back this:
im not saying shame on u b/c u read them i am saying shame on u b/c u r quoting them. if u need to quote then quote from the bible that hasnt been changed and i was also saying shame on you for not standing up to this sonny person and backing us up..
Of course, the problem with that is, is that the KJV has changed, considerably. No one responded to that link.
Now, I love these brothers and sisters, I really do, and I take nothing personally – after all, I use to attack the MV’ers as well. You know, those heretical people who blindly believed that you should be able to read the bible in their own language in the modern versions.
So, on Wednesday, I posted this:
τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. – the way the Apostles wrote and read it (Phil. 2.5-8)
Yesterday, I posted from the only KJV that did not change -
Let this minde bee in you, which was also in Christ Iesus: Who being in the forme of God, thought it not robbery to bee equall with God: But made himselfe of no reputation, and tooke vpon him the forme of a seruant, and was made in the likenesse of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himselfe, and became obedient vnto death, euen the death of the Crosse. (Phl 2:5-8 1611)
And finally, this morning I posted:
Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NLT)
Nothing has been said.
This is one of my favorite passages, and even more so in the NLT – and it is befuddled by the King James Version. This passage is perhaps one of the greatest ones – it covers humility, compassion, doctrine, the Gospel. This was not merely an angel or something that looked like God, but God Himself, who spoke Himself into the frailty of the human condition. He loved His creation so much, that He made of himself a servant, a slave, humble, meek, lowly, and brought the things of God down to man. He was obedient to the utter most, and died no better than a common criminal.
This is denied by the KJVO myth – when we take the commonality of the Scriptures, putting them beyond reach, puffing them up, and making an idol, something untouched, unknown, a master over all who cannot understand it, demanding for it a position of authority in the thee’s and thou’s never spoken once by the Lord and creating it as a form of God. We deny the vulgarity of the Scriptures and the humbleness of Christ when we hold to the doctrine of the KJVO myth.
We reverse course the Incarnation Who made God within reach but pushing Him further away in the myth of the KJVO.
We claim the truth and the right doctrine, yet we hold to silly man-made doctrines. We readily spout off that we should leave grandma and grandpa in the grave when it comes to other doctrines, but when it comes to this doctrine, we just as easily utter that the KJV was what we have always used. We deny the Gospel when we hold to the false doctrine of the KJVO, making ourselves hypocrites, no matter how well intentioned, in the process.
I believe that it is past time for the Church of Jesus Christ to be the head and not the tail. These Scriptures are meant to be read, and understood, not bottled up in dictionaries and a musty old language.
Tags: bible, God, Jesus Christ, king james only, kjv 1611, kjvo, NLT, religion
Mar 24 2009
Book Review: Cornerstone Commentary (v17) 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews
First the nitty:
Then the gritty:
And my thoughts:
I am not a fan of commentaries. I find very little value in the thoughts of others concerning the words of God. I generally find modern commentaries to be filled mainly with easy going doctrine, with the authors unwilling to take a stand on one side of the issue. Such as Apostasy. Hebrews 6.4-10 is a fine example of where many commentaries loose me; however, the author of this particular work does not hesitate to affirm what the text plainly says. And in doing so, he heightens the image already presented in the NLT with his own descriptive language capturing the original author’s intent. In doing so, he does not sidestep the issue, but meets it head on.
So, after a few proof text moments, I finally started from the beginning and found myself satisfied with this particular commentary.
The binding is modern, with a nice color design, thick paper and over all a good quality construction. My first problem, which is a rather personal one, is that I prefer my commentaries in thick gray or black cloth boards collecting dust and on a shelf somewhere. The type is easy on the eyes and the pages bright. The binding allows the book to lay upon on a flat desk, which is helpful if you are doing book reviews or teaching from the commentary.
Teachers should find this commentary series helpful in that while it makes use of the New Living Translation, it does point out more literal renderings. With each section of Scripture, the commentator adds notes, with are more copious than many study bibles that you will find today. In these notes are constant references to the Greek, using both the Strong’s system of numbering as well as the new Tyndale system. The Greek is transliterated which is helpful for those of us who can read Greek better than we can pronounce it. Along with the Greek and the literal renderings, the notes contain a plethora of cross references which again, are absent from many bibles today. They make use of chain references, and as is the case in 2nd Timothy 3.10-17, note 11 (page 197), the commentator likes to make use of the original author’s thought process.
The publishers include a large of amount of extra – needful – material which conforms to conservative evangelical biblical understanding. While exploring the Pastoral Epistles, modern scholarship points us to the assumption that these rather personal and end of life letters from the Apostle Paul could not be his. The Tyndale Commentators take ample time in exploring these theories and presenting a more conservative side. They easily use the Church Fathers as well as explore the internal peculiarities of these epistles to affirm the Pauline authorship. (There are also references to other leaders from other eras such as Martin Luther.)
Along with this, the authors take extended time to discuss the date, occasion and audience, which is becoming extremely important to some when exploring what was being said. Further, for both the Pastoral Epistles and Hebrews, they discuss the canonicity and textual history of the books. The provide outlines and other tools of study, which aids both students and teachers, lay or professional, in reading and studying the books before them.
In studying the books, the authors, after the notes, gives the commentary. In this section, they often will echoes the notes, but without giving a full sermon, help to bring the text off the page in a rather easy literary style. Reading the commentary section is rather like reading a novel rather than dry essays of the he-said but meant variety found in many commentaries. There are times, however, that their own commentary disagrees with the text, based on their understanding of context, of the NLT. Such as in 1st Timothy 2.8-10 (Modest clothing vs. well-considered demeanor)
The author of 1st Timothy does a fine should of clearing of preconceived notions of the ‘proper-place’ of a woman as well as taking a long winded approach to the idea of a woman teaching with a authority over a man. Further the same author does not hesitate in stating when the NLT ‘goes beyond the evidence’ of a translation that it has made.
My final verdict is this:
With that said, I will be adding the rest of the set to my wishlist.
For those of you who may skip to the Amazon review – because I post it there as well – I do not give commentaries 5 stars. But if I did, then yeah, I could see me giving this one a strong consideration for the full 5 stars.
Tags: bible, commentaries, God, New Living Translation, NLT, religion, tyndale house publishers
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