Isaiah Roman

The Errancy of Scripture

The question over the proper translation of the Bible into a common, modern vernacular has arisen again. Zondervan Press, the publishers of the NIV and the TNIV have come under fire once again. They are publishing a new version called the NIVi. The cause for concern is the use of non-personal, gender neutral references in exchange for patriarchal pronouns.

Self-described scriptural purists, those who accept only the King James translation as the only authoritative, inspired translation have always had a problem with Zondervan’s more modern interpretations of Biblical texts. The controversy over the TNIV is specifically the question of whether or not the exchanging of gender neutral pronouns for patriarchal pronouns changes the meaning, or intent of the scripture.

What’s interesting is that there are several “literal” translations and even more “figurative” translations available which do not seem to face this close a scrutiny. If you go to the Sword Project’s web site you will see literally hundreds of different translations of the Bible, in dozens of languages other than English. I wonder how many of those translations face this type of criticism.

These same arguments were carried out between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants some five-hundred years ago. The Latin Vulgate was considered to be the only authorized, Spirit inspired translation of the Bible. In fact, thousands died in the battle to keep the Bible in it’s Latin form.

In the fourth century BC, King Ptoemy once gathered 72 Hebrew elders, placed them in 72 chambers, each given the task of translating the texts of the Torah of the Old Testament. This translation became the Septuagint (LXX), from which we receive the greater bulk of our version of the Old Testament.

However, there are two other versions of the Old Testament. There is the Samaritan version, and the Masoretic Text. Each of these versions of the Old Testament contain discrepancies in text from the others. These discrepancies come from a variety of reasons, mostly due to the date of the translation, and the intent of the translators.

This brings us back to the original point. Most of the concern is not about the educated, or the serious scholar, but rather the young in Christ who could be easily led astray through false interpretations of doctrine. But, even with the “more accurate” versions of the Biblical texts available these sorts of doctrinal perversions have taken root in Christianity. For instance, the concept of “The Pentecost” has taken on all sorts of mystical and magical influence in a huge number of Christian sects. The Bible describes the events, people interpret the meanings they want, based on nothing more than personal desire.

Any serious, concerned Biblical scholar will understand that there have been different versions of the Bible throughout all history. Most serious, concerned Biblical scholars know these discrepancies and understand the intricacies of scriptural transmission. The moment you decide to take a text and transfer it into another language you must have discrepancies in the words used. The desire of all translators is specifically not to preserve the previous language usage, but rather to transfer the meaning, the intent and the purpose of the text into the new language.

But, these arguments over the intent and meaning of a set of words written on a page have an underlying errancy built into them. The different versions of the Old Testament do not contradict each other. Details are added or removed. Passages from other relevant texts are introduced to “harmonize” certain passages. Different words are used as translations from another language for original words which all have relevant meanings, much like using the word “effect” for the word “result.” These things happen when men transfer language. To invest so much into the physical representation of these words on a page is important, but like everything else, can be a trap.

Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. We must be diligent to remember that the Bible is not the sum of it’s author. In other words, the Bible is the story of it’s author. It has no other value than that. The words of the book, the stories told, the people who related these stories all told the tale of one thing; the Christ. None of these stories is as important as the subject of the stories.

In any particular translation, is the basic character of the Christ changed? The reason we don’t have the Gnostic Gospels as a part of the Bible is that they describe a Christ which is not described by any other accounts of His life. The reason why we do not have the Book of Enoch in the Old Testament is because it, like the Gnostic texts, is pseudo-mythological in origin. These books which have been “banned from the Bible” were “banned” from the day they were penned. All of this is clear to anyone who spends time researching the truth. The compelling reason for seeking the truth is the desire to seek the author, and not the book.

It is eminently clear that God promises that if you “ask… it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. Each one that asks receives, and the one that seeks finds; and the one knocking, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

The Bible is a very important text; the most important text ever penned by human hand. The Bible is important, however, not because of the men, or the pens which created it, but because of the One who caused those men to put those pens to paper. Those men put pens to paper because God had chosen certain men in certain times to record the history of His interactions with His creation. Those men put pen to paper so that “you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them…” (Leviticus 10:11) and so that we “should teach them diligently to your children, and should talk of them when you sit down in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down to sleep, and when you rise up.”(Deuteronomy 6:7)

Six hundred and fifty years before the Christ came, God pronounced the terms of the new covenant He would put between Himself and all mankind:

“But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares Jehovah, I will put My law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

So, while proper care and concern for the correct translation of all texts relating to God should be ensured by all those who claim the faith, picking a particular translation as the only inspired work of God is the errancy of scripture. We should all be diligent to read many translations, and if possible, every piece of the most early documents possible, in their original language.

We should learn about the discrepancies in early documents. We should understand the content of the apocrypha, both old and new. We should learn about the charges levied by skeptics, atheists, Jews and Muslims.

What we should never, ever do is forget that God is the meaning of all creation. What we should never, ever do is worship a text. What we should never, ever do is fail to ask God to write His word on our hearts, seek God and believe that He will be found and knock on God’s door, begging Him to come out to us and speak with us. The true value of scripture does not necessarily come from the words printed on the page, but through the Spirit of the One who wrote them, who speaks to us and tells about those words.