[Faith-talk] There is now neither male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus.

[Jorge Paez]

I agree with you Father.
I'm the member of a list that sends out daily scriptures,
and I've noticed how each translation's language
is structured differently.

I do have a question though: if I'm looking the RSV version up, say on bookshare, what year or reference can I have to know I'm getting the right one?

And, are there any courses you know to learn the latin and/or Greek languages, both reading writing and in speech?

And, if I do learn these languages, where could I get a copy of the brialle bibles in these languages?

Thanks,

Jorge

On Jan 8, 2011, at 10:11 AM, Fr. John Sheehan wrote:

> Obviously the best course is to learn to read Hebrew and Greek. I'm not being 
> silly - in my studies I learned enough Greek in one intensive summer course to 
> be able to get through the New Testament. Haltingly, looking up a lot along the 
> way, but it got better and easier and much more enriching. Hebrew is more 
> difficult, but worth the effort.  
> 
> But realizing that won't happen for more people, two thoughts on translations. 
> The first is to realize how much Bible scholarship has improved since the King 
> James version was done - and remember, it was done for a King in a politically 
> charged period, where religion was a major political topic. Some translations 
> reflect that. Good translations today have linguistic and archaeological 
> knowledge the translators did not have back then. The old English is lovely to 
> hear, but often not to be relied on if your interest is going back to the 
> original text.
> 
> Which leads to my second observation - you need to know what you are going to 
> use the text for when you select a translation. For prayer, I use the Jerusalem 
> translation. For study, when I need an English text, the RSV is the closest to 
> the text, both in structure and usage. (NOT the New RSV, where political 
> correctness and the desire to be inclusive influenced the translation.) The RSV 
> does not try to smooth out the English to make it easier to read or more 
> interesting, they adhere to the structure as well as the vocabulary of the 
> original language.)
> 
> Some folks will always try to find ways to sell new editions. Remember the 
> Reader's Digest Bible several years ago, where editors simply cut out anything 
> they thought uninteresting. They lost most of the Book of Leviticus, for example 
> - too many laws. There have been several feminist Bibles, attempts at gender 
> neutral translations, and I'm sure there will be more in the future. 
> Fr. John R. Sheehan, SJ
> Chairman
> 
> 
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> 
> ________________________________
> From: John J. Boyer <john at godtouches.org>
> To: faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Sat, January 8, 2011 3:04:41 AM
> Subject: [Faith-talk] There is now neither male nor female, but all are one in 
> Christ Jesus.
> 
> Our understanding of these words has improved over time. The Bible is 
> full of sexism, but we have come to realize that this is a reflection of 
> the culture in which it was written. That said, I agree that gender 
> references shouldn't be changed. This often distorts the meaning and 
> reflects our own cultural bias.
> 
> The KJV is good in most places, once you get used to the language. 
> However, it does contain a lot of errors. Modern translations are based 
> on much better texts in the original languages and have gotten rid of 
> most of the errors.
> 
> Prayers and blessings,
> John
> 
> -- 
> John J. Boyer, Executive Director
> GodTouches Digital Ministry, Inc.
> http://www.godtouches.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> Peace, Love, Service
> 
> 
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