[Faith-talk] Bible versions

Sun Jan 9 01:11:02 UTC 2011

Thanks, Father John, for your endorsement of the RSV for study.  I have been 
using it, and I feel pretty lonely.

Debbie Brown

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jorge Paez" <jorgeapaez at mac.com>
To: "Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] There is now neither male nor female, but all are 
one in Christ Jesus.

>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
>>
>>
>> Xavier Society for the Blind
>> 154 East 23rd St
>> New York, NY 10010
>> (212) 473-7800
>> Help us raise money for the Xavier Society for the Blind just by 
>> searching the
>> Internet or shopping online with GoodSearch - www.goodsearch.com - 
>> powered by
>> Yahoo! Free for you - and money for us! Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> 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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>
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