Only One Bible Can Be The Word Of God
It has been estimated that there are nearly one hundred versions of the Bible available in the English language today. However, this multiplicity of Bibles does not alter the fact that God has inspired and safeguarded one Bible. This one Bible is written in the Greek language in the New Testament and is called the Textus Receptus or Received Text. The Old Testament has been preserved in the Masoretic Text and is written in Hebrew. The Textus Receptus of the New Testament and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament combine to give us the complete Word of God. The King James Version of the Bible stands alone as the one Bible in use today which has been faithfully translated from these God- given manuscripts. All of the modern versions are based wholly or in part on corrupt texts.
The Wonder Of The Book
The wonder of the Book grows upon us as our experience is enlarged, for the more deeply we search it, the more we feel that the Bible is not merely a book, but The Book. It alone is the universal Book, the eternal Book, the Book for all time. It is the voice of the Lord. It stands alone, unapproachable in its grandeur, as high above all other books as heaven is above earth, or as the Son of God is above the sons of men.
The Foundation Of Science
Another standard we use when evaluating certain kinds of claims is the standard of science. The tools of science allow us to describe the predictable, consistent way in which the universe normally behaves. Science allows us to make successful predictions about certain future states. For example, if I mix chemical A with chemical B, I expect to get result C because it has always been that way in the past. This happens the same way every time: if the conditions are the same, I will get the same result. Science is based on an underlying uniformity in nature. But why should there be such uniformity in nature? And how do we know about it?
We all presume that the future will be like the past in terms of the basic operation of nature. This does not mean that Friday will be exactly like Mondayconditions change. But it does mean that things like gravity will work the same on Friday as they have on Monday. With great precision astronomers are able to calculate years in advance the positions of planets, the timing of eclipses, and so ononly because the universe operates in such a consistent way. We all know that the universe will behave in the future as it has in the past. Science would be impossible without this critical principle. But what is the foundation for this principle?
According to the biblical worldview, God has chosen to uphold the universe in a consistent way for our benefit.
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Who Was King David
The first wave of scribes may, its been suggested, have started work during the reign of King David . Whether thats true or not, David is a monumental figure in the biblical story the slayer of Goliath, the conqueror of Jerusalem. David is also a hugely important figure in the quest to establish links between the Bible and historical fact, for he appears to be the earliest biblical figure to be confirmed by archaeology.
I killed king of the house of David. So boasts the Tel Dan Stele, an inscribed stone dating from 870750 BC and discovered in northern Israel in the 1990s. Like the Merneptah Stele before it, it documents a warlords victory over the Israelites . But it at least indicates that David was a historical figure.
The Tel Dan Stele also suggests that,no matter how capable their rulers, the people of Israel continued to be menaced by powerful, belligerent neighbours. And, in 586 BC, one of those neighbours, the Babylonians, would inflict on the Jews one of the most devastating defeats in their history: ransacking the sacred city of Jerusalem, butchering its residents, and dragging many more back to Babylonia.
The Best Bible Translation
Dun dun dun. Weve come to the question of all questionsbut which translation is the best Bible translation?
For some of you, you might already be thinking, Well thats easy! I want the most accurate Bible translation, so Im going to choose one from the left side of chart .
However, remember what I said happens as you move to the left of the Bible translation spectrum? As accuracy increase, readability .
This means the translation might very well be the most accurate to the original text, but youll most likely struggle making sense of what youre reading.
So, although I applaud you for wanting to read the most accurate Bible translation, that might not actually be the best translation for you if you are going to struggle reading it on a regular basis.
However, saying this makes it sound like a word-for-word translation of the Bible is superior to a thought-for-thought translation of the Bible, and I have to say I dont agree.
The thought-for-thought translations of the Bible are translated by highly educated Bible scholars whose job is to intensely study the original language of the text in order to develop a high proficiency in the language.
Because of this, these scholars are able to not only understand and correctly translate the original text into English, but also translate the meaning behind the authors intent within the writings.
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What Does God Is Spirit Mean
Jesus makes this statement in the middle of the conversation with the woman at the well. He first asks a question to dignify her and engage her. Get me a drink of water, crossed religious, racial, and cultural barriers and showed her she had something to give.
Her response was to point out their racial differences, how Jews wouldnt deal with the unclean and half-breed Samaritans, deftly designed to start an argument and divide them.
Jesus didnt take the bait. He told her that, in reality, he has water to give her, immortal water that when she drank it, shed never thirst again, contrasted with the water she could seeshe would need more of that later. In fact, Jesus immortal water would produce more immortal water from within her. In other words, Jesus points to something not physical. Not temporary. Something spiritual and eternal.
When she asked to have this water, Jesus dealt with her heart. In asking about her husband, he revealed that he already knew her innermost secrets, the things that shamed her. He exposed her heart, her failings.
No one likes to be exposed, so she tried to start an argument again, a distraction to push him away. The racial one didnt work, so she tried the religious one. Samaritans worship on the mountain in Samaria. Jews worship at Jerusalem.
Her misdirected longings, while unseen and buried in her heart, had tragic consequences in failure, guilt, and such shame that she went to get water in the middle of the day to avoid her community.
Does The Bible Have Errors
Almost all theologians agree Scripture is in some measure Gods revelation to the human race. But to allow that it contains error implies God has mishandled inspiration and has allowed His people to be deceived for centuries until modern scholars disentangled the confusion.
Can we trust the New Testament as a reliable record of what actually happened, and do we possess what was actually written in the first century?
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The Bible Is Unique And Unified
The Bible is unique among all the books in the world, and its message is unified throughout all 66 books. It was written by over 40 different writers, including shepherds, kings, priests, scholars, fishermen, and prophets, over a span of 1,500 years. However, the Bible remains unified in its message even though it displays a wide variety of genres and its authors wrote for a variety of purposes and exhibited a broad range of emotions.
Evidences That Show The Bible Is True
Earlier this year, we opened our newest Ark Encounter exhibit, Why the Bible Is True, to the public. In this gospel-presenting exhibit, you will follow three college students around their college campus as they are challenged about their beliefs. Why the Bible Is True addresses many common objections to trusting Gods Word. Below are five evidences from the exhibit that, when taken together, demonstrate the truthfulness of the Bible.
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Accurate Bible Translations Compared
-Paraphrase
Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses.
Bible scholars have to study the original languages for a long period of time in order to develop a high proficiency in the original language.
And these same scholars must be top experts in the target language as well.
Anybody who has learned a foreign language knows there are certain idioms in each language.
These idioms do not always translate accurately from a source language to the target language, so translators must be very careful to make sure the meaning is accurately transmitted.
And the translators do a very good job of it. We can tell, because after hundreds of years of Bible translating, all the major translations are in agreement about the major meanings they are conveying in English.
They differ very slightly in the exact expression of the meanings and the translators take great care to make sure the core meanings are conserved.
This makes the translations very useful in side-by-side comparisons.
Paraphrase Translations Of The Bible
A paraphrase translation of the Bible seeks to make the Bible more understandable to the reader.
It may elaborate more on the context in a way designed to help the reader understand the passage better.
To paraphrase means a restatement of a text or passagegiving the meaning in another form, as for clearness; rewording.
A paraphrase often uses a lot more words in an effort to more fully describe the meaning of the words coming from the original language.
This helps readers to easily perceive additional shades of meaning they might otherwise struggle to see in a standard translation.
A good comparison can be made by comparing a well-knownpassage like John 1:1 in the King James Version and the Phillips version:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, andthe Word was God. KJV
Atthe beginning God expressed himself. That personal expression, that word, waswith God, and was God, and he existed with God from the beginning. Phillips
A paraphrase translation like the Phillips translation uses more words and its easy to see that it is still very accurate and does not add or subtract from the original.
It just helps make it more understandable.
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The Chronology Of The King James Version
What Is True Worship Of God Part 2
- by Kevin Bart
What Is True Worship Of God ?
What is true worship of God according to the Bible ? In Part 1 we began to see that your heart and your relationship with God are very important in worship. True worship of God. Not just going to church and singing worship songs. We can regularly go to church and sing along with everyone else, and still be far from God in our hearts.
The main thing about worship is your heart. Is Jesus your First Love, Treasure, and Passion in your heart ? Are you devoted to Him to the point of being willing to be and do whatever Jesus tells you ?
Are you willing to sacrifice all out of love for God, like Jesus did ?;
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The Wonder Of Its Preservation
The Bible has withstood ages of ferocious and incessant persecution. Century after century men have tried to burn it and to bury it and to extirpate it. Kings of the earth set themselves and rulers of the church have taken counsel together to destroy it. Diocletian the Roman Emperor inaugurated in AD 303 a terrific onslaught upon the Book. Bibles were destroyed, Christians were slain, and the Emperor boasted that the very name of the Christians was blotted out, and yet after a few years, the Bible came forth as Noah from the ark to repeople the earth, and in AD 325 Constantine enthroned the Bible as the Infallible Judge of Truth in the great council of the Church held in that year.
Later the Church of Rome denied the Scriptures to the people and for ages the Bible was practically an unknown book. Martin Luther was a grown man when he said that he had never seen a Bible in his life. No jailor ever kept a prisoner closer than the Church of Rome kept the Bible from the people.
The worst opposition of all has been during the last two hundred years, with rationalism and modernism seeking to undermine the authority, inspiration and inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures. It was Voltaire’s boast that within one hundred years of his death not a Bible would be found save as an antiquarian curiosity. Many more than one hundred years have passed, and other pens and other voices have joined in the attack, but the Bible remains and is being more widely distributed and used than ever before.
Which Bible Version Is Best For You
We could have a very long conversation about the many different translations and all the technical reasons to read one or another version of the Bible.
And different people may have different reasons for selecting the version they read every day.
There are many good translations. And many people have theirpreferences.
Here are some things to think about and questions to askyourself when deciding which translation to get:
Will I enjoy the translation?
Will it be easy to read?
Will I understand it?
Will I be motivated to read it?
For many folks, just one translation will never do. If you are like me, you will have multiple translations around the house, on your computer and all your electronic devices.
Its a wonderful blessing that we have so many options for enjoying the Word of the Living God.
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Bringing The Bible Directly To The People
Printing had already been invented, and made copies relatively cheap compared to hand-done copies, says Carol Meyers, a professor of religious studies at Duke University. The translation into English, the language of the land, made it accessible to all those people who could read English, and who could afford a printed Bible.
Whereas before, the Bible had been the sole property of the Church, now more and more people could read it themselves. Not only that, but the language they read in the King James Bible was an English unlike anything they had read before. With its poetic cadences and vivid imagery, the KJV sounded to many like the voice of God himself.
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Four Takes On Truth Today
Truth is disputed territory today, as it always has been. To claim to know the truth is to claim to know what everyone everywhere should think. To call an answer to a question true is to imply that at least some other answers are false. And this always gets personal sooner or later. If youre right, then someone, somewhere is wrong.
No wonder tempers can flare over competing takes on truth. Still worse, entire wars have been motivatedat least in partby contradicting truth claims.
The twenty-first century West suffers from what you might call truth fatigue. Weve been through a seemingly interminable history of battles over the truth. Were tired of fighting about it. Yet still, people cant seem to get away from the question. Everyones got an opinion on trutheven if the opinion is that there is no such thing.
Truth Is What Works
For some people, this basically means that in the end, truth doesnt really matter. What does it matter whether we can or cant know whats really out there? As long as you do what makes you happy and leave others to do the same, what does the truth matter?
In this view, if a belief that something is true seems a useful aid to living a contented life, then theres no harm in believing itprovided you dont try to make anyone else believe it, too.
Truth Is What You Make It
Truth Is What Science Tells Us
Truth Is Tyranny and Should Be Resisted
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