Reverend Jan Scholtz
Are you one who feels that the rolling cadences of Elizabeth English which we find in the authorised version are sacrosanct, or do you prefer the down to earth quality of the more modern translations? Are you like the little old lady who said: “If it was good enough for St. Paul then it is good enough for me!”
A question was raised at a church meeting about the advisability of having so many translations of the English Bible – New English Bible, Good News, New International Jerusalem and the Revised New English Bible. In answer to this question, I want to give a very interesting and informative explanation of the English translations of the Bible.
Those who like the Authorised, or King James’ version perhaps fail to realise that it was a fairly late comer – 1611. The first English translation by Wycliff, 1384 was banned, but the Bible read by John Bunyan, John Milton and Oliver Cromwell and the Bible carried by the Pilgrim Fathers to America, was in fact the Geneva Bible, 1560 and this too, had been precede by few other translations.
King James 1 (who has been described as the wisest fool in Christendom attempted to restrict the number of translations. However, between 1611 – 1881 at least 70 “private” versions were published. In 1885 the first major revision took place when the Revised Versions were published. The 1946 – 1952 Version was faithful to the original language while translating it in an easier literary style, while the New English Bible, the Good News, Jerusalem and NIV struck out on a literary path of their own.
Does this affect Bible authority?
The authority of Holy Scripture as the inspired Word of God stems from its intrinsic quality irrespective of translation. J.B. Phillips said that when he was translating the New Testament from Greek, he was conscious that he was not dealing simply with a literary manuscript, he felt the power of intrinsic spiritual energy in the words of the scripture. It is obvious that translations need to be scholarly and conducted in a spirit of devotion to Christ, but diversity may indeed be a means of increasing our understanding of the scripture and even if we wished to, we cannot stop the ongoing process of research or ignore the increasing number of manuscripts available to the translation.
What is amazing is that none of the textual amendments or revisions have affected the central and vital doctrines of the Holy scripture. Christ is still God manifested in the flesh, our Redeemer and Lord.
In sum, therefore, the Bible is a book of authority as it teaches, instructs, charges, and counsels people into a specific direction and or lifestyle (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This is a call not to be an authority unto yourself-learn to submit to Biblical authority.