Or Hindi, or Spanish, or any other languages other than the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in which He originally recorded the Bible?
YES. God fully anticipated that his Word would go forth in many languages of the world.
God brings this into full relief at Pentecost. In Acts 2:1-11,
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
God inaugurates the era of the gospel being sounded forth in the different languages of the world (which originated at the tower of Babel).
God had also said in Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Here God mandates that the believers would be witnesses to Christ to the uttermost part of the earth. However, by the time the Bible was completed, God had not directly translated the bible into languages other than the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic in which He caused the BIble to be recorded.
Yet, his commands to proclaim the gospel to every “nation, kindred, tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6) continued in force. Thus, it was necessary for the believers to translate the bible, as accurately as possible, into as many languages as possible.
In the Bible, in many places God demonstrated this process of translation. To wit:
"And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. " Daniel 5:25-28
Here, by means of supernatural handwriting on the wall, God is providing a warning to the Babylonian king Belshazzar. The initial problem for Belshazzar was that the warning was not written in a langauge he could understand. So, through Daniel, God provided a direct translation of the words of the handwriting on the wall. Those words are "numbered", "weighed", and "divided". Of course, God did not stop with the direct translation of these three individual words. God performed the second step of declaring the figurative significance of these words to give the full warning to Belshazzar. But we should not fail to note that in doing all this, God *did* provide a demonstration of the translation of the Word of God into another language. The translation went from Hebrew to Babylonian (so Belshazzar could understand it), and then the Babylonian translation was recorded in the Hebrew we find in the text of Old Testament.
There are many other examples of this in the Bible. In the New Testament, for example, we read: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. " (Matthew 1:23). Here, God assigns a Hebrew name to Christ, but he also provides the translation of that name into Greek, "God with us". There are many examples of this sprinkled throughout the Bible.
Through the centuries of the New Testament era, God used faithful translations of His Word to save people who ordinarily had no access to or understanding of the Bible in its original languages. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
In this way God made His inspired Word available in many different languages. To deny that God intended His word to be faithfuly and accurately translated into other languages or to assert that the translated Word lacks salvific inspiration is very serious error.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
FWIW...
... I am on twitter now.
I can now bore the public in 140 character sound bytes.
Look me up by name if you dare, or if you need a cure for your insomnia.
I can now bore the public in 140 character sound bytes.
Look me up by name if you dare, or if you need a cure for your insomnia.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Traveling Back in Time is Easy. We all do it.
Now I have seen everything
I said to myself, as I saw the woman walking toward me on the sidewalk this morning.
There is no doubt about it, she has a TATOO, RIGHT in the middle of her forehead! Is this some kind of new fashion statement?
She drew closer.
A company logo, perhaps? People ARE selling advertising space on their heads these days, but that is usually on the BACK of a bald or shaven head.
She drew closer still.
Hmmm. Still can't make out the logo. Wow it's small. I'll bet she didn't get more than $25.00 for that ad.
Oh, wait.
It wasn't a logo at all. It was a smudge. I was instantly translated back 41 years in time, to when I was 8 years old.
"We have to go to church today", my mother announced.
"WHAT!!???!! It's WEDNESDAY, and I have school today!
"We are going to church, and that is that, young man. I'll drop you off at school afterward. It is Ash Wednesday, and the priest is going to put ashes on your forehead."
I had never heard anything so utterly bizarre in all my young life. This was sheer, utter insanity. The LAST thing I wanted was to parade around with a stupid black mark on my forehead. My shame was not the kind bourne out of mere schoolkid peer pressure. It went much deeper than that. I absolutely did not want anyone putting a freakish black mark on my forehead.
"Mom, this is crazy. I don't want to go to church, and I don't want a stupid black mark on my forehead."
"You are going to do that very thing, young man, OR ELSE."
Defeated, I sullenly and morosely took my place in the family car and off we went to theconcentration camp church.
At some point in the service everybody lined up to get their foreheads smudged. I got mine. I had absolutely no idea that these smudges were not permanent. As far as I knew, I was branded for life with an indelible mark of shame and horror.
At school, I pretended to be "not feeling well" and kept my head down on my desk, buried under my hands and forearms. I planned to keep my wool stocking cap pulled down over my forehead so no one could see this horrible blotch while I was walking home from school. I feverishly turned over every permutation of every possible course of action I could think of to figure out how I was going to keep this vile mark covered and concealed for the rest of my life. I decided I was going to have to learn to live with band-aids on my forehead for the rest of my life.
Yeah. I can do that. I'll get used to it.
As sat there with my head down, spiraling down further and further into abject depression over this vile mark on my forehead, I saw something. It was faint, but unmistakeable.
Could it be? YES!!!!
There was a smudge on the back of my hand, where I had been resting my forehead all day.
I can get this thing off my forehead !!! I can rub it off!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
I took my other hand, and rubbed the back, front, and sides of it against my forehead. There was even more black residue.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH!!!!!!! I'll bet this thing is GONE!!!
I had gone from the depths of agony to the heights of ecstasy. I raised my hand.
"Miss Ellickson, I need to go to the bathroom."
Little did she know the reason I needed to go was to check the mirror to be sure my forehead was clean of the dreaded mark of death.
The mirror was my friend. My forehead was clean as a whistle. I returned to class on cloud nine. At the end of the schoolday I floated home.
My mother did not share my newfound joy.
"WHERE ARE YOUR ASHES??!!!??" she demanded, "You are supposed to keep them on for the WHOLE DAY!"
"Hmm, dunno, Mom, I guess they rubbed off somehow. I'm gonna go play hockey at the pond now."
Slam.
Fast forward one year to the day. I am back in the church death-march, awaiting my black mark. I get it. I turn, heading back for my seat. I reach up with the back of my wrist, and rub off the hated leper-mark no doubt in full view of my family.
Fast forward another year, to the very day.
"We have to go to church today, it's Ash Wednesday", my mother announced.
"I ain't goin' ", I announced, with all the conviction a ten year old can muster.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. The only thing that would happen is Father What's-his-name is going to put that stupid mark on my forehead, and I am going to rub it right back off. Why should I go?"
"Oh, nevermind. The rest of us will go. You go to school."
I never went through that disgusting, wretched, defiling, heathen, gutter-ritual again.
The woman was now directly on my left on the sidewalk, completely unaware that in those few seconds of time I had been teleported back to 1968, then to 1969, then to 1970, then back to 2009 again. The black mark on her forehead gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
She strode by, proudly and piously.
I said to myself, as I saw the woman walking toward me on the sidewalk this morning.
There is no doubt about it, she has a TATOO, RIGHT in the middle of her forehead! Is this some kind of new fashion statement?
She drew closer.
A company logo, perhaps? People ARE selling advertising space on their heads these days, but that is usually on the BACK of a bald or shaven head.
She drew closer still.
Hmmm. Still can't make out the logo. Wow it's small. I'll bet she didn't get more than $25.00 for that ad.
Oh, wait.
It wasn't a logo at all. It was a smudge. I was instantly translated back 41 years in time, to when I was 8 years old.
"We have to go to church today", my mother announced.
"WHAT!!???!! It's WEDNESDAY, and I have school today!
"We are going to church, and that is that, young man. I'll drop you off at school afterward. It is Ash Wednesday, and the priest is going to put ashes on your forehead."
I had never heard anything so utterly bizarre in all my young life. This was sheer, utter insanity. The LAST thing I wanted was to parade around with a stupid black mark on my forehead. My shame was not the kind bourne out of mere schoolkid peer pressure. It went much deeper than that. I absolutely did not want anyone putting a freakish black mark on my forehead.
"Mom, this is crazy. I don't want to go to church, and I don't want a stupid black mark on my forehead."
"You are going to do that very thing, young man, OR ELSE."
Defeated, I sullenly and morosely took my place in the family car and off we went to the
At some point in the service everybody lined up to get their foreheads smudged. I got mine. I had absolutely no idea that these smudges were not permanent. As far as I knew, I was branded for life with an indelible mark of shame and horror.
At school, I pretended to be "not feeling well" and kept my head down on my desk, buried under my hands and forearms. I planned to keep my wool stocking cap pulled down over my forehead so no one could see this horrible blotch while I was walking home from school. I feverishly turned over every permutation of every possible course of action I could think of to figure out how I was going to keep this vile mark covered and concealed for the rest of my life. I decided I was going to have to learn to live with band-aids on my forehead for the rest of my life.
Yeah. I can do that. I'll get used to it.
As sat there with my head down, spiraling down further and further into abject depression over this vile mark on my forehead, I saw something. It was faint, but unmistakeable.
Could it be? YES!!!!
There was a smudge on the back of my hand, where I had been resting my forehead all day.
I can get this thing off my forehead !!! I can rub it off!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
I took my other hand, and rubbed the back, front, and sides of it against my forehead. There was even more black residue.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH!!!!!!! I'll bet this thing is GONE!!!
I had gone from the depths of agony to the heights of ecstasy. I raised my hand.
"Miss Ellickson, I need to go to the bathroom."
Little did she know the reason I needed to go was to check the mirror to be sure my forehead was clean of the dreaded mark of death.
The mirror was my friend. My forehead was clean as a whistle. I returned to class on cloud nine. At the end of the schoolday I floated home.
My mother did not share my newfound joy.
"WHERE ARE YOUR ASHES??!!!??" she demanded, "You are supposed to keep them on for the WHOLE DAY!"
"Hmm, dunno, Mom, I guess they rubbed off somehow. I'm gonna go play hockey at the pond now."
Slam.
Fast forward one year to the day. I am back in the church death-march, awaiting my black mark. I get it. I turn, heading back for my seat. I reach up with the back of my wrist, and rub off the hated leper-mark no doubt in full view of my family.
Fast forward another year, to the very day.
"We have to go to church today, it's Ash Wednesday", my mother announced.
"I ain't goin' ", I announced, with all the conviction a ten year old can muster.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. The only thing that would happen is Father What's-his-name is going to put that stupid mark on my forehead, and I am going to rub it right back off. Why should I go?"
"Oh, nevermind. The rest of us will go. You go to school."
I never went through that disgusting, wretched, defiling, heathen, gutter-ritual again.
The woman was now directly on my left on the sidewalk, completely unaware that in those few seconds of time I had been teleported back to 1968, then to 1969, then to 1970, then back to 2009 again. The black mark on her forehead gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
She strode by, proudly and piously.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Two Threads
The Bible uses two primary kinds of parabolic language in describing the state of unsaved man. One kind of language is what I call "death language". These are statements such as Ephesians 2:1,
And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;
or John 11, where we read about Lazarus being raised from the dead as a picture of regeneration. The valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 is another example.
But death language is not the only kind of language God uses to describe unsaved man. God also uses "sickness" language. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:10ff). The unsaved are typified by those having many different physical infirmities, as we read in Matthew 15:30,
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them [those that were] lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
When I argued in favor of total depravity I can see now I did not adequately harmonize the "death" language with the "sickness" language. Once this is correctly done, though, then this helps our understanding of the nature of unsaved man considerably.
To be continued.
And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;
or John 11, where we read about Lazarus being raised from the dead as a picture of regeneration. The valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 is another example.
But death language is not the only kind of language God uses to describe unsaved man. God also uses "sickness" language. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:10ff). The unsaved are typified by those having many different physical infirmities, as we read in Matthew 15:30,
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them [those that were] lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
When I argued in favor of total depravity I can see now I did not adequately harmonize the "death" language with the "sickness" language. Once this is correctly done, though, then this helps our understanding of the nature of unsaved man considerably.
To be continued.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Forensic Parlance
Resolved: Any unsaved person, being totally depraved, must be directly acted upon by God's restraint in order for the unsaved person to behave in a way that is to any degree consistent with the law of God.
For many years, I have argued in the Affirmative from the Bible on the above proposition.
However, for several months now, as I have looked directly at the Scriptures and only the Scriptures, (over this time having not read or listened to any prepared Bible studies on the topic) I have begun to realize my position has some problems.
For example, here is one right off the bat. Romans 2:14-15 state:
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
This passage teaches that man has the law of God written on his heart. This writing of God's law upon the heart of man must have been from the creation of Adam and Eve in their sinless state. Before the fall, God's law upon the heart of man governed Adam's thoughts and conduct to the degree that Adam was pleasing to God. And this writing of the law of God upon the heart of man has remained on the heart even though by the Fall man has become completely infected by sin.
This passage also teaches that, even now after the Fall, man still has God's law written on his heart. Thus men "do by nature the things contained in the law". This is even true of those who have little or no exposure to the written Word. For example, virtually every culture, even those that have no exposure to the Bible, have some kind of prohibitions against stealing. This is, to a degree, consistent with the moral force of God's law, "Thou shalt not steal". Similarly, even cultures in "deep, dark Africa" which for generations have had no exposure at all to the Bible, still generally frown on things such as murder.
Does this mean that unsaved man can please God, or can somehow contribute to Christ's payment for his sin assuming he is one of the elect? The Scriptures still emphatically say "No".
Does this mean that unsaved man, as a created but fallen being, still can exhibit behaviors and inclinations that are to a degree consistent with the law of God, apart from the direct, overriding intervention of God in the form of restraint (e.g. Gen 20:6)? On the basis of the above and many other verses, and despite what I have held for many years, I am beginning to believe the answer to this last question is "yes".
I'll have more to say on this, but let me say for now I welcome readers to offer verses/correction on this topic. I promise to resist my tendency to be defensive/argumentative. I just want to be on the right side of Truth.
For many years, I have argued in the Affirmative from the Bible on the above proposition.
However, for several months now, as I have looked directly at the Scriptures and only the Scriptures, (over this time having not read or listened to any prepared Bible studies on the topic) I have begun to realize my position has some problems.
For example, here is one right off the bat. Romans 2:14-15 state:
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
This passage teaches that man has the law of God written on his heart. This writing of God's law upon the heart of man must have been from the creation of Adam and Eve in their sinless state. Before the fall, God's law upon the heart of man governed Adam's thoughts and conduct to the degree that Adam was pleasing to God. And this writing of the law of God upon the heart of man has remained on the heart even though by the Fall man has become completely infected by sin.
This passage also teaches that, even now after the Fall, man still has God's law written on his heart. Thus men "do by nature the things contained in the law". This is even true of those who have little or no exposure to the written Word. For example, virtually every culture, even those that have no exposure to the Bible, have some kind of prohibitions against stealing. This is, to a degree, consistent with the moral force of God's law, "Thou shalt not steal". Similarly, even cultures in "deep, dark Africa" which for generations have had no exposure at all to the Bible, still generally frown on things such as murder.
Does this mean that unsaved man can please God, or can somehow contribute to Christ's payment for his sin assuming he is one of the elect? The Scriptures still emphatically say "No".
Does this mean that unsaved man, as a created but fallen being, still can exhibit behaviors and inclinations that are to a degree consistent with the law of God, apart from the direct, overriding intervention of God in the form of restraint (e.g. Gen 20:6)? On the basis of the above and many other verses, and despite what I have held for many years, I am beginning to believe the answer to this last question is "yes".
I'll have more to say on this, but let me say for now I welcome readers to offer verses/correction on this topic. I promise to resist my tendency to be defensive/argumentative. I just want to be on the right side of Truth.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Snapshot: A Christian Parent's Stream of Consciousness
It's still early. None of the little kids up yet. Check.
Ah! Isaac has started the coffee maker. And there is some coffee left. Upgrade that "check" to, "Oh yeah!"
Now, if my Bible is still on the end table... yep. There it is. Passage for this morning, Isaiah 48:12-22. Here we go.
12: Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Wow, this is new testament language, isn't it? "my called" - God is speaking directly to the elect here, under the names Jacob and Israel. Here is another "I am", and just like in Revelation Jesus declares he is "the first and the last". Just as Jesus speaks in revelation, He is also speaking here. Wow!
This is really great stuff. And it is nice and quiet. I am going to read this passage, and then really take the magnifying glass to it. I hope I get enough time!
13: Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
Wow! How can anyone say the Bible is not the Word of God? Christ speaks here as the One who created everything. He speaks with all power and authority! Just as God said "he is the first", here he tells me he created everything in the beginning.
14: All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Hmmm. "Assemble yourselves". Hmmm. I wonder if the Hebrew supports the idea that this "assemble yourselves" relates to "assemble yourselves together" in Hebrews? Wow! I'll need to check that out once I finish this overview-read of the passage and really get my magnifying glass out. Oh. and Christ says he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. Hey! This is end-time language! He is the first AND the last just as He said!
15: I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Oh, my, has God ever spoken. I just do not understand how anyone can deny that the Bible is the Word of God. Wow, what God is saying here is super-important. This passage is huge. I think I might be understanding some of this. Wow, this passage is going to be a huge study. This is going to be great to dig into. I thiiiink more coffeee might be in order here. And...
POP!!!!! (Mara, calling out from her bedroom) Rose just threw up!
Uh-oh. Study to be continued. I hope.
Ah! Isaac has started the coffee maker. And there is some coffee left. Upgrade that "check" to, "Oh yeah!"
Now, if my Bible is still on the end table... yep. There it is. Passage for this morning, Isaiah 48:12-22. Here we go.
12: Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Wow, this is new testament language, isn't it? "my called" - God is speaking directly to the elect here, under the names Jacob and Israel. Here is another "I am", and just like in Revelation Jesus declares he is "the first and the last". Just as Jesus speaks in revelation, He is also speaking here. Wow!
This is really great stuff. And it is nice and quiet. I am going to read this passage, and then really take the magnifying glass to it. I hope I get enough time!
13: Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
Wow! How can anyone say the Bible is not the Word of God? Christ speaks here as the One who created everything. He speaks with all power and authority! Just as God said "he is the first", here he tells me he created everything in the beginning.
14: All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Hmmm. "Assemble yourselves". Hmmm. I wonder if the Hebrew supports the idea that this "assemble yourselves" relates to "assemble yourselves together" in Hebrews? Wow! I'll need to check that out once I finish this overview-read of the passage and really get my magnifying glass out. Oh. and Christ says he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. Hey! This is end-time language! He is the first AND the last just as He said!
15: I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Oh, my, has God ever spoken. I just do not understand how anyone can deny that the Bible is the Word of God. Wow, what God is saying here is super-important. This passage is huge. I think I might be understanding some of this. Wow, this passage is going to be a huge study. This is going to be great to dig into. I thiiiink more coffeee might be in order here. And...
POP!!!!! (Mara, calling out from her bedroom) Rose just threw up!
Uh-oh. Study to be continued. I hope.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Sinfulness of Man
I have spent much, much time over the last several months studying and considering the matter of what has historically been referred to as the total depravity of man. The position I have held (do a "search this blog" search to find my previous posts on the subject) I have come to realize is not without problems.
Perhaps Lord willing I will get the chance to write about it.
Perhaps Lord willing I will get the chance to write about it.
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