|
|
-
Question #7 -
QUESTION:
If there is a perfect Bible in English, doesn't there also have to
be a perfect Bible in French, and German, and Japanese, etc?
ANSWER:
No. God has always given His word to one
people in one language to do one job;
convert the world. The supposition that there must be a perfect
translation in every language is erroneous and inconsistent with
God's proven practice.
EXPLANATION:
This explanation comes in three parts: the Old Testament,
the New Testament, the entire Bible.
(1) The Old Testament:
It is an accepted fact that, with the exception of
some portions of Ezra and Daniel, the Old Testament was written in
Hebrew. It is also accepted that it was divinely given to the
Jews.
Thus God initiates His pattern of operation. He gave
His words to one people in only one
language.
God, apparently unintimidated by modem scholarship,
did not feel obligated to supply His words in Egyptian, Chaldian,
Syrian, Ethiopian, or any other of the languages
in use on the earth at the time the Old Testament was written.
The Old Testament was given exclusively
to the Jews. Anyone desiring the word of God would have to convert
to Judaism. Ample provision was made for such occurrences.
(2) New Testament:
It is also an accepted fact that the New Testament
was written in Greek. Koine Greek to be exact. Again, the Lord
apparently saw no reason to inspire a perfect original in all of
the languages of the world extant at that time.
Only this time, instead of giving His Book to a
nation, such as Israel, He simply gave it to the Christians who
were told to go out and convert the world. (Matthew 28:19) His
choice of Greek as the language of the New Testament was obvious
in that it was the predominant language of the world at the time.
(3) The Entire Bible:
It is obvious that God now needed to get both
His Old Testament and His New Testament welded together in a
language that was common to the world. Only English can be
considered such a language.
The English language had been developing for many
centuries until the late sixteenth century. About that time it
finally reached a state of excellence that no language on earth
has ever attained. It would seem that God did the rest. He chose
this perfect language for the consummation of his perfect Book.
First England and later the United States swept the
globe as the most powerful nations on earth, establishing English
in all corners of the globe as either a primary or secondary
language.
Today nations who do not speak English must still
teach English to many of their citizens. Even nations antagonistic
to the West such as Russia and Red China must teach English to
their business and military personnel.
Thus in choosing English in which to combine His two
Testaments, God chose the only language which the world would
know. Just as He has shown in His choosing only one
language for the Old Testament and only one
language for the New Testament, He continued that practice by
combining those two testaments in only one
language.
But let us not forget the fact that, by choosing the
English language, God has given us a mandate to
carry out the great commission. He did not give us a perfect Bible
to set placidly on the coffee table in our living room to let our
guests know that we are "religious". He did not give it
to us to press a flower from our first date, or to have a record
of our family tree. He gave it to us to read! And
to tuck under our arm and share with the lost world the good news
of Jesus' payment for sin that is found inside.
Let's get busy!
Back
to The Answer Book Index
|
|
|
