Quote:
Originally Posted by armourbearer  I have had the privilege to be acquainted with a few ladies and gentlemen who knew not a word of Greek (excepting those words that are carried over into English), who would theologically outstrip the average seminary graduate. What was it B. B. Warfield said about Shorter Catechism boys growing to be men? Then I've known not a few who have learned just enough of the original languages to be dangerous to themselves and others. Like stepping into a car with a person who thinks they know how to drive because they can turn the steering wheel and push down on the accelerator, and that is all. If you require interlinears, lexicons, etc., and you admit that the people who write these tools are fallible men, then you are in much the same situation as a person who reads the English translation of the men who were equipped to write interlinears and lexicons. To restate a point I made in an earlier thread -- translations reflect the biblical and theological understanding of the men who make them. Translations differ because men approach the Scriptures with different beliefs. Which shows the absurdity of trusting to a translation (or lexicon, or interlinear, or any other Bible tool) made by men who are not of our profession. Blessings! |
To this I say
. Let me state that, again, you raise some excellent points about problems in the way men have chosen to
translate manuscripts. I find myself more in agreement with you than disagreement on this issue. Not being a scholar in Greek myself, I'm increasingly skeptical about forming opinions on a text from a Church or a theologian I don't trust. I think we all need to be careful which engines we hitch ourselves to.
I do appreciate the mooring that you provide to trusting the Church over others. I'm still not sure about
manuscript choices per se and whether the Church can consentially decide to use a certain set for other languages but I do appreciate the weight of the idea that we ought not to be too cavalier about the fact that a bunch of tools exist to help us decide for ourselves what the Scriptures say apart from the testimony of the Church.
Blessings,
Rich