In studying the Koine Greek of the New Testament, as well as modern Greek, one thing has really stuck out to me that I would like to share: Greek is and was a very precise language, and we can be certain of the Words of God.
Many criticisms from unlearned segments of the internet often allege (entirely without evidence, but merely by assertion) that there have been numerous corruptions of the Bible and we can't ever know what it really said. This is a bit like suggesting that gravity only works in the sunlight, and is plainly absurd in the highest degree.
There are, however, textual variants (differences between the wordings of two or more manuscripts) in Scripture that can leave one totally perplexed as to the meaning of a statement (just keep reading). For example, in Titus 1:4 the Stephanus Textus Receptus of 1550 reads, "Jesus Christ" but the Codex Sinaiticus from the 4th century reads "Christ Jesus." How will we ever discern the true meaning?! The internet trolls are right!!
/end sarcasm
But in truth, nearly all textual variants among the 6,000+ greek manuscripts are this way, and have no relevance to the meaning on a passage or to accepted Christian doctrine. We can and should trust the exact words we read in our English Bibles.
However, for serious study of God's Word (which all followers of Christ should do) it's important to use a literal translation like the KJV that is accurate and adheres closely to the words of the original texts. Many modern translations include translator-bias that renders various verses in a way that conforms to their own theology, or they over-simplify a passage resulting in a loss of meaning.
Komentáře