RE: The Historical Reliability of the New Testament
May 14, 2015 at 3:07 pm
(This post was last modified: May 14, 2015 at 3:13 pm by Aroura.)
Also, even if you have an accurate translation of words, how the words are interpreted will have changed over time.
Anyone who studies ancient language and culture can tell you that. Actually, you probably know it yourself and don't even realize it. Ever read eh Canterbury Tales, or anything by Shakespeare? There is a reason why you have to take classes to truly even understand these relatively modern works. The way people behaved and thought, their slang, their attitudes towards everyday things, all of these were different just a few hundred years ago than they are today. How different are they a few thousand years ago?
Even a direct translations is NOT a direct translation. Honest lingual historians who study these things admit they cannot know what someone meant, even when they know what someone wrote.
When you read a line from your bible, you interpret it with your modern brain steeped in modern culture, you cannot help it. You are fooling yourself if you think anyone understands what the meaning of ancient texts are. Historians can only make educated guesses. Even trained historians need to work hard, and then they are still only making their BEST GUESS.
For instance, in our own culture, when we say we've gone out of the frying pan into the fire, we aren't talking about cooking or fires at all. Think that's oversimplified? Even a very similar culture speaking the same language can use terms that are untranslatable unless you understand the culture in which it originated.
Go to England and listen to people use some common terms.
I'm off to Bedfordshire...does not mean they are going to Bedfordshire, it means going to bed. Being at Her Majesties Pleasure means nothing about pleasure or serving the Queen, it means going to prison. I need to see a man about a dog.....well, you get the point? No man or dog involved there.
I think most people really don't grasp this. We know that "knowing" another person in the bible may translate to having sex...but only sometimes. Which slang or cultural thoughts are you mistranslating without even knowing it?
Anyone who studies ancient language and culture can tell you that. Actually, you probably know it yourself and don't even realize it. Ever read eh Canterbury Tales, or anything by Shakespeare? There is a reason why you have to take classes to truly even understand these relatively modern works. The way people behaved and thought, their slang, their attitudes towards everyday things, all of these were different just a few hundred years ago than they are today. How different are they a few thousand years ago?
Even a direct translations is NOT a direct translation. Honest lingual historians who study these things admit they cannot know what someone meant, even when they know what someone wrote.
When you read a line from your bible, you interpret it with your modern brain steeped in modern culture, you cannot help it. You are fooling yourself if you think anyone understands what the meaning of ancient texts are. Historians can only make educated guesses. Even trained historians need to work hard, and then they are still only making their BEST GUESS.
For instance, in our own culture, when we say we've gone out of the frying pan into the fire, we aren't talking about cooking or fires at all. Think that's oversimplified? Even a very similar culture speaking the same language can use terms that are untranslatable unless you understand the culture in which it originated.
Go to England and listen to people use some common terms.
I'm off to Bedfordshire...does not mean they are going to Bedfordshire, it means going to bed. Being at Her Majesties Pleasure means nothing about pleasure or serving the Queen, it means going to prison. I need to see a man about a dog.....well, you get the point? No man or dog involved there.
I think most people really don't grasp this. We know that "knowing" another person in the bible may translate to having sex...but only sometimes. Which slang or cultural thoughts are you mistranslating without even knowing it?
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
