Copyright laws didn't exist back then
Do not add or do not take away.Rev.22;18,19
by jam 30 Replies latest jw friends
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tec
Jam, the bible didn't e X ist when Revelations was written. So it is impossible that the Book = the Bible.
The Book being referred to is the book of Revelation.
Is it not true, always the entire Book is in view,
because the Bible is one book. Agree
Disagree. The bible is many, many books compiled together to create the bible. But the books are all individual. If different men had been in charge of creating 'canon', then we might have a very different version of the bible. In fact, we do have a couple of different versions even now. Catholic vs. Protestant.
Peace to you,
Tammy
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jam
Thanks folks, The Bible gives me headache . It just show
how sometimes to prove A point, and you start off with
the wrong information or wrong understanding it put you
in left field. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
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tec
That is so true, Jam. You're very welcome, if anything shared helped you.
Peace to you,
Tammy
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jam
and GL I GET IT.
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ScenicViewer
Already posted. Sorry.
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GLTirebiter
and GL I GET IT.
OK, I was writing this while you were posting. Good evening, Jam!
Now you say, we do not know what to take away or add, why.
No, I said we know that things have inevitably been added and taken away as these works were passed on through the centuries, transcribed and translated many times, into languages far different than the original, and read by persons with a cultural outlook far removed from the nations who first used them--and we don't know where these changes are, nor which of the various texts is "right".
We have enough trouble understanding the words of Shakespeare, written in our mother tongue for our relatively recent ancestors. It is far harder to comprehend the meaning of words written into a much older, far different language for a people with an entirely different culture. I said trying to literally understand every word is a fool's errand because we do not talk like, think like, or act like people of those ancient places and distant nations, nor do we even know with certainty which version of the words we should accept.
Here is a modern example (used by my High School religion teacher): We might say "I make the bed every morning." We understand that to mean straightening the sheets, tucking in the blankets, and fluffing up the pillows. But if those words are translated literally to a language used in a non-Western culture, they might think we are working with wood, tools and nails, building new furniture every day! That is the problem with word-by-word literal translation: you can have all the right words and completely miss then meaning. Figurative language is not unique to us; a good study Bible explains many figures of speech in the scriptures (leading us to wonder how many more there are that we don't even recognize).
because the Bible is one book
Like Tec, I disagree. "The Bible" is an anthology, containing 66, 73, or 76 books (depending on which version you have) produced at different times over thousands of years (including times when it was passed down orally, not in writing).
Using your reasoning, Deuteronomy 32:45-47 says that only the Pentateuch is valid. Everything that came later was "added on", so if it was really one book and the words are a warning to "not add on", then the story must end right there, on the mountain east of the river Jordan overlooking the land of Canaan.
But reading Deuteronomy as a book complete within itself makes clear that these words are about the (Mosaic) law, which makes sense in the context of the passage:
Final Appeal
When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today, words you should command your children, that they may observe carefully every word of this law. For this is no trivial matter for you, but rather your very life; by this word you will enjoy a long life on the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
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the-illuminator81
The WTS even uses special brackets to point out where they have added words.
I guess they are not impressed with the plagues described in Revelation.
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Leolaia
Those brackets often disappear in foreign translations and in quotations from the NWT.
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AvocadoJake
Dr. Bart Erhman complains the whole Christian Greek sciptures have been subject to "hundreds of thousands of errors, misqoutes, scribal laziness, ect....." to many additions and subtractions to the New Testament. . I remember where Bart Erhman's teacher, when he was 94 years old, one of the greatest textual critics, if not the best ever, said "He had more faith in the reliability of the what Jesus said, than when he first started." I belive God would have the ability to get his message, one way or another. If you want to read a book by a former (deceased) Dead Sea Scrolls translator and naysayer, (Some scholars use those nasty ad hom., saying he was the weakest link of the D.S. team.) he had no conviction in the writings. He was concerned with the Essenes and their magic mushroom addiction, which provided the followers with some great visions. Old John Marcos Allegros book might be worth a glance, if that is your bag baby!