THE BIBLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22161, 15 July 1935, Page 12

THE BIBLE

Sir, —If only as a warning to thosei who are such great scholars, that in translating God's Word they have n<r need of the direct guidance and super*' vision of the Holy Spirit of God (who alone knows the mind of Godv, I desire to pen the following. I'nu'tired of parsons and otherwise intelligent people telling me that it is necessary to gel' back to the original, in order to understand God's Word correctly. .If the? will allow the original to be Godsi Holy Spirit, and get back to Him in their search, then all would be well, because that's what the Word teaches* in every particular; but if it's to the Greek and Hebrew writings of scripture, then I have a very serious quarrel with them, as 1 hold that God's Iloij Spirit Himself guided and guarded the Word in its translation into our own mother tongue.. God does nothing slipshod, and so let all reasonable men-not bother about the birth of the into our language, seeing it is indeed well-born. The Word indeed is ours to the Glory of God. and our Eternal salvation as we will but believe and obey it. God is a spirit and His o«r> language therefore spiritual: it therefore very difficult indeed (so difficult that His Word had to be mad«! flesh, in fact) for God to put His OtrtJ infinite truth into our physical language that undoubtedly words failed Him. to express Himself perfectly H<-nce a truth that'may have been onlj* HO per cent correctly stated in the socalled original Hebrew. may easiij have been capable of being exactly translated into our own language, "V the use of a word 10 per cent ait variance with the rew word: and it may also be capable of being translated into our language by the use of a practically exact corresponding word and still only CO per cent correct, instead of correct, and vice versa.. Any uninspired scholar would alwayi use the wrong word in this ca«e. and that is just what they have done to the destruction of the spiritual truth in all their modern versions of Scrip* ture. This is my challenge, and by tw> grace of God. I'll defend H:s Word to the bitter end. ft is written. "If man will rlo His will he shall know the doctrine.." a'so " and :1 sir'tqif' will they riot follow, for they l?" 0 1"' not the voice of strangers,."' Stranger indeed, are most of the modern P" ,r | versions of Scripture that scholars an' trying to force down orrr throats the» r days.' W. J. Bycroft.