Instead Of Painting

Well, I finished pressure washing our house. Painting the walls comes next. Ginny and I plan to buy the paint tonight and begin painting this weekend.

Whoopee. Am I looking forward to that.

In the mean time, I spent Wednesday morning challenging my friend Wes to translate the Bible into modern English.

He balked.

He says the King James Version is all the translation anybody needs; I countered by asking why he reads the Bible in the original Greek himself if the 1611 translation is adequate.

What brought this discussion on is that Wes recently acquired a book which pulls his chain. He’s so thrilled that the University of Michigan Digital Library had reprinted the 1894 edition of Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener’s A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. I and Vol. II. A reproduction of the text can be found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/scrivener/ntcrit1/Page_Index.html

It tickled Wes to show me Scrivener’s comparison of the Complutensian Polyglott with the Textus Receptus, the Greek text on which the King James Version of the Bible is based.

The Complutensian Polyglott was a six volume set first published in 1514. It contains columns filled with the most ancient Bible texts in Hebrew, Vulgate, Aramaic (Targum Onkelos), Septuagint versions.

Here’s a sample of what that Complutensian Polyglott looks like:

Nobody can get into Heaven unless they can read this page.

Just kidding.

In his exhaustive research Scrivner discovered only a comparative handful of variant readings from the same Bible you’ll find in the bedside drawer at any motel, the same Bible your Grandmother read, the same Bible gathering dust on your own coffee table.

In other words we don’t need to be Greek scholars to know everything we need to know concerning life and godliness. It’s all there right in front of us.

But I find it comforting to know that scientists exist who examine the process of Bible transmission in such detail.

The downside of this conversation with Wes results in my feeling guilty about how little of God’s Word I actually spend time reading.

I dabble at Scripture.

I know no Greek, Hebrew, Latin or any other related language but that’s no excuse. Even though some Bible scholars have actually died to make the Scripture available to me, I neglect study or even casual reading on most days.

PS: If anyone really wants to buy a copy of the Complutensian Polyglott it can be found at http://www.lulu.com/tigran . Better hurry and get yours today before they sell out.

Me, I think I’ll pass.

I have a house to paint.