Scientific Biblical Studies - Current Articles
The Life Foundations
Nexus
DOES THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES BIBLE HAVE PRIORITY
OVER THE KING JAMES BIBLE?
By Dr. Michael J. Bisconti
Does the original languages Bible have priority
over the King James Bible? In other
words, if the original languages text of the Bible, which includes the Textus
Receptus CSR9 (see the Technical Footnote at the bottom of God’s
Standard Of Precision Of Biblical Textual Criticism And Bible Translation),
disagreed with the King James Bible, which would be correct? Well, first of all, THEY DON’T
DISAGREE. However, for the sake of
argument, let us say that they did disagree.
Which would be correct? Which
would have final authority?
As a scholar and scientist, there is no
small temptation for me to answer this question by saying, “The original
languages Bible, which includes the Textus Receptus CSR9, would have
priority over the King James Bible.”
However, THE BIBLE TEACHES ME OTHERWISE! The “Communication Principle,” which is based on the TBI-IOTC Principle states:
God communicates his message in the
language or languages understood by the hearer. If one understands the original languages as well as one or more
other languages, God communicates his message in both the original languages
and the one or more other languages. If
one does NOT understand the original languages and one understands one or more
other languages, God communicates his message in the one or more other
languages only.
If one understands the original languages
and one or more other languages and they believe that a passage in the original
languages Bible disagrees with a passage in a “nonoriginal” languages Bible,
they must FIND OUT THE MISTAKE THEY ARE MAKING IN THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE
PASSAGE IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES BIBLE.
If by some odd, incredible miracle one
was raised to speak the original languages of the Bible as well as one or more
other languages and they believe that the original languages Bible disagrees
with a passage in a “nonoriginal” languages Bible, they must FIND OUT WHAT
INCORRECT, ORIGINAL LANGUAGES INSTRUCTION THEY WERE GIVEN WHILE THEY WERE BEING
RAISED.
The Communication Principle leads us to
the “English Communication Principle,” which states:
God communicates his message in English
if the reader understands English. If
one understands the original languages as well as English, God communicates his
message in both the original languages and English. If one does NOT understand the original languages and one
understands English, God communicates his message in English.
If one understands the original languages
and English and they believe that a passage in the original languages Bible
disagrees with a passage in the English Bible, they must FIND OUT THE MISTAKE
THEY ARE MAKING IN THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE PASSAGE IN THE ORIGINAL
LANGUAGES BIBLE.
If by some odd, incredible miracle one
was raised to speak only the original languages of the Bible and English and
they believe that the original languages Bible disagrees with a passage in the
English Bible, they must FIND OUT WHAT INCORRECT, ORIGINAL LANGUAGES INSTRUCTION
THEY WERE GIVEN WHILE THEY WERE BEING RAISED.
The English Communication Principle leads
us to the “King James Bible Communication Principle,” which states:
God communicates his message in King
James Bible English if the reader understands King James Bible English. If one understands the original languages as
well as King James Bible English, God communicates his message in both the
original languages and King James Bible English. If one does NOT understand the original languages and one
understands King James Bible English, God communicates his message in King
James Bible English.
If one understands the original languages
and King James Bible English and they believe that a passage in the original languages
Bible disagrees with a passage in the King James Bible, they must FIND OUT THE
MISTAKE THEY ARE MAKING IN THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE PASSAGE IN THE ORIGINAL
LANGUAGES BIBLE.
If by some odd, incredible miracle one
was raised to speak only the original languages of the Bible and King James
Bible English and they believe that the original languages Bible disagrees with
a passage in the King James Bible, they must FIND OUT WHAT INCORRECT, ORIGINAL
LANGUAGES INSTRUCTION THEY WERE GIVEN WHILE THEY WERE BEING RAISED.
Now, there are those who will disagree
with the KJBC Principle, the King James Bible Communication Principle. The basis of their disagreement may be the
seeming violation of common sense that would occur if one were to follow the
KJBC Principle. Common sense tells us
that a translation is dependent on the foreign language text that is being
translated. However, their fear of
violating common sense is based on a delusion.
The delusion is their belief that THEY ARE ABLE TO ACCURATELY UNDERSTAND
THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES TEXT OF THE BIBLE.
The fact is that, without the full knowledge of the environmental and
cultural contexts of the languages of the Bible in the time that they were
spoken, they CANNOT ACCURATELY UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF THE
BIBLE. In other words, effectively,
an accurate understanding of the original languages text of the Bible requires
that one have lived thousands of years ago when those languages were spoken and
in the places in which they were spoken.
Now, this will lead some people to say,
“Ah ha, the King James Bible translators lived hundreds and thousands of years
after the original languages were spoken and did not live where they
were spoken. Therefore, THEY COULD NOT
HAVE ACCURATELY UNDERSTOOD THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE AND, THEREFORE,
THEY COULD NOT HAVE PRODUCED AN ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES
TEXT OF THE BIBLE.” That would be a
powerful argument if it weren’t for the fact that we said “effectively” in our
statement above and, more important, that the King James Bible translators
lived before 1800. What is the
significance of their having lived before 1800? This brings us to the “Nineteenth Century Language Shift
Principle,” which states:
Beginning in 1800, a global shift occurred
in the understanding of the ancient languages of the world. The full understanding of the environmental
and cultural contexts of the ancient languages of the world, as if
miraculously, DISAPPEARED from the face of the earth. This was the beginning of the “dispensation” of “Noncontext
Language.”
We will elaborate. Up until 1800, human communication was
impossible without context. Here is an
example:
In 1799, the year preceding the year of
the “global language shift,” people never said, “I am going to the store.” Instead, they said “I am going to Joe’s
store two blocks from here.” People
never said, “We are getting married at a Baptist church.” Instead, they said, “We are getting married
at the Baptist church across the street pastored by Reverend Smith.”
Now, whether you are a linguistics
expert, especially an etymologist or philologist, OR NOT, you may disagree with
us. If so, please note that your
disagreement stems from our avoidance of technical jargon in order to assure
that people will understand what we have to say. You will find a 10,000-page discussion on the Nineteenth Century
Language Shift Principle at the Trillion
Pages: Quadrant I: Historical Perspectives & HP VSA&S (not
available yet on-line to the general public).