Oh, I know I'm opening up a can of worms with this one, lol!
A long time ago there were parts of the Bible with which I sorely disagreed. Only in maybe the last ten years of my life have I begun to really understand certain things in the Bible and they now make complete sense. One of the reasons I now see it so much more clearly is in the actual way I read the Bible.
When I read the Bible when I was a teenager, it was only because I was told to read it. To me it was tedious. Lots of it didn’t make much sense to me. (Some of that is because of the translation in the King James Version, which I will talk about in a minute.) I became an adult and a very busy mother and the only time I read the Bible was at Christmas and when I had to prepare a talk or teach a Sunday School class. I had seven children. I was too busy or tired to take time to read it. That was my excuse.
Then, I got old. My children grew up, but I had grandchildren and was still working, still busy, still tired. Then I turned sixty and things slowed down. By this time I’d had several supernatural visitations. An angel actually appeared to me. Jesus spoke to me, both times in a park when I was walking, though it was different parks. I’d begun to have visions and prophetic dreams. I decided I now have time and energy to read the Bible. I read it through from cover to cover. But this time it was because I wanted to learn.
Because of my supernatural experiences I’d had, I now knew that God is real. Really real. He’s not just some story or fairytale. So, I read the Bible with a different attitude. I prayed before I read each day. I asked for understanding. I asked for confirmations. I asked for clarity of mind. Also, now there were computers and the internet and I had access to the thoughts and studies of Bible scholars. Some inspired. Some... not so much.
I didn’t depend too much on the understanding of others because I didn’t want someone else to teach me about the Bible. I wanted Jesus to teach me about the Bible, so I took everything to Him. It’s a little bit slower to come to the understanding of things, but I could trust what I was learning. I don’t put my trust in man.
Then, my husband, who was going blind, noticed the differences in me, because reading the Bible with the right attitude can certainly change you. My husband asked me if I would read the Bible to him and I was all too happy to do that. I didn’t realize, but soon came to know that reading the Bible, beginning with prayer, knowing God is real..... and reading it ALOUD ..... that is the way to go!
Reading the Bible out loud from cover to cover is totally different than reading it to yourself. There’s some kind of amazing thing that happens. It’s also fun. Figuring out how to say all the names of people and/or places. Reading the boring parts that you think are tedious, like how to make the tabernacle or how to build the temple or how and when to sacrifice animals... not so much fun to read those parts... but they are encoded, I learned, so I read every single word out loud. It was... “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” :)
What version did I read? I’ve now read several versions using the process above. I know there are a lot of Christians who swear that you must use the King James Version and nothing else...other versions leave stuff out. So many people and whole churches say that so much that it became suspect in my mind. Why are they pushing it so hard? So, I began to research. So,so,so ;)
I learned that the KJV is not necessarily the most accurate. Some say it is because it’s one of the oldest versions. If you open your mind and study this topic you will find it is NOT the most accurate translation. The man who edited the text was a Roman Catholic priest and humanist named Erasmus. He didn’t know Greek and many times guessed at the meaning of certain phrases. Also, of course, keep in mind, the KJV was commissioned by a King.
“King James had political reasons for having this translation prepared. Primarily because the common English translations used were smuggled in from Europe. And those translations included marginal notes that, among other things, denied the "divine right of kings".”
**“It (KJV) is so popular because it was the first translation done where the goal was to be as accurate and as 'literal' as possible. Other translations try to be literal, as far as it makes the text understandable, but also try to make it readable and understandable. The issue is that the more literal a translation is, the more we miss out on some of the subtleties of the original language. However, consider it this way; How would you translate the phrase 'break a leg,' from English to another language for someone who doesn't know anything about The English language? Would you translate it literally, word-for-word, and risk the reader misunderstanding the phrase? Or would you translate it into something like 'good luck', which better ensures the reader would understand the phrase, but technically, was not even close to what the original words were? For this reason, it's often good to use more than one translation, so that you can get it both ways.” Author unknown
I have read the Bible out loud from cover to cover five times now. I’ve read the KJV, the NIV (New International Version) twice, and the ESV (English Standard Version) twice. I’m starting on the ERV (Easy to Read Version.) They have differences. Not many and not flagrant as some people scream about. I only have to roll my eyes. People who scream all about the KJV only, are really doing a disservice to non-Christians who think they might like to read the Bible and then pick up a KJV and are almost immediately deterred. Give it a rest. The second time I read the Bible all the way through it was the NIV and it was beautiful and inspiring and informative and filled with the Holy Spirit.
I began this little blog post because I was going to address one of the passages I didn’t understand and sorely disagreed with, but I had to first put down the base of what I came to understand by explaining why I read more than one version of the Bible and that I feel strongly led to do just that. So, since this post has become too long. I’ll stop here and address the verse, which is in Luke, in my next post.
Praying for your blessing and healing and understanding. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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