LDS New Testament Slideshow 02: Origin and translation of the New Testament

8/8/2019 LDS New Testament Slideshow 02: Origin and translation of the New Testament

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Week 2:Week 2:Origin, developmenOrigin, developmen

and translation of thand translation of thNew TestamentNew TestamentHurricane West StakeAdult Religion Class


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J oseph Smith on the BibleI believe the Bible as it readwhen it came from the pen of

the original writers.Ignorant translators, carelesstranscribers, or designing andcorrupt priests have committed manyerrors.

Joseph Smith, 1843History of the Church 5:67


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Qu estions well answer Who wrote the New Testament?Why these 2 7 books?

How was the text transmitted? Whatkinds of errors and changes?Which Bible translation is the best?


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E arly Christian writingsK oine G reek.Oral culture.

First written gospels 20 40 years after Jesus.G ospels and letters read

aloud in the churches(Colossians 4 :15 16) .Copied by amateurs.


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The New Testament canonBooks that are authoritative andaccepted.

Canon = (k

anOn ) =

measuringrod.Non-canonical gospels and letters.

Current canon (2

7 NT books ) finalizedbefore A.D. 400 .Widely used/accepted, written by aknown apostle, no heretical teachings.


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A ccidental changesJohn 1 7: 15 (majority ):I do not as k that you k eep them from theworld, but that you k eep them from theevil one.

John 1 7:5 (Codex Vaticanus ):I do not as k that you k eep them from theevil one.


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A ccidental changesRevelation 1 :5 b (later manuscripts ):U nto him that loved us, and washed us fromour sins in his own blood.

Revelation 1 :5 b (earlier manuscripts ):U nto him that loved us, and freed us from our sins by his blood.

An error in hearing? released = (lusanti ) washed = (lousanti )


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Luke 11 :2 4 (KJV):2 Our Father which art inheaven, Hallowed be thyname. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, as inheaven, so in earth.3G ive us day by day ourdaily bread.4And forgive us our sins;for we also forgive everyone that is indebted tous. And lead us not intotemptation; but deliver usfrom evil.

Luke 11 : 2 4 (early mss. ):2 Father, Hallowed be thyname. Thy kingdom come.3G ive us day by day our dailybread.4And forgive us our sins; forwe also forgive every onethat is indebted to us. Andlead us not into temptation.

Luke 11 :2 4 (KJV):2 Our Father which art inheaven , Hallowed be thyname. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, as inheaven, so in earth.3G ive us day by day ourdaily bread.4And forgive us our sins;for we also forgive everyone that is indebted tous. And lead us not intotemptation; but deliver usfrom evil.

D eliberate changes


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D eliberate changesLuke 2 :33 (earlier manuscripts ): And the childs father and mother wereamazed at what was being said about him.

Luke 2 :33 (later manuscripts ): And Joseph and his mother were amazed atwhat was being said about him.


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E arly Christians knew The differences among themanuscripts [of the G ospels] havebecome great, either through thenegligence of some copyists orthrough the perverse audacity ofothers; they either neglect to checkover what they have transcribed, or,in the process of checking, they make additionsor deletions as they please.

Origen, c. A.D. 2 48Commentary on Matthew 15: 14


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H ow many manuscripts are there?About 5,700 G reek NewTestament manuscripts.

Fragments, partialcopies, full volumes.

Papyrus 52Earliest known NT manuscript (~ A.D. 12 5)3" high 2 " wideFragment of John 18 :31 33 (front )

& John 18 :37 38 (back )


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Codex SinaiticusEarliest known complete NT (c. A.D. 330 360 )Written on parchment (binding not original )


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S urviving Greek manuscripts

per century

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0

40

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60

1

1

2 2

2

r r

r

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6 6

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7 7

a yr Ma


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r v i v i n g Gr ee k m an u s cr i p t s

per cen t ur y

0

1 0 0

2 0 0

0 0

0 0

5 0 0

6 0 0

7 0 0

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9 0 0

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0 0 0

11 2n

2n2n r

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hh 5t h

5t h5t h 6 t h

6t h6t h 7 t h

7t h7t h t h

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9t h9t h 10 t h

10 t h10 t h 11 t h

11 t h11 t h 12 t h

12 t h12 t h 1 t h

y r

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H ow many differences? Scholars differ significantly in theirestimatessome say there are 200 , 000variants known, some say 3 00 , 000 , somesay 4 00 , 000 or more! We do not know forsure because, despite impressivedevelopments in computer technology, noone has yet been able to count them all.Perhapsit is best simply to leave thematter in comparative terms. There aremore variations among our manuscriptsthan there are words in the New Testament.

Bart EhrmanMisquoting Jesus (200 5) , 8 9 9 0


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E arly NT translationsSyriac ( Mesopotamia ).Coptic (Egypt ).

Latin (Rome ).Early Latin versions(2 nd 4th centuries ).The Vulgate ( A.D. 382 ).


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The first printed BibleJohannes G utenberg

(c. 13 9 8 1468)


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The first printed Greek NTDesiderius Erasmus(1466 1536) .G

reek New Testamentpublished 1 516.T extus Receptus (TR) = received text.Basis for all printedBibles until 1881.


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J oseph Smith on the Bible Our latitude and longitude canbe determined in the originalHebrew with far greateraccuracy than in the Englishversion. There is a granddistinction between the actual meaning ofthe prophets and the present [English]translation. Joseph Smith, 1843

History of the Church 5: 342


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The King J ames VersionAuthorized by theChurch of England.Abbreviated KJV.Based on earlier EnglishBibles.Published A.D. 1611

(current version revisedin 176 9 ).G reatest English literaryachievement.


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D ifficult K J V readingsKJV2 Corinthians 6: 11 13:

11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. 12 Y e are not straitened in us, but ye

are straitened in your own bowels.13

N ow for arecompence in the same, ( I spea k as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

NRSV2 Corinthians 6: 11 13:11

W e have spo k en fran k ly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 T here is no restriction inour affections, but only in yours. 13 In return I spea k as to childrenopen wide your hearts also.


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A typo in the K J VKJVMatthew 2 3:2 4:Y e blind guides, which strain ata gnat, and swallow a camel.

NRSVMatthew 2 3:2 4:Y ou blind guides! Y ou strain outa gnat but swallow a camel!


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So why do weuse the K J V?

It is the Churchs official Bible.It is sufficient for devotional use.

It does share a family relationship with

other LDS scriptures.

It is not superior in translation, readability,source documents, but


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K J V translators not inspired [ If the Bible] be translatedincorrectly, and there is a scholar onthe earth who professes to be aChristian, and he can translate it anybetter than King James translatorsdid it, he is under obligation to doso. I think it is translated just ascorrectly as the scholars could get it, although itis not correct in a great many instances.

Brigham Young, 18 71 Journal of Discourses 14:22 62 7


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A pproaches to translationLiteral

Formal equivalence (word-for-word )

Dynamic equivalence (thought-for-thought )

Paraphrase


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Recommended study Bibles


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The J oseph Smith TranslationWhat is the JST?How did Joseph make his translation?

Is the JST a restoration of an original text, or something else?How can we use it along with other

resources?


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Scriptural illiteracy [Five hundred years ago]scriptural ignorance aboundedbecause people lacked access to

the Bible, especially in a languagethey could understand. Today theBible and other scripture arereadily at hand, yet there is a

growing scriptural illiteracybecause people will not open the books.Elder D. Todd Christofferson

G eneral Conference, April 20 10


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L atter-day Saints and the NTWe revere the Bible, in spite of its flaws.NT contains the central message of the

gospel : Jesus lived, died, and lives again.We are not scriptural inerrantists.Our doctrine is based on revelation to

living prophets.


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Scriptural faith Faith will not come from the study ofancient texts as a purely academicpursuit. It will not come from archaeo-logical digs and discoveries. It will notcome from scientific experiments. It willnot even come from witnessing miracles.These things may serve to confirm faith,or at times to challenge it, but they donot create faith. Faith comes by thewitness of the Holy Spirit to our souls, Spirit to spirit,as we hear or read the word of G od. And faithmatures as we continue to feast upon the word.

Elder D. Todd ChristoffersonG eneral Conference, April 20 10


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LDS New Testament Slideshow 02: Origin and translation of the New Testament

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