Now, I love this. When someone tells me something is right or wrong because the Bible says so. Everything in the Bible is true. I have some observations.
1) Being multi-lingual (I spoke German before I spoke English), and being someone who enjoys a good joke, I've come across many jokes that don't translate from German to English and vice versa. Nuance and meaning are lost in the translation.
2) Mrs. F's grandfather used to tell jokes in English but the punch line was in Yiddish because "it didn't translate properly".
3) If you look on the left sidebar on this page, you'll see the Alta Vista Babel Fish link to translate this page into a number of languages (mainly so my German relatives can read the Brain). While you get the gist of the posts, the translation is not great.
Now a question. When was the Bible written? I've heard everything from one of Jesus disciples wrote it not long after his death, to a century later, to the Middle Ages (900 - 1400 A.D.).
Another question. Was it written in English originally? From what I've heard, the original was probably written in Aramaic. It was most certainly translated into Latin long before the English version came out.
Last question. Taking the three statements and two questions together, how can some mono-lingual southern preacher (or anyone else for that matter) tell me exactly what truths are contained in the Bible? I am constantly amazed how people can point to truth in a document written hundreds (if not thousands) of years ago, translated from at least one 'dead language' into another before being translated into English.
When you talk to me about "Biblical truth" the Big Man/Woman better be standing next to you to translate (that word again) what he really meant before I'll believe it. 'God's mouthpieces' here on Earth have as much inside track to the Master Plan as I do and don't let anyone else tell you different.
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