Re: I am A Christian

[Ecurb Noselrub]

So everyone has to learn Elizabethan English in order to read the Word of God?   What if I learn Classical Hebrew and Koine Greek and read it in the original language - would that be the Word of God, too? 

Not in my opinion. I realize the King James was translated from Greek, into Coptic, and then into Latin and then into Old (er) English. But in my opinion, because of the influence the KJV has had in the world, I am convinced it was particularly blessed to reveal God's Word to us. I don't think anyone is going to hell over reading other versions. It's just that I think that is our source document now. And it really isn't that hard to read, and even if it is a bit harder, it's good for the education of young minds. In my opinion. It's a rather minor point.

There's no question about it's influence. (There's a good article about the KJV in the most recent National Geographic, BTW).  But it's not even the best translation from a literal point of view, as it was based mainly on the Textus Receptus, which was a relatively late Byzantine text.  There have been many other transcripts discovered since that time, which is why recent translations are based on more eclectic texts such as the Nestle-Aland/United Bible Societies text.  If you are going to have a "source document," it should be one that is closer to the actual originals, as much as can be determined, anyway.  And it shouldn't be in English - it should be in the original language.  That makes it equally accessible for people whose native tongue is not English, much less 1611 English.  Making the KJV the ultimate source document for Christianity reflects a very inflated Anglo-centric perspective.

[Sandra Craft]

Making the KJV the ultimate source document for Christianity reflects a very inflated Anglo-centric perspective.

Hmmm.  I never cared for the KJV because of the thees and thous and damsels and such things (I kept expecting knights and dragons to appear), but the bible I finally selected was the Revised English Bible since I figured if anyone could pick out the best English word to translate a Greek or Hebrew word, it would be a bunch of clerics from the UK.  But it strikes me their perspective might inevitably be too Anglocentric as well.  If you were going to recommend an English language bible (since I haven't got a hope of learning either Greek or Hebrew), which one would it be?

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Making the KJV the ultimate source document for Christianity reflects a very inflated Anglo-centric perspective.

Hmmm.  I never cared for the KJV because of the thees and thous and damsels and such things (I kept expecting knights and dragons to appear), but the bible I finally selected was the Revised English Bible since I figured if anyone could pick out the best English word to translate a Greek or Hebrew word, it would be a bunch of clerics from the UK.  But it strikes me their perspective might inevitably be too Anglocentric as well.  If you were going to recommend an English language bible (since I haven't got a hope of learning either Greek or Hebrew), which one would it be?

The New American Standard Bible is based on more recent textual scholarship, and attempts to stay as close to the original Greek/Hebrew as possible.  You might try it alongside your Revised English for comparison.  You're going to get a pretty accurate translation from all of them, in any event, except for the more loosely translated paraphrases like the Living Bible of a few decades ago.

[xSilverPhinx]

Making the KJV the ultimate source document for Christianity reflects a very inflated Anglo-centric perspective.

Hmmm.  I never cared for the KJV because of the thees and thous and damsels and such things (I kept expecting knights and dragons to appear),

LOL

I like the language style in the KJV especially because I see your point