www.ChristDeaf.org
The Mustard Seed
January 2008

CAMPUS MINISTRY

Gallaudet
Lutheran Student Fellowship

Worship
1st Sunday of each month
2:00 PM in the SUB Chapel

Everyone is welcome!

Prove it!
 (Part 2)
[series archive]

One criticism that atheists and agnostics often throw at Christians is this: "The Bible has been translated so many times, there is no way to know if it is accurate."

That popular criticism exposes a basic misunderstanding of how the Bible comes to us in the English language. The criticism assumes that we got our English Bible from an earlier translation, and that translation came from a translation from before that, like this:


Is that how we got the Bible?  No!  The real picture looks more like this:


The Old Testament texts were originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. When scholars translate the Bible into English, they do not translate from another translation. They translate directly from the ancient Greek and Hebrew texts. 

So why do many English versions look so different? Greek and Hebrew are not the same as English, just as ASL is not the same as English. Just as five different ASL interpreters may express the same idea in five different ways that all mean the same thing, so also Bible translators must choose the best way to most clearly communicate the meaning of the ancient text in a language people understand today.

Different translators may choose different ways to express the same idea. While Bible translators do not have the any of the original documents written by Moses, David, or Paul, we do have available to us thousands of ancient carefully handwritten copies (manuscripts) made in the early years after the composition of the original documents.

How reliable are those manuscript copies?   We will answer that question next month.

In the mean time, if you want to learn how to study the original Greek text of New Testament, please contact me.
~~Pastor Ron    

Sunday Morning Worship

Christ Lutheran Church of the Deaf, on Georgia Ave. just inside the Beltway, invites Gallaudet students to Sunday worship and all our special events. A ride is available from campus; please email me for time and location of the shuttle pickup:  Ron.Friedrich@gallaudet.edu

From time to time we post announcements to the Lutheran Student Fellowship by email.  If you would like to be included, please send your email address to Ron.Friedrich@gallaudet.edu
My campus office hours are
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons
in Ely 118.
Drop in and introduce yourself!!
Pastor Ron Friedrich
Ron.Friedrich@gallaudet.edu
 

[Gallaudet Office of Campus Ministry]