Stylos is the blog of Jeff Riddle, a Reformed Baptist Pastor in North Garden, Virginia. The title "Stylos" is the Greek word for pillar. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul urges his readers to consider "how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar (stylos) and ground of the truth."
Image (left side): Decorative urn with title for the book of Acts in Codex Alexandrinus.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Podcast Interview (Part One) with Dwayne Green: Are You A TR Onlyist?
Here is the first part from an interview I did with Dwayne Green on his podcast related to text and translation of Scripture.
I appreciate this conversation. I have struggled for years on this issue, but there is really no reason to. Scientifically, it is impossible to prove which text is authentic. I have exhausted the evidence that I have access to, and you could make an argument in several different directions. While the evidence is interesting, there is a great deal of ambiguity regarding what is out there when one considers Egyptian based texts. The research I have seen shows that scribes were more apt to subtract from the text than add. Many of the texts in question have ancient roots. Iranaeus quoted Acts 8:37 in his work, and Augustine had a high respect for the Pericope Adulterae just to site a couple of examples. I see no reason to overthrow the TR based translations for the novelty of modern scholarship and its inherent skepticism. Providentially, the KJV, Geneva, Tyndale, Bishop's Bible, etc. have carried the church well. What's hard for me is that I go to a great church that uses the ESV. Wonderful, godly, and loving people. In fact, it is probably the best church I have ever been a part of. However, it's tough sometimes when your translation doesn't match up with the pastor's translation. I have just come to accept that a change will not happen. The hard wind of modern and postmodern philosophy regarding the scriptures is prevailing in churches and seminaries, and I have no credibility to refute such thinking. I have chosen to just respectfully disagree and continue to use what I have. There are no TR churches in the area anyway.
I also am interested in what you said about the English language. The Bible was once used in schools as a textbook to teach English, but now the English language is devolving into a hideous pit of nonsense. I realize that translation is important to communicate truth that is understandable to those we are trying to reach, but what concerns me is the level we are willing to sink to make this happen. D.A. Carson said the NIV is an excellent idiomatic translation. That comment inherently suggests that standards had to be lowered to fit a particular audience. My question is: "At what level to we stop dumbing things down and start trying to bring others up to a better standard?" Words are tools of communication, and the way we use them is important. I am no linguist, and do not have a mastery of English, but I always have a dictionary handy. You are correct, the KJV isn't that difficult to read and comprehend. What is interesting to me is that when I study the men who translated the KJV, they were not perfect men by any stretch of the imagination. However, they had a better grasp of the ancient languages than our scholars do today. They also understood English better as well. I think a translator needs to be as adept in English as he is in Greek or Hebrew. Thanks brother for the effort you have put into this. I am hopeful that we will begin to see some fruit.
1 comment:
I appreciate this conversation. I have struggled for years on this issue, but there is really no reason to. Scientifically, it is impossible to prove which text is authentic. I have exhausted the evidence that I have access to, and you could make an argument in several different directions. While the evidence is interesting, there is a great deal of ambiguity regarding what is out there when one considers Egyptian based texts. The research I have seen shows that scribes were more apt to subtract from the text than add. Many of the texts in question have ancient roots. Iranaeus quoted Acts 8:37 in his work, and Augustine had a high respect for the Pericope Adulterae just to site a couple of examples. I see no reason to overthrow the TR based translations for the novelty of modern scholarship and its inherent skepticism. Providentially, the KJV, Geneva, Tyndale, Bishop's Bible, etc. have carried the church well. What's hard for me is that I go to a great church that uses the ESV. Wonderful, godly, and loving people. In fact, it is probably the best church I have ever been a part of. However, it's tough sometimes when your translation doesn't match up with the pastor's translation. I have just come to accept that a change will not happen. The hard wind of modern and postmodern philosophy regarding the scriptures is prevailing in churches and seminaries, and I have no credibility to refute such thinking. I have chosen to just respectfully disagree and continue to use what I have. There are no TR churches in the area anyway.
I also am interested in what you said about the English language. The Bible was once used in schools as a textbook to teach English, but now the English language is devolving into a hideous pit of nonsense. I realize that translation is important to communicate truth that is understandable to those we are trying to reach, but what concerns me is the level we are willing to sink to make this happen. D.A. Carson said the NIV is an excellent idiomatic translation. That comment inherently suggests that standards had to be lowered to fit a particular audience. My question is: "At what level to we stop dumbing things down and start trying to bring others up to a better standard?" Words are tools of communication, and the way we use them is important. I am no linguist, and do not have a mastery of English, but I always have a dictionary handy. You are correct, the KJV isn't that difficult to read and comprehend. What is interesting to me is that when I study the men who translated the KJV, they were not perfect men by any stretch of the imagination. However, they had a better grasp of the ancient languages than our scholars do today. They also understood English better as well. I think a translator needs to be as adept in English as he is in Greek or Hebrew. Thanks brother for the effort you have put into this. I am hopeful that we will begin to see some fruit.
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