Where Is The Original Bible?

thetruth

Member
Is the Bible we have today in English the same as the original Bible? And just where is the original Bible?

In order to answer these questions, let's first decide what we mean by "the original Bible." That phrase refers to the revelation that came from God to the human authors. They wrote down exactly what was revealed to them, using their own vocabulary and writing style. These messages from God came to some forty different people over the span of 1600 years! The concluding one, the book of Revelation, was given 2000 years ago around 100 AD.

Unfortunately, none of these original manuscripts exist today. Well over 3000 years have passed since Moses first penned the book of Genesis. None of his own writing has survived, but copies have been made down through the centuries. The scribes who made these copies were extremely careful as they did their work. We know this because there are over 5000 complete or partial copies of the originals, actually copies of the copies. Yet these thousands of copies (which predate the printing press) agree with each other to an amazing extent. There is no major variation in any of them. No other book from ancient times has this much underlying documentary support. So we are sure we have the original text as it came from the mind of God.

Because what we have are copies of so many manuscripts, there is no single location where "the original Bible" is housed. The Bible text most often used by scholars and translators is a composite made from the oldest and most reliable of the ancient manuscripts. These old manuscripts are housed in several museums and other places all over the world.

But what about the translation of this text into English? Does it accurately reproduce the original text - which, after all, was first written down in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek? Since the ancient texts we are using agree to such an remarkable extent, our task is to put this original text into excellent English.

The translation task is not simple. To find the exact meaning in modern English of those ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek terms, phrases, and sentences is very challenging. Sometimes the original words have no exact counterpart in English, so several English words may be required to reproduce the precise meaning. And English is constantly changing, as some of our words take on new meanings. For example, the word "gay" means something quite different today than it meant fifty years ago.

This helps to explain why there is so much variation in the English translations. Ten trained translators looking at the same Greek text would likely come up with ten slightly different renditions, and each would have reasons for his or her choice of particular words and phrases. English is, after all, not a fixed, dead language. It is alive and constantly changing. So don't expect that there will be no further English translations. Translators continue to study the ancient text to find just the right nuance and shade of meaning in today's English to express exactly what God intended to convey.

The real question about the location of God's Word is actually a very personal one. The real question is not in which museum it is housed, but does it find lodging in your heart? If it's located there, then a second question arises. Are you translating its message into the drama of your life day by day?
 

thetruth

Member
Since Jews and Christians both claim to have God's Word, do they basically have the same religion?
The faith of most religious Jews is called Judaism. It is the oldest of the world's three great monotheistic religions (that is, religions serving one God). Judaism is the parent of both Christianity and Islam. It proclaims that there is only one God, whose name is Yahweh, and He is the creator and ruler of the universe. He revealed His law, the Torah, to the Jewish people (who were known as Hebrews at that time) and He chose them to be a light for all humanity. The Torah contains some 613 commands which are summed up in the Ten Commandments.

A very important concept in Judaism is that of the Messiah. Originally the Jews believed that God would send a powerful messenger (the Messiah) who would deliver Israel from her oppressors and usher in a reign of peace and prosperity. Today many Jews no longer hold to a personal messiah, but hope for a messianic age of justice and truth. For the Jews the coming of the Messiah or the messianic age still lies in the future.

The sacred Scriptures of Judaism consist of three groups of documents: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (such as Psalms and Proverbs). These Scriptures also form the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Judaism does not accept the inspiration of the New Testament or its account of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

There are many areas of agreement between the two faiths, for Christians also accept the Old Testament and all its teachings as inspired. Among the basic truths accepted by both faiths are the perfect creation of the world out of nothing by an infinite God, the entrance of sin into this world via the temptation of another transcendent being called Satan, the judgement of God on sin, and the necessity of atonement for sin. In Judaism this atonement is accomplished through sacrifices, prayer, righteous acts, and God's mercy.

Judaism, however, does not accept the central Christian teaching that Jesus Christ is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. This watershed point is made throughout the New Testament and forcefully stated in Galatians 3:13-14, "But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' Through the work of Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham…" (New Living Translation).

All the differences in ceremonies, Kosher food, dress, festivals and worship are not as basic as the messianic expectation and its fulfillment in Christ. Christianity has received from Judaism its basic understanding of God, his covenant relationship with His people, and assembling together for worship. There is a divine plan for history and it is moving toward a wonderful goal when Yahweh will be the King not only of the Jews but of all the earth. Separation from the corrupting influences of the pagan world is important, but Judaism is not a religion that focuses on a spiritual world somewhere down the road. Its focus is on this present world, where life is meant to be rich and full.

Some Jews who have become Christians refer to themselves as "completed Jews." In fact, the Old Testament is filled with hope, and the fulfillment of this hope is wonderfully described in the New Testament. Text after text relates how Jesus Christ fulfills all that the prophets foretold. In Him the great promises of the Old Testament become the inheritance of all who accept His salvation. The stream of God's favor broadens now to embrace believers from every tribe and nation.

We all owe a tremendous debt to the Jews. We have inherited so much from them, and from them came God's own Son, the Messiah. Faith in Him, that is, in His once-for-all death and resurrection is the key to peace of heart now and hope for the future. We can now not only look back on a marvelous history, but forward to the day when His kingdom enfolds people from every land. Is this Messiah also your very own Savior for time and eternity?
 

DonO

Member
In the beginning was the word, right now the origional Bible is sitting on the right hand of the Father, the word was with God and the word was God. Not what you were looking for I'm sure but this is the literal location of the Word of God.
 

Remnant

Servant of the Lord!
Don, Great answer!
I would like to ask thetruth where he is getting all of these articles from. Are they from Plain Truth magazines? And are you part of the church called the Way?
 

jaderook

Christ is Risen!
In the beginning was the word, right now the origional Bible is sitting on the right hand of the Father, the word was with God and the word was God. Not what you were looking for I'm sure but this is the literal location of the Word of God.

I can't let this go by without comment. Christ is God the Word. What you are suggesting is what the Muslims also claim. This is not a Christian belief, that the 'original bible' itself is sitting up there right next to God.
 

Remnant

Servant of the Lord!
I can't let this go by without comment. Christ is God the Word. What you are suggesting is what the Muslims also claim. This is not a Christian belief, that the 'original bible' itself is sitting up there right next to God.

Being the word? The Christian belief is that Christ is the word! John1:1 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Bible as we know it is the word of God. It is the good news. The Bible in of itself is not God, but it is His word. It has been often referred to as God on paper.

Do you not believe what John 1 has said in reference to Jesus being the word.
 
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DonO

Member
I can't let this go by without comment. Christ is God the Word. What you are suggesting is what the Muslims also claim. This is not a Christian belief, that the 'original bible' itself is sitting up there right next to God.

What part of the word was God don't you understand? Christ the spoken word through the Holy Ghost inspired the writers of the Bible because he spoke it and was the Word from the beginning and also God. Nothing Islamic in that statement. We say the Bible is the inspired word of God so WHO is the word? Just showing where the author is since he said it you can state metaphorically the Bible is on the right hand of God.
 

jaderook

Christ is Risen!
Being the word? The Christian belief is that Christ is the word! John1:1 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
You are simply repeating what I've already said. I said that Christ is the Word. DonO said that the Word of God is a bible sitting up in heaven next to God.

The Bible as we know it is the word of God. It is the good news. The Bible in of itself is not God, but it is His word. It has been often referred to as God on paper.
Do you not believe what John 1 has said in reference to Jesus being the word.
The bible is NOT God on paper. The bible is inspired by God, but it isn't God. The purpose of the bible is to point to Christ and attest to his birth, death, and ressurection so that we may all come to believe and attain salvation. To say that the bible is God on paper is a very dangerous thing indeed. Give false teachings and inch and they'll take a mile.
 

jaderook

Christ is Risen!
What part of the word was God don't you understand? Christ the spoken word through the Holy Ghost inspired the writers of the Bible because he spoke it and was the Word from the beginning and also God. Nothing Islamic in that statement. We say the Bible is the inspired word of God so WHO is the word? Just showing where the author is since he said it you can state metaphorically the Bible is on the right hand of God.


So you are saying that we're saying the same thing? If so, please be very careful in how you word things, because it seemed like you were espousing a false teaching that originated with Islam.
 

Remnant

Servant of the Lord!
You are simply repeating what I've already said. I said that Christ is the Word. DonO said that the Word of God is a bible sitting up in heaven next to God.

The bible is NOT God on paper. The bible is inspired by God, but it isn't God. The purpose of the bible is to point to Christ and attest to his birth, death, and ressurection so that we may all come to believe and attain salvation. To say that the bible is God on paper is a very dangerous thing indeed. Give false teachings and inch and they'll take a mile.

Sir, You are misquoting me and I did not say that the bible was God or that it was God on paper! I said it has been referred to as such.

I resent the fact that you have accused me of false teachings. Scrutinizing every word is somewhat hypocritical, don't you think?

I can also assure you that this teaching is not muslim nor am I of that religion.
 

DonO

Member
:puke:
You are simply repeating what I've already said. I said that Christ is the Word. DonO said that the Word of God is a bible sitting up in heaven next to God.

The bible is NOT God on paper. The bible is inspired by God, but it isn't God. The purpose of the bible is to point to Christ and attest to his birth, death, and ressurection so that we may all come to believe and attain salvation. To say that the bible is God on paper is a very dangerous thing indeed. Give false teachings and inch and they'll take a mile.

Excuse me for not quoting John 1:1 verbatum. I would thing the statement the word was with God and the word was God was clear. Let me quote a couple of verses verbatum for you.


Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Some folks seem to want to nit pick everything lighten up and look at the intent of the statement it was clear to everyone else. :scratch:

Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Some like to nit pick a statement to appear intellectual :thinking: is there a time to be hypercritical on a statement? Yes . Is there a time to look at the over all intent of a statement? Yes
Everyone else got the intent of the message so quit picking the fly poop out of the pepper and look at the over all intent.

BTW I am not a Muslim
 
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