Chapter 2.6. Bible's Many Versions?

1.Explaining the Bible’s many Versions

When Muslims find it difficult to answer Christians questions on the veracity of the Quran and Muhammad as prophet of God, they in many cases try to divert the enquirer’s attention to something else.

They love to ask diversionary questions just to take the attention from the main subject, because they have no clue as to where to find proof that the Bible is corrupt or to proof that Muhammad and his Quran is not man-made apart from self-claim in the Quran.

A typical Question received by Muslims is “Which of the many different versions of the Bible is from God?”

A picture is often included with Bibles that have the Apocryphal texts from the Roman Catholics, Coptic Bibles, Orthodox etc. that shows that some of those have has more chapters than the Canonical Bible.

2.The facts about Bible Versions

1) The meaning of "Many Versions":

Mostly Muslims understand the word "Versions" to be variations with different contents, specific forms or variation of the meaning of the texts.

The word "Versions" in the true understanding applied to the Bible is variant Language translations. Especially in the English language one gets incredibly old forms of English translations; later newer more understandable and modern forms of translations are used as languages changed through time.

2) Another meaning of "Version" is the differences between Church Traditions like Protestant or Catholic that differentiate between the Books that they include in their Bible Book. The Catholics add some additional Books in their Bible called the Apocrypha Books (Merriam-Webster - Definition: Apocrypha)

More about the Apocrypha books:

a) Those are biblical books received by the early Church as part of the Septuagint, Greek version of the Old Testament, but not included in the Hebrew Bible, being excluded by the non-Hellenistic Jews from their canon.

b) Their position in Christian usage has been ambiguous.

There are several levels of dubiety within the general concept of apocryphal works in Judeo-Christian biblical writings. Apocrypha per se are outside the Hebrew Bible canon. Even though they were not placed on the same level as the canonical books and not considered divinely inspired but regarded as worthy of study by the faithful and still useful for instruction.

c) Pseudepigrapha are spurious works written by a biblical figure.

d) Deuterocanonical works are those that are accepted in one canon but not in all.

e) Other non-canonical apocryphal texts are called pseudepigrapha, a term that means "false attribution".

Summarized: Biblical apocrypha are a set of texts included in the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, but not in the Hebrew Bible. While the Catholic tradition considers seven of these books to be deuterocanonical, Protestants consider fourteen intertestamental books as Apocrypha, that is, non-authorised books that are useful for instruction.

Luther's Bible placed them in a separate section called the Apocrypha, setting the pattern for subsequent versions of 80 book Protestant Bibles that include the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament.

3) What is important to note about "Many Versions" is that all the versions, be it the Syrian version (61 books) or Protestant version (66 books ) or Catholic version (73 books) and others, whether 75, 76, or 88 books are containing the same 27 NT books in them together with the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the poetry books, and the prophets that are the same.

They only differ in the Historical books and that is not an issue because anyone can read history even outside the Bible (2Timothy 3:16-17)

4) What is most important is that all these books were finalized after a committee of highly revered scholars who scrutinized multiple manuscript of scriptures using certain criteria such as the authors, the race, the language it was written or indigence, the eyewitnesses accounts or scriptural witnesses of some facts, the history of the time, as the basis of selection (E.g., the Council of Nicaea 325 AD).

5) Those different number of scriptures add credence to the veracity of the Bible as they added more scriptural witnesses as “two cannot work together except they are in agreement” (Amos 3:3). For the fact that those books are bounded together with the gospel of Christ means that they agree. This then is an added value for the veracity of the Bible as a divine book than to claim that it is corrupt as Muslims say.

6) Think about it: One only need two books to confirm any scriptural witness as true revelation from God and in this scenario we have more than 60 scriptures all in agreement with the central message of the Bible. This is not corruption of the text but divinity of the text. (Deut 17:6,19:15; Matt 18:16).

7) Lastly, with "Different Versions" it can also means a different Translation Philosophy. Translators need to decide what translation philosophy they will follow. There are 3 main philosophies: formal equivalence, functional equivalence, or even optimal equivalence.

Formal Equivalence focuses on translating word-for-word and strives to be as literal as possible. Bibles that fall under the formal equivalence philosophy would be the ESV, KJV, and NASB.

Functional Equivalence focuses on a thought-for-thought (Dynamic equivalence) translation. Its goal is to make the text easy to read and easier to understand. Bibles that fall in this camp are would be the NLT and NIV.

Optimal Equivalence is a balance of word-for-word and though-for-thought where needed for the reader to better understand. The HCSB would be considered an optimal equivalence approach.

You will also find Bibles that are paraphrased but lack accuracy and sometimes go beyond a thought-for-thought approach. These Bibles are good to better understand the story or text, but for expository preaching it’s best to stick with a word-for-word or thought-for-thought Bible.

3. Mockery about the King James Bible Translation

Somebody posted on Facebook a picture of the King James Version and make some mockery of the Christian faith and the Bible as a whole.

My response: Friend, about your statement hereby a few notes about the KJV Bible.

The Latin Vulgate was dominant in Western Christianity through the Middle Ages. Since then, the Bible has been translated into many more languages.

English Bible translations also have a rich and varied history of more than a millennium. The King James Version was the third English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published seven years later in 1611 under the sponsorship of James VI.

In 2021 very few Christians use the KJV alone as an important translation.

As Christians, our loyalties are to the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Only the original languages are the Word of God as He inspired it.

A translation is only an attempt to take what is said in one language and communicate it in another.

However, no translations are perfect. Every translation one contains words that are at least mistranslated. By comparing several different translations, it is often easier to get a good grasp on what the verse is saying compared with only using one translation.

Our loyalty should not be to any one translation, but to the inspired, inerrant Word of God that is communicated by the Holy Spirit through the translations (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Today the Bible has been translated into many languages from the Biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Today’s translations are based on much better research done by scholars over many years. The original texts available is much more accurate and thoroughly researched. Therefore, today’s modern translations are superb in taking the meaning of the original languages and communicates it in a way that we can understand as correct as possible.

As of September 2020, the full Bible has been translated into 700 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,548 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,138 other languages.

Also at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into more 3,386 languages.

Yes, there are textual variants in the New Testament, including errors, omissions, additions, changes, and alternate translations. In some cases, different translations have been used as evidence for or have been motivated by doctrinal differences.

Also read more about the NET (New English Translation) that I personally like to use during my Bible Study to compare my other favourite translations that I use.

Most pastors are also students of the original texts, and we can only try our best to understand what the Bible want to communicate to us for this age and time.

4. Why not download the Bible for yourself in your own language for free?

You can try any of these two websites.

- www.bible.is
- www.bible.com

Many Muslims only use the Bible and such differences found as a tool to attack Christians about the Bible rather than to ask for the correct interpretation and understanding of a specific “so called mistake”.

I just want to testify that me as a Christian for over 70 years, doing intensive Theological and Biblical studies for the last 40 of those, haven't found any Bible mistake or contradiction that I cannot solve and answer satisfactory for myself or that make me uncertain about my Christian faith at all.

5. Conversation between a Muslim and a Christian about Bible Corruption:

*Muslim: Christian and Jews have changed their books and now there is no truth in it.

*Christian: Well, how much Bible was changed? Full, half, some part or?

*Muslim: whatever verses are not according to the Quranic teaching are changed.

*Christian: would you please give me one verse from the Quran that teaches Bible has changed? (Read more)

Lastly, my personal experienced was that all so called "mistakes" that people referred to can most of the time be explained easy and realistically, considering that the various books in the Bible were written over 2500 years by more than 40 authors of diverse cultures and original languages like Hebrew and Greek as well as others.

Did you know that Jesus alone fulfilled 351 OT prophesies excluding Jesus’s prophesies which was fulfilled in his time and those being fulfilled today and those that are still in the future?

As a conclusion: The different versions of the Bible strengthened the unity of the scriptures and not weaken it. Any of this Bible Translations or Version has the capacity to lead any sincere seeker to Christ for the salvation of the soul. Jesus is the central message that cut across all the books of the Bible.

To read more about the origin of the Bible, click here...

https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-the-Bible.html

But...has the Bible been corrupted, altered, edited, revised, or tampered with?

https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-corrupted.html

6. A nasty one from an “Ex-Christian” - The Bible is absurd:

One friend on our Facebook Page likes to make many scornful remarks about the Bible, “that the Bible is absurd – and that he can proof it” (although he doesn’t!)

My response: Friend, I don't want to waste my time with your negativity about the Bible and the Christian faith without providing any proof. Writing slogans on this post without any reference is... You know what that means…?

Friend, you may think that you were a Christian before, but you never had a living relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

Why not really study the Bible with an open heart and consider what the Bible says about Jesus Christ as the only one who can save us from our sins, only He can reconcile us with God (Read 2 Cor 5:19, John 14:6)

Acts 4:12 says... "Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved." https://bible.com/bible/37/act.4.12.CEB

May I share my personal testimony: I serve Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord for the best part of my 70 years. I study the Bible and deeper theology for many years and have total peace about the Bible; not absurd at all, and therefore I believe it. Most important, I am absolute sure about eternal life and a further future with God.

I don't want to debate your viewpoints; I just testify how it works for me.

I know I am saved, but I don't think I am better than you; it's only by God's grace that my sins are forgiven when I accepted Jesus Christ's death on the cross for me. That's what the Bible teach, and I totally believe this.

If you don't know the Bible as the living Word of God, you will not understand the message at all.

Can you say the same about your future path?

Are you sure about eternal life with God after you die?

Are you ready to meet God on judgement day?

His further response: As a former Christian youth leader I know the bible very well, I used to preach the absolute absurd contents to others until I became educated.

Me: So, you know the Gospel although it seems you never met the risen Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Strange that after you “got educated” the Gospel became "absolute absurd contents" for you.

For me, after becoming educated, I served the Lord full time as a pastor and missionary now already for more than 40 years.

You don't answer my questions about judgement day, meeting God. You don't need to answer me; just be prepared to answer Him, you a so called former Christian youth leader.

I see on your profile photo you are a skydiver. Is that what you do now (after being educated)? Interesting!

Are you ready with your last prayer when your parachute doesn’t want to open one day?

Friend, you still have time to rethink. Maybe you know the history of Nicodemus in John 3 or the conversion testimony of Apostle Paul in Acts 8 and 9. But it's all up to you to decide. When last did you pray to God, asking Him to reveal the truth to you?

7. Use the same Critique for the Quran as applied on the Bible:

In the previous Chapter the importance of historical and textual criticism on the Bible text was highlighted. The task of textual criticism, which uses tightly honed methods to test variant (or divergent) readings that are encountered in manuscripts. The goal is to find the most ancient—and most accurate—reading.

It was mentioned that all those books of the Bible were arrived at after a committee of highly revered scholars who scrutinized multiple manuscript of scriptures using certain criteria such as the authors, the race, the language it was written or indigence, the eyewitnesses accounts or scriptural witnesses of some facts, the history of the time, as the basis of selection. The council of Nicaea 325 ad was mentioned as one example.

The Quran lack such overwhelming scriptural testimonies but is known to be a product of one prophet or one witness who is Muhammad. This makes the Quran not as credible as the word of God compared to the Bible.

The Quran did not enjoy the services of such council of wise men. It was one man Book, one man- Zaid Ibn Thabit who compiled the book from the background of oral tradition and from the fading memories of dying me. It was a one-man opinion book full of Internal contradictions and historical and scientific errors and contradicts itself and the Bible almost on every page.

Friend, it is for your interest that you consider and read Bible for the salvation of your soul, or you may be perish and doomed forever for lack of knowledge. (John 3:14-18,36)

Dear Muslim Friends,

For those of you who really are serious to find the TRUTH, and not only continue repeating all the things about the Quran and Islam that your masters taught you without rethinking those through for yourself.

By the Way… This makes me wonder:

Which of the many versions of the Quran is the correct word of Allah?

https://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Versions/index.html

Friends, it's wonderful when one realizes that God (Allah) created us with our own mind, with the responsibility to think for ourselves and then make own decisions for our lives.

Yes, Islam's masters repeatedly say that being a Muslims is "submission" to what they as the so called "Scholars" say and to Allah and Muhammed, but... Are you allowed to ask real serious questions about your book, about so many errors and contradiction find in the Quran, questions about the origin of the Quran and Muhammad (see in Chapter 4:14)?

THEREFORE, I INVITE YOU;

LOOK TO THE VIDEOS, LISTEN TO THE RESEARCH FACTS PROVIDED AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.

ASK GOD TO REVEAL HIMSELF AND THE REAL TRUTH TO YOU.

Why not look to this Video by Jay Smith with an open mind and decided for Yourself: The Truth Behind the Emergence of Islam

- Jay Smith lays out in detail the evidence that the popular narrative of Islam centred around Mecca is simply not true and, rather, is a fabrication of Islamic rulers several centuries after the life of the Prophet.

- So much of what we have been told concerning how Islam began is proving, through historical research, to be quite false. In this session, Jay introduces some of the newest and most exciting research which is undoing Islam's historical credibility. This lack of historical credibility is one of Islam's greatest weaknesses and can prove to be the religion's 'Achilles Heel'.

TO CONTINUE READING CHAPTER 2.7.BIBLE CONTRADICTION

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2.6.Bible's Many Versions?