Biblish is a word that means the type of English you find in literal Bible translations. When it comes to translating the Bible there are two different philosophies or approaches used: formal equivalence or dynamic equivalence (also called functional equivalence). Formal equivalence translates as close to the original Greek or Hebrew as possible, preserving the word order found in the source text. Dynamic equivalence is aimed at translating the thoughts of the original, included in this is clearing up idioms that are foreign to the modern reader. Most conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists prefer the formal equivalence approach because of the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration, this claims that every word of the original autographs is inspired by God. Because of this we should never tamper with the text handed to us. It sounds good but there is a simple flaw found at the heart of this line of reasoning: the original Biblical languages are not English and therefore do not have the same word order as English. If we really respect the Scriptures then we would translate it in the best possible manner so that the people who read and hear it can understand and relate to its message.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Treasure
One of my favorite verses on the Christian life is Matthew 6:19-21:
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[g] consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust[h] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus, and I have lately found it to be a comfort instead of a burden. It is easy to be enamored with material things: clothes, electronics, automobiles, houses etc. They gave me as sense of being someone, a sense of wholeness. I have found lately that the lack of these things has only sharpened me, leading me to the real pleasures in life. the lack of these things has also made my walk with Christ somewhat easier because I had nothing to lose in following him, I was light and had no baggage slowing me down, it was easy for me to be nimble in things of faith.
But there is another side to self denial, and that is something I sense in me especially because I have ocd. That is I am afraid of taking care of myself and I see myself as lower than most people. I feel unworthy of the simplest things. I do not think Jesus was this way with himself, he allowed a jar of very, very expensive perfume be broken for him, saying that it was for his burial. He was worthy of expensive things because he was a person whose value was much more than any expensive thing in this world (of course Jesus was the Son of God so it is even infinitely higher than this!). So we are also to value ourselves, take care of ourselves, nourish ourselves as he implied in another parable. And we are worthy of expensive, great things because we are precious. Once in a while that is..
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[g] consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust[h] consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus, and I have lately found it to be a comfort instead of a burden. It is easy to be enamored with material things: clothes, electronics, automobiles, houses etc. They gave me as sense of being someone, a sense of wholeness. I have found lately that the lack of these things has only sharpened me, leading me to the real pleasures in life. the lack of these things has also made my walk with Christ somewhat easier because I had nothing to lose in following him, I was light and had no baggage slowing me down, it was easy for me to be nimble in things of faith.
But there is another side to self denial, and that is something I sense in me especially because I have ocd. That is I am afraid of taking care of myself and I see myself as lower than most people. I feel unworthy of the simplest things. I do not think Jesus was this way with himself, he allowed a jar of very, very expensive perfume be broken for him, saying that it was for his burial. He was worthy of expensive things because he was a person whose value was much more than any expensive thing in this world (of course Jesus was the Son of God so it is even infinitely higher than this!). So we are also to value ourselves, take care of ourselves, nourish ourselves as he implied in another parable. And we are worthy of expensive, great things because we are precious. Once in a while that is..
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