Hi folks, I hope you are well? This week we are meeting at 7.30 at the Crescent Club in the upstairs lounge overlooking the sea front. We hope that you can join us. This week’s blog is written by Sue.
Well, here we are in the ninth chapter of the book “How the Bible Actually Works”. I don’t know about you but I have found it nervously interesting, challenging and at times leaves me clinging on by my fingernails. It’s not an easy read and it shakes what I believe to know and understand about the bible and its content. However as I look back on my faith journey and life, I see the need to adapt to survive in so many ways.
Peter Enns, the author, begins this chapter talking about things that are updated or adapted. One example he gives is having the flu injection every year because “Those little viruses are so clever! They find all sorts of ways to adapt to last year’s vaccine, because those little buggers are determined to give me whatever it is they give me.” Something we can all relate to over the past 2 years as we have adapted our living through the pandemic. From lockdowns, shielding for the vulnerable, to the creation of the vaccine, I’ve lost track of the numbers, letters and names of the different variants of the virus there are now.
In the same way Peter likens this to how religious traditions adapt too. From suburban churches introducing clowns and coffee bars to attract people to cover the budget, to the more serious survival, the characteristics of Judaism and Christianity: the need to pass on the religious tradition from generation to generation. He writes that to “maintain tradition you need to hold to some of the aspects of the past while at the same time thinking creatively about how the past and present should meet… What remains and what gets transformed?”
The main part of this chapter explains how the Bible was created and has been adapted over centuries. According to Peter, the Bible was created and calibrated during the exile. It was the need to reconnect with the past and yet find hope for the future during the exile which threatened the very existence of Israel that created this sacred book. And within its very early existence the Bible’s first adaptation was the translation into other languages. It was during the exile that Israel took on the language of their captives changing from Hebrew to Aramaic. Hebrew then became the language of the scribes and guardians of tradition.
In 332 BCE under Alexander the Great, the Bible’s language was translated into Greek with the addition of Greek philosophy which brought further adaptation. An example given is of creation, “God completed his work on the seventh day and rested” is the original text. However, the Greeks saw that this would contradict the law which forbade working on the sabbath. The Greek adaptation of this read: “he finished on the sixth day” now there is no contradiction. As the Greek’s and their philosophy questioned Judaism’s traditions and their God, adaptations were made to seek to answer those questions and give clarity to who God was. Peter describes this as a wisdom move, adapting the story to the here and now, they were asking such questions as “what is God like? Is God just and good? Is God Faithful? Yes, God must be and here’s how.”
As I am writing this I think about the different translations of the Bible I own or have access to through Bible apps. I can remember when The Message Bible was released and the controversy that created. Yet as a young dyslexic Christian, its adaptation and language brought a clearer understanding to the text, it opened the word in fresh ways. Over the years, I have come to like different translations of the Bible because I can understand them, they give further insight to the text like the Amplified Bible. I have a copy of the New King James Bible which makes me think there must be an original King James Bible, but I like the old language it is written in and then I have a women’s Bible. Each and every one pours different emphasis and adaptation to language, words, tone and presentation.
As of September 2020 the Bible has been translated into 704 languages, with the New Testament translated into an additional 1,551 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,160 other languages. That is a lot of translation and with it a lot of adaptation as no language fully translates into another, even those which are close such as Hebrew and Aramaic. It makes me wonder what is being lost in these translations and what is being gained?
Peter closes the chapter with this
“For the ancient tradition to survive, it had to transform – adapt to changing circumstances. To seek to remain as it always was simply ensures its isolation, if not its death. The act of transformation is, therefore, a sacred responsibility on the part of the people of faith in order to maintain that faith. And how a tradition is transformed is an act of wisdom.”
Questions:
- You’re being sent to the jungle and are allowed to take 3 items to help you survive, what are they and why?
- You can team up with one person to go on this adventure, who would it be and why?
- Now you know who you are traveling with, would you adapt or change your 3 items in question 1?
- What is your favourite version of the bible and why?
- Peter asks “How can we stay connected today to the tradition of the past? And how does this speak to the here and now?
- What are your thoughts on the closing paragraph?
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.