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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091203/ap_on_re/us_rel_conservative_bible
Blessed are the conservative in Bible translation
By TOM BREEN, Associated Press Writer Tom Breen, Associated Press Writer -
Thu Dec 3, 5:50 am ET
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the
cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way:
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project.
The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary
conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition
abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in
almost every translation of the Bible.
The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal
views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little
more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down
platitudes.
"Professors are the most liberal group of people in the world, and it's
professors who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible," said
Andy Schlafly, founder of
Conservapedia.com,
the project's online home.
Experts who have devoted their careers to unraveling the ancient texts of
the Scriptures, many in long-extinct languages, are predictably skeptical
about a project by amateur translators.
"This is not making scripture understandable to people today, it's reworking
scripture to support a particular political or social agenda," said Timothy
Paul Jones, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Ky., who calls himself a theological conservative.
Religious publishers already provide an alphabet soup of Bible
translationsfor a range of theological outlooks, from the King
James Version (KJV) to the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and beyond. The
most widely used traditional translations were overseen by scholars who are
considered the best minds in conservative Christianity.
"The phrase 'theological conservative' does not mean that someone is
politically conservative," said Schlafly, who lives in Far Hills, N.J.
This liberal slanting, Schlafly argues, ranges from changing gendered
language - Jesus calling his disciples to be "fishers of people" rather than
"fishers of men" - to more subtle choices, like the 2001 English Standard
Version of the Bible, which uses "comrade" and "laborer" more often than the
conservative-friendly "volunteer."
Contributors to the project aren't arguing on ideological grounds alone. The
discussion forum on the site is full of discourse on Greek grammar, along
with arguments long familiar to Biblical scholars about the history of
certain passages.
Take the famous passage from Luke: the Conservative Bible Project omits it
not only because it's "a favorite of liberals," but because there's some
dispute over its authenticity, based on the manuscripts it appears in.
Jones, the professor, said while some early Greek manuscripts omit Jesus'
words, others include them.
"There are so many factors to consider when looking at that, but here it
gets boiled down to 'liberals put it in,'" he said. "You've got people who
are doing this who have probably never looked at an actual ancient
manuscript."
In some ways, the Conservative Bible Project reflects an ancient debate over
Scripture. The Bible as it's known today more or less took final shape in
the 4th century after hundreds of years of debate over which books were
canonical.
The debate flared up again during the Protestant Reformation, when Martin
Luther fruitlessly yearned to cut the Book of James because of its fairly
explicit contradiction of his belief that salvation could be attained by
faith alone.
"People have always done this with the Bible," said Philip Jenkins, a
professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University.
"Virtually everyone in a mainstream Protestant or Roman Catholic church in
the United States is reading a doctored version of the Bible."
Jenkins is referring to the Revised Common Lectionary, a selection of
biblical texts read in worship services that amounts to about a third of the
full text.
Schlafly's project is distinctive, though, because non-experts collaborate
Wiki-style on the Internet to produce their version.
"The best of the public is better than a group of experts," said Schlafly,
whose mother, Phyllis, is a longtime conservative activist known for her
opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment.
Jones says the project is a misguided effort to read contemporary politics
back into the text.
"Ironically, there's a long tradition of the liberal twisting of scripture,"
Jones said. "Scholars have rightly deemed those translations illegitimate,
and this conservative Bible is every bit as illegitimate."
The Bible's roots in a dizzying variety of ancient manuscripts require a
lifetime of dedication to master, said the Rev. Frank Matera, a professor at
the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a former
president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.
"There's a little Italian proverb, 'Every translator is a traitor,'" Matera
said. "Most Bible translations are usually done by a group of scholars,
precisely so they can balance out each other. It's not something that
everybody can do."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091203/ap_on_re/us_rel_conservative_bible
Blessed are the conservative in Bible translation
By TOM BREEN, Associated Press Writer Tom Breen, Associated Press Writer -
Thu Dec 3, 5:50 am ET
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the
cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way:
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project.
The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary
conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition
abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in
almost every translation of the Bible.
The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal
views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little
more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down
platitudes.
"Professors are the most liberal group of people in the world, and it's
professors who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible," said
Andy Schlafly, founder of
Conservapedia.com,
the project's online home.
Experts who have devoted their careers to unraveling the ancient texts of
the Scriptures, many in long-extinct languages, are predictably skeptical
about a project by amateur translators.
"This is not making scripture understandable to people today, it's reworking
scripture to support a particular political or social agenda," said Timothy
Paul Jones, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Ky., who calls himself a theological conservative.
Religious publishers already provide an alphabet soup of Bible
translationsfor a range of theological outlooks, from the King
James Version (KJV) to the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and beyond. The
most widely used traditional translations were overseen by scholars who are
considered the best minds in conservative Christianity.
"The phrase 'theological conservative' does not mean that someone is
politically conservative," said Schlafly, who lives in Far Hills, N.J.
This liberal slanting, Schlafly argues, ranges from changing gendered
language - Jesus calling his disciples to be "fishers of people" rather than
"fishers of men" - to more subtle choices, like the 2001 English Standard
Version of the Bible, which uses "comrade" and "laborer" more often than the
conservative-friendly "volunteer."
Contributors to the project aren't arguing on ideological grounds alone. The
discussion forum on the site is full of discourse on Greek grammar, along
with arguments long familiar to Biblical scholars about the history of
certain passages.
Take the famous passage from Luke: the Conservative Bible Project omits it
not only because it's "a favorite of liberals," but because there's some
dispute over its authenticity, based on the manuscripts it appears in.
Jones, the professor, said while some early Greek manuscripts omit Jesus'
words, others include them.
"There are so many factors to consider when looking at that, but here it
gets boiled down to 'liberals put it in,'" he said. "You've got people who
are doing this who have probably never looked at an actual ancient
manuscript."
In some ways, the Conservative Bible Project reflects an ancient debate over
Scripture. The Bible as it's known today more or less took final shape in
the 4th century after hundreds of years of debate over which books were
canonical.
The debate flared up again during the Protestant Reformation, when Martin
Luther fruitlessly yearned to cut the Book of James because of its fairly
explicit contradiction of his belief that salvation could be attained by
faith alone.
"People have always done this with the Bible," said Philip Jenkins, a
professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University.
"Virtually everyone in a mainstream Protestant or Roman Catholic church in
the United States is reading a doctored version of the Bible."
Jenkins is referring to the Revised Common Lectionary, a selection of
biblical texts read in worship services that amounts to about a third of the
full text.
Schlafly's project is distinctive, though, because non-experts collaborate
Wiki-style on the Internet to produce their version.
"The best of the public is better than a group of experts," said Schlafly,
whose mother, Phyllis, is a longtime conservative activist known for her
opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment.
Jones says the project is a misguided effort to read contemporary politics
back into the text.
"Ironically, there's a long tradition of the liberal twisting of scripture,"
Jones said. "Scholars have rightly deemed those translations illegitimate,
and this conservative Bible is every bit as illegitimate."
The Bible's roots in a dizzying variety of ancient manuscripts require a
lifetime of dedication to master, said the Rev. Frank Matera, a professor at
the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a former
president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.
"There's a little Italian proverb, 'Every translator is a traitor,'" Matera
said. "Most Bible translations are usually done by a group of scholars,
precisely so they can balance out each other. It's not something that
everybody can do."