λογος
"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."
--John 1:1 (King James Version).
Dear Sean,
I find John 1:1 extremely intriguing. I wonder how far we are from understanding what exactly was meant by the original words. I wonder what was lost in translation. I wonder much how my preconceived notions of what constitutes the meaning of "word" limit my understanding.
Erasmus translated it differently, you know. The Church obviously didn't like his version and neither has history for the most part. If you cross reference the various Bible versions of John 1:1 (I used http://bible.cc), you will find that most contain the phrasing of the KJV. I would say that only 2 of the 25 referenced there are reasonably different and none are markedly different. All seem to agree that "Word" is the proper subject. Except for Erasmus, of course.
His version said, "In the beginning was the Conversation, and the Conversation was with God, and the Conversation was God." I am not aware of why the Church did not approve of this translation. Was it on account of language, politics, or theology? Perhaps his translation was bad, but it seems more imaginative to me and somehow more lucid than the others.
I did find the Common English Version somewhat interesting. That version reads, "In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God." This version seems to imply the Word-As-Christ more so than the others or perhaps does a better job of personifying the logos. No version makes clear the dichotomy between the word being with God and the word being God. I'm just not certain that I have understood this in the manner in which it was intended. My mind registers this juxtaposition along the lines of God-the-Observer and God-the-Participant. But the more I try to communicate what I really mean, the more I feel the deviation of idios kosmos from koinos kosmos, and the more unlikely it seems that anyone could explain whatever the hell this is actually about to anyone else.
Eh, Family Guy is on.. Enough metaphysical thinking for now..
--
WYW,
B.
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."
--John 1:1 (King James Version).
Dear Sean,
I find John 1:1 extremely intriguing. I wonder how far we are from understanding what exactly was meant by the original words. I wonder what was lost in translation. I wonder much how my preconceived notions of what constitutes the meaning of "word" limit my understanding.
Erasmus translated it differently, you know. The Church obviously didn't like his version and neither has history for the most part. If you cross reference the various Bible versions of John 1:1 (I used http://bible.cc), you will find that most contain the phrasing of the KJV. I would say that only 2 of the 25 referenced there are reasonably different and none are markedly different. All seem to agree that "Word" is the proper subject. Except for Erasmus, of course.
His version said, "In the beginning was the Conversation, and the Conversation was with God, and the Conversation was God." I am not aware of why the Church did not approve of this translation. Was it on account of language, politics, or theology? Perhaps his translation was bad, but it seems more imaginative to me and somehow more lucid than the others.
I did find the Common English Version somewhat interesting. That version reads, "In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God." This version seems to imply the Word-As-Christ more so than the others or perhaps does a better job of personifying the logos. No version makes clear the dichotomy between the word being with God and the word being God. I'm just not certain that I have understood this in the manner in which it was intended. My mind registers this juxtaposition along the lines of God-the-Observer and God-the-Participant. But the more I try to communicate what I really mean, the more I feel the deviation of idios kosmos from koinos kosmos, and the more unlikely it seems that anyone could explain whatever the hell this is actually about to anyone else.
Eh, Family Guy is on.. Enough metaphysical thinking for now..
--
WYW,
B.