https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/OurChangingAttitudeTowardTheBible.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I Peter 1:22-25<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. A new translation of the Bible came out last month, called “As Good as New: A Radical\nRetelling of the Scriptures.”\n A. Actually, “translation” is not a good description of it. As my wife commented, it\ndoesn’t even make a good paraphrase.\n
B. Several examples were given in the news release.<\/p>\n 1. Mark 1:4 – “John, nicknamed ‘The Dipper,’ was ‘The Voice.’ He was in\nthe desert, inviting people to be dipped, to show they were determined to\nchange their ways and wanted to be forgiven.”\n 2. Mark 1:10-11 – “As he was climbing up the bank again, the sun shone\nthrough a gap in the clouds. At the same time a pigeon flew down and\nperched on him. Jesus took this as a sign that God’s spirit was with him. A\nvoice from overhead was heard saying, ‘That’s my boy! You’re doing\nfine!’”\n
3. Matthew 23:25, “Take a running jump, Holy Joes, humbugs!”<\/p>\n 4. Matthew 26:69-70 – I won’t give the translation, but suffice it to say that\ninstead of mentioning that Peter cursed when denying Jesus, this version\ngives what the author imagines Peter (called Rocky) said, including profane\nlanguage.\n 5. I Corinthians 7:1-2 – “Some of you think the best way to cope with sex is\nfor men and women to keep right away from each other. That is more\nlikely to lead to sexual offences. My advice is for everyone to have a\nregular partner.”\n 6. I Corinthians 7:8-9 – “If you know you have strong needs, get yourself a\npartner. Better than being frustrated.”\n C. The examples from Corinthians is why this version made the news. It was\nheadlined as a Bible which promotes fornication\n
1. Of course, no book would be without endorsements.<\/p>\n 2. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury said of John Henson’s version,\n“Some of John’s versions will startle; but only because we have forgotten\nwhat the impact might have been in the ancient world of a small library of\nbooks written in the dialect of the streets and shops, with many of the\nleading characters identified by slightly outlandish nicknames.” … “John’s\npresentation of the Christian gospel is of extraordinary power simply\nbecause it is so close to the prose and poetry of ordinary life.”\n 3. John Rackly, President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, “John\nHenson has the exciting capacity to awaken fresh interest in material that\nseems familiar. He is never dull, sometimes provocative and occasionally\ninspirational.”\n 4. Derek Rawcliffe, “Nowadays we have a generation that has never read the\nBible and knows nothing about Christ. This translation bridges the gap by\nreally putting it in the language of today’s street population and making it\nattractive to them.”\n
D. Mr. Rawcliffe’s comment is the most significant.<\/p>\n 1. The reason for perverting the text of the Bible is because people aren’t\nreading their Bibles. Therefore, a translation is made to bring something to\nthem instead of bring them to God.\n 2. Actually, this is just one a series of such works. There was one once\nwritten in African-American street slang.\n
II. People become free with God’s word because they do not believe it to be inspired.<\/p>\n
A. Hebrews 1:1-2 – God has spoken to us.<\/p>\n
B. II Timothy 3:16-17 – Comes from the breath of God<\/p>\n C. I Corinthians 2:9-13 – The very words were selected by the Spirit of God, not the\nwriters.\n
1. The same claim was made by Old Testament prophets<\/p>\n
2. His words were on my tongue – II Samuel 23:2<\/p>\n
3. His words were in my mouth – Jeremiah 1:9<\/p>\n
D. It is inerrant; that is, it will not be proven false – I Peter 1:22-25<\/p>\n
1. Every word is tested – Proverbs 30:5<\/p>\n
E. It is complete<\/p>\n
1. Jesus promised that the apostles would be guided into all truth – John 16:13<\/p>\n
2. II Peter 1:2-3 – It contains everything we need to live a godly life.<\/p>\n
III. They are willing to distort what is written – II Peter 3:15-17<\/p>\n
A. Yet we find that even the smallest matters were considered significant.<\/p>\n
B. Jesus said that not the least pen stroke would pass away – Matthew 5:18<\/p>\n
C. Jesus used seemingly minor points to make significant statements<\/p>\n 1. A short visit of a queen to see Solomon is used to illustrate why the Jews\nstood condemned before God – Matthew 12:42\n 2. The Flood is used to illustrate the certainty and suddenness of God’s\njudgment – Luke 17:27\n 3. A short reference to the death of Lot’s wife is used to make the point that\nGod means what He says – Luke 17:32\n
D. Look at how these points were proved!<\/p>\n
1. Jesus uses the tense of a verb to make a point – Matthew 22:31-33<\/p>\n
2. Paul used the lack of a plural to make a point – Galatians 3:16<\/p>\n E. Yet we have people willing to alter the text – changing tenses, plurality, gender,\nand even meaning! All because they think they can improve on God’s work – but\nthen they don’t really believe it is from God.\n
IV. The distorted view of man’s position<\/p>\n A. The saddest part is that men feel they must change God’s word to make it relevant\nto modern men.\n
B. The Bible contains the authority of God<\/p>\n
1. They cannot be broken – John 10:35<\/p>\n 2. When man puts his own ideas first, he invalidates the word of God – Mark\n7:6-9, 13\n
C. God has said His word is unchanging<\/p>\n
1. God and His righteousness endures – Isaiah 51:6<\/p>\n
2. God’s words remain – Isaiah 40:8<\/p>\n
3. Jesus’ words will not die – Matthew 24:35<\/p>\n
4. This is the gospel – I Peter 1:25<\/p>\n D. It is man who is in trouble, so do we walk toward trouble or lead people away\nfrom sin?\n
1. People think God is unfair – Ezekiel 18:25, 29<\/p>\n
2. People think God is like them – Psalm 50:21<\/p>\n
3. Man forsakes God and does not fear – Jeremiah 2:19<\/p>\n
4. Man thinks he is without sin – Jeremiah 2:35<\/p>\n
5. In seeking to justify himself, he condemns God – Job 40:8<\/p>\n
6. God grows tired of man – Malachi 2:17<\/p>\n
V. An illustration of the religious world’s changing attitude<\/p>\n A. This is a compilation of Methodists’ teachings on the topic of divorce and\nremarriage from 1896 to 1984, done by David Tant. \n B. "No divorce, EXCEPT FOR ADULTERY, shall be regarded by the Church as\nlawful; and no Minister shall solemnize marriage in any case where there is a\ndivorced wife or husband living; but this rule shall not be applied to the innocent\nparty to a divorce for the cause of adultery, nor to divorced parties seeking to be\nreunited in marriage." (The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal\nChurch—1896)\n C. "The Ministers of our Church shall be prohibited from solemnizing the rites of\nmatrimony between divorced persons, except in case of innocent parties who have\nbeen divorced for THE ONE SCRIPTURAL CAUSE." (The Doctrines and\nDiscipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South—1914)\n D. "No Minister shall solemnize the marriage of a divorced person whose wife or\nhusband is living and unmarried; but this rule shall not apply (1) to the innocent\nperson when it is clearly established by competent testimony that the true cause for\ndivorce was adultery OR OTHER VICIOUS CONDITIONS which through\nmental or physical cruelty or physical peril invalidated the marriage vow, nor (2) to\nthe divorced persons seeking to be reunited in marriage." (The Doctrines and\nDiscipline of the Methodist Church—1940).\n E. "In view of the seriousness with which the Scriptures and the Church regard\ndivorce, a minister may solemnize the marriage of a divorced person only when he\nhas satisfied himself by careful counseling that (a) the divorced person is\nsufficiently AWARE OF THE FACTORS LEADING TO THE FAILURE of the\nprevious marriage, (b) the divorced person is SINCERELY SEEKING to make\nthe proposed marriage truly Christian, and (c) SUFFICIENT TIME HAS\nELAPSED for adequate preparation and counseling." (The Doctrines and\nDiscipline of the Methodist Church—1960)\n F. "Where marriage partners, even after thoughtful consideration and counsel, are\nestranged beyond reconciliation, we recognize divorce as regrettable, but\nRECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF DIVORCED PERSONS TO REMARRY. We\nexpress our deep concern for the care and nurture of the children of divorced\nand\/or remarried persons. We encourage that either or both of the divorced\nparents be considered for custody of the minor children of the marriage. We\nencourage an active, ACCEPTING, and enabling commitment of the church and\nour society to minister to the members of divorced families." (Discipline of the\nUnited Methodist Church—1984).\n G. May we realize the importance of what God said, for it is the living and abiding\nword of God. It is not subject to the whims of man’s beliefs.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:22-25 I. A new translation of the Bible came out last month, called “As Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures.” A. Actually, “translation” is not a good description of it. As my wife commented, it doesn’t even make a good paraphrase. B. Several examples were given in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[78,219,225,192,311],"class_list":["post-45175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-bible","tag-inspiration","tag-liberalism","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-bible-translations-are-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":0},"title":"Which Bible translations are the best?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Bible translations have the highest accuracy? Answer: At one time, Bible translations were an arduous task that took years, if not decades, to complete. Now translations are appearing in rapid succession, and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the many that are available. I'll restrict my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-new-testament-translation-should-i-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":1},"title":"Which New Testament translation should I read?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning. I wish to ask you which New Testament to read: one written by a Catholic publisher or one written by a Protestant publisher? Thank you very much. Greetings from Argentina. Answer: It isn't as much a matter of who printed the pages as it is the accuracy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8065,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-new-living-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":2},"title":"What do you think about the New Living Translation and the Complete Jewish Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am of need of some help with Bible translations. What I would like is a list of good translation Bibles and a list of bad Bible translations. I don't like the NIV and I always felt in the spirit that it indeed was not trustworthy. However, I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8848,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-would-be-a-good-translation-for-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":3},"title":"What would be a good translation for children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to buy a new Bible for my children that is easy to understand but is still in keeping with the Word of God. They currently have the King James Version. There are so many translations out there; you just don't know which version to buy. Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58329,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-new-esv-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":4},"title":"The New ESV Translation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts I am moving toward using a new translation of the Bible: the English Standard Version (ESV). I have used the New King James Version (NKJV) for years and I love it and appreciate it as a fine translation. However, the new ESV is, in my opinion, just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19269,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-one-translation-would-you-recommend\/","url_meta":{"origin":45175,"position":5},"title":"Which one translation would you recommend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been searching for articles online regarding which English version of the Bible would be best (most accurate) for me to purchase and use to study.\u00a0 I happened across your web page: Which Bible translations are the best?\u00a0But I don't think one version was actually picked out above\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}