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[Dakota]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
Well, like any other group, when things are put in writing, it is often slanted toward the agenda being promoted. I believe this to be true of all sects, not just those involved in the bible.

If the bible is to be believed as the word of God, how can their possibly be more than one version?

Well, since we are now deeply into this, let me explain what "word of God" means, and how that relates to the different translations / versions of the Bible. This is entirely from an evangelical Protestant perspective. Your views may (will) differ.

"Word of God" means the original (human) author was inspired by God in the writing of scripture. Some is nearly literally spoken by God (in the prophets), some is inspired by God in content. This "word of God" aspect applies ONLY to the original autograph of the scripture, none of which still exist.

This leaves the Bible scholar with a problem... namely to determine which of the various ancient manuscripts are the "closest" to the original. Obviously, when there are differences in the surviving ancient manuscripts, it is wise to not be dogmatic about those areas. That, however, does NOT mean the scripture as a whole can be dismissed as mere human writing, since the ancient texts agree in the overwhelming, vast, almost all, parts of the scripture. Plus, even where they disagree, it is generally NOT in areas of theological importance.

Now, as to modern "versions." No English language translation of the Bible is considered to be inspired. They are all scholarly attempts to translate the original languages, and some do suffer from theological agendas. So, people who are not fluent in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek need to approach the translated Bibles with some caution, and should compare the different translations in particular parts of the scripture that they may find troubling or confusing.

I'm done with this side bar in this forum.