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by walkerwv on May 4th, 2009

walkerwv

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New world translation states that eon means a specific period of time, and that king james is in error by translating eon as eternal. is king james in error?

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Answers. 2 helpful answers below.

  • by iwnit on May 4th, 2009

    iwnit

    1) <SARCASM> When New world translation states that King James is in error, then King James must be in error, isn't it? </SARCASM>

    Well, actually, every Bible translation has its point of view and a justification of this point of view. For this reason it is sometimes interesting to compare various translations and to know their background.

    Some, however, stick to their own preferred translation.


    2) "The King James Version is a translation of the Bible, first published in 1611.

    King James Version may also refer to:
    - Revised Version, a late 19th century revision of the King James Version.
    - New King James Version, a modern, 20th century Bible translation.
    - American Standard Version, a revision of the Revised Version translation of the Bible, published in 1901.
    - 21st Century King James Version, a further revision, published in 1994.
    - King-James-Only Movement, a position within Protestant fundamentalist Christianity which rejects all modern translations of the Bible except the King James Version; and of the King James Version, rejects the Apocrypha."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version_(disambiguation%29

    "The Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible conceived in 1604 and brought to fruition in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionay for morning and evening prayer. The first "authorized version" was the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII. In January 1604, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans, a faction within the Church of England.

    The king gave the translators instructions designed to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its beliefs about an ordained clergy. The translation was by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) series of the Greek texts. The Old Testament was translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek Septuagint (LXX), except for 2 Esdras, which was translated from the Latin Vulgate."

    "By the first half of the 18th Century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the sole English translation in current use in Protestant churches. Over the course of the 18th Century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English speaking scholars."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorized_King_James_Version


    3) "The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a modern-language translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1961. It is not the first bible to be published by the group, but is their first original translation of ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic biblical texts. As of 2009, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has published more than 159 million copies of the Bible in 74 languages."

    "Until the release of the NWT, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries generally used the King James Version or American Standard Version of the Bible. In the literature they have produced, Jehovah's Witnesses have quoted liberally from the King James Version and many other translations of the Bible over the years.
    According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most bible versions in common use, including the Authorised (King James) Version, employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms. Additionally, over the centuries since the King James Version was produced, more copies of earlier manuscripts of the original texts in the Hebrew and Greek languages have become available. The publishers claimed better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages. They said linguists better understood certain aspects of the original Hebrew and Greek languages than previously."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Translation


    4) Here you can find an in depth presentation of this particular issue, here an excerpt:
    "Consider another critical word in the Bible which a number of cults claim cannot mean everlasting because it is used to refer to everlasting condemnation and everlasting life:

    Comment: Your opening statement is not reputable scholarship—it is a mis-direction. The fact that there may or may not be "cults" who claim that the word "aionios" is mistranslated in many Bibles, has absolutely nothing to do with the validity of the argument. I personally know that "aionios" is not translated properly in most places of the King James Bible, yet I am not a cult. Furthermore, the reason given as to why this word cannot be translating "everlasting" is also not as you state, "because it is used to refer to everlasting condemnation and everlasting life." That is decidedly NOT the reason at all. The true test of this word’s meaning is, usage and etymology. Your statement is designed to prejudice the reader from the first sentence. After all, who wants to be associated with "a cult?" and what kind of silly proof is your statement attributed to these cults?

    The secular Greek-English lexicon by Bauer, p.28, defines "aionios" and it's family of words, ("aionion", "aioniou") to most commonly mean "without beginning or end" and "eternal".

    Comment: Mr. Bauer’s phrase "to most commonly mean," of course is a clear statement of admission that not even Mr. Bauer believes that "aionion" ALWAYS means what you suggests it means. I will prove that it does not ever mean "without beginning or end" or "eternal" in the Scriptures. Note: When I refer to the "Scriptures," I am assuredly not referring to error-filled Bible translations of the Scriptures.

    Furthermore, who cares that the "secular Greek-English lexicon by Bauer" defines aionios as without beginning or end and eternal? Does that mean that we should pick up our tents and go home? Should we burn all the other lexicons and dictionaries on our book shelves, that teach contrary, because "Bauer has spoken?" "
    Source and further information:
    http://delumination.com/eb/aion/aionios%20-%20L_%20Ray%20Smith%20-%20bible-truths_com.htm

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  • by Bob_T2310 on May 29th, 2011

    Bob_T2310

    Some answers need a lot of reading and thought so here are my web pages too

    http://home.earthlink.net/~rubyybur/5columns2002a.pdf

    http://home.earthlink.net/~rubyybur/Bible_Authorities.pdf

    http://home.earthlink.net/~rubyybur/LIST%20OF%20EONIAN.pdf

    http://home.earthlink.net/~rubyybur/Think%20hard%20about%20this%20now.htm

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