Gloss-olalia – again

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  1 Timothy 3:16  KJV

God – The King James translation of the Bible held sway over Protestant Christendom for 400 years.  That means most English believers prior to 1950 formed their theological constructs based on this version of the text.  The problem is that this version incorporated several unwarranted theological doctrines as if they were actual translations.  This verse is a prime example.  In the Greek text, the word “God” is significantly absent!  Notice how more contemporary translations handle the same passage:

NASB:  By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:  He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

NIV:  Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

But God’s Word Translation, KJV 2000, Darby, World English and Young’s Literal insert the word “God” into the text when the Greek uses only the pronoun hos (“he”).  Unless you read Greek, you might assume that Paul described Yeshua as God in this verse.  You would be wrong, but you would never know.  Trinitarian translators simply included their theological dogma in the text.  The fact that several translations continue to insert a word not found in the Greek is unconscionable.  This is “speaking with a forked tongue,” to use an American idiom.  No wonder people have so much trouble examining this doctrine.  Depending on which Bible you read, you might think that questioning the doctrine is the equivalent of questioning God’s own words.

I am often asked, “What is the best Bible translation to read?”  The answer is, “None!”  Or, “Any one you wish.”  The problem is that every translation has bias, subtle little shifts in word choices, tiny additions or subtractions, a bit of a doctrine here and there.  And no one is the wiser—except those who read the Greek or Hebrew text and raise issues, usually to be swept aside with the standard dismissal: “If all those Christians who carefully translated God’s word over the centuries produced this Bible, how can you claim that they were wrong.  God superintends translations so that we can trust what we read.”  Wrong again, as this text and others clearly demonstrate.  But who would know?

Sometimes I think that biblical translations are just another form of unintelligible glossolalia, requiring an interpreter to come along and explain what we all thought we heard.  What I do know is this:  deciphering the text is a lot more complicated than most of us were ever taught.  We wanted simple faith, but we got opinions simplified.

Topical Index:  translation, Trinity, 1 Timothy 3:16