From: cctr114@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Dr. Peter Ruckman and the KJV as divinely inspired
Date: 22 Jul 92 06:20:11 GMT
Organization: University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

In article <Jul.20.01.57.03.1992.4574@dumas.rutgers.edu>, psyrobtw@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Robert Weiss) writes:

>	I am looking for some information on Dr. Peter Ruckman. He was 
>written a few books (I can't seem to find anyplace that carries them) 
>that put forward the notion that the KJV is the divinely inspired 
>version of the Bible for English speaking folks. I would like to find 
>out something about this movement and the good doctor. 

My comments are off the question that Bob was asking, but I don't
think that it is a good idea to declare any particular translation
to be the divinely inspired version of the Bible for any particular
language. This was done once before with the Vulgate where one of 
the Popes effectively said it was as good as the original. Some of
the problems with doing this are

1. The target language changes, sometimes rapidly. With respect to the KJV
   it was originally written in archiac language even for its day.
   The English language has changed so much that very few people today can
   understand the KJV, let alone easily.

2. Our knowledge of the language and culture of the originals changes.
   Along with the rise of modern science there has been a great increase 
   in archeological and historical research which has thrown a lot of light
   on the Biblical languages and the culture of the times. This helps 
   translators understand othewise difficult passages, and sheds new light
   a familiar ones.

3. The number of manuscripts available is increasing. One of the results
   of archeological work is that a lot of whole or fragmentary copies
   of various Biblical books have been found. These are useful in trying to
   determine what the original text said. The KJV was based on good texts
   for the day, but better ones are available now.

4. Translators aren't perfect. Every translation is done with some 
   theological bias. Sometimes if you read the introduction to the
   particular translation they will come right out and
   tell you what their bias is. The NIV, which has such a conservative
   bias that one NT scholar accused its translators of making up texts
   to suit their prior views, has great popularity. Generally I think 
   that translators do a *very* good job, but sometimes they do miss the 
   meaning of the texts and sometimes they are unwilling to translate what
   is actually there in the original.  The KJV was very literal and often 
   translates the words as exactly as possible, but the meaning of 
   those words is often lost to us.

5. Translation methods aren't perfect. There are a number of translation
   methods which range from the closely literal appraoch of say the KJV 
   and NASB, through the dynamic equivalence method of the TEV, to a free
   paraphrase of the Living Bible. Every method has its strengths and 
   weaknesses.

Rather than asking if the translation we are using is *the* divinely 
appointed translation for our language, it would better to ask if the
translation suits the purpose we intend using it for. People who are
doing devotional reading will probably want an easily read Bible, using
dynamic equivalence and with a theological bias which is in keeping with
their own. Those doing Bible study would probably want something more 
literal.  

My own feeling on the KJV is that is was a very good Bible for its time
but that it has run its course and is past its useful life.

>Thank you,
>Bob

-- 
                                                                      ___
Bill Rea                                                             (o o)
--------------------------------------------------------------------w--U--w---
| Bill Rea, Computer Services Centre | E-Mail     b.rea@csc.canterbury.ac.nz |
| University of Canterbury           | or       cctr114@csc.canterbury.ac.nz |
| Christchurch, New Zealand          | Phone +64 3 642-331 Fax +64 3 642-332 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------