[Manny Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by Brother Tim

Thanks, Brother Manny, for the information that you gathered. Reading between the lines (so to speak), it seems to me that there is nothing truly gained by returning to the original languages, the GNT in particular, when the final authority reverts back to the KJB anyhow.

One small part of me agrees that any enlightenment of a word or phrase would be beneficial in finding the intimate details of the message, and that includes seeing from what Greek word (I'll stay with the more disputed NT for now) the particular English word was derived. That same small part of me wants to go to the commentaries and see how some "scholar" (that is, someone able to produce a book and then gain a following) explains the passage, since that person must have a better intellectual skill than I.

That small part of me is shrinking more and more as I find that these methods of understanding push me away from prayerful and intense comparison of Scripture with Scripture. Most commentaries are written by men who themselves question the purity of our present Bible. Further, to seek out the nuance of some word written in an ancient and no longer active language, one must depend again on men whose belief in a pure Bible is virtually non-existent.

If it were possible to be someone who was so steeped in the language as to be able to function completely within that language, then I might agree that using the original could be accomplished without possible seepage of unbelief, but that is extremely rare. Dr. Waite once told me that he did not believe that there were five such men alive today who could qualify. What we are left with is dependence on some "scholar"s lexicon, dictionary, Greek textbook, or such, to be used as our "authority" on the meaning and nuance of the word.

As for me, I will trust that God accomplished all the meaning and nuance needed with that group of men divinely selected to produce the AV1611 and those editors whose later reviews and minor alterations brought about the Bible which I hold as I study and preach.

Amen Bro. Tim. The goal of any Bible student should be to be in tune with the Lord enough that we can go to the Scriptures and simply let God speak to us. Thank God for good commentaries and study aids that help us who are children in understanding. But God's guidance as we compare scripture with scripture is so much better.