The Holy Bible: A Purified Translation

Last updated
Cover of the Purified Translation of the Christian Bible Purified Translation of the Bible.png
Cover of the Purified Translation of the Christian Bible

The Holy Bible: A Purified Translation is an edition of the New Testament which was published in 2000. A year earlier, 40,000 copies of the Gospel of John from this translation had been mailed to Southern Baptist pastors. [1] It was translated by Stephen Mills Reynolds, and published by the Lorine L. Reynolds Foundation as a memorial to his wife. Reynolds (a graduate of Miami University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, and Columbia University) [1] previously served on the translation committee of the New International Version (NIV).

The preface explains that in contrast to many modern English Bible translations it has "been purified of errors that have misled people, in some cases for centuries" (p. vii). The main issue that has been addressed in this "purification" is the drinking of alcohol by Christians, the translator believing that Christians should completely refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages and become teetotalers. "Dr. Reynolds goes to extraordinary lengths to support his convictions regarding the use of alcohol." [2] Reynolds explained some of his translation decisions in the Journal of Ethics and Bible Translation 1.1 (1995).

The Purified Translation has had mixed reviews, [3] with some focused on the matter of translating oinos , the Greek word that is traditionally translated with "wine". [4] The book contains notes on the translator's translations of Micah 2:11 and Proverbs 23:31. It was reported in June 1999 that there was a plan to finish the entire Bible by 2004, [5] but that did not happen. The Purified Translation doesn't use "thee" and "thou", but uses "you" followed by a grave accent to indicate the use of singular you (i.e. "you`"); a normal "you" is used to indicate the plural form. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King James Version</span> 1611 English translation of the Bible

The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I. The 80 books of the King James Version include 39 books of the Old Testament, 14 books of Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament. Noted for its "majesty of style", the King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Today's New International Version</span> Updated translation of the Bible

Today's New International Version (TNIV) is an English translation of the Bible which was developed by the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). The CBT also developed the New International Version (NIV) in the 1970s. The TNIV is based on the NIV. It is explicitly Protestant like its predecessor; the deuterocanonical books are not part of this translation. The TNIV New Testament was published in March 2002. The complete Bible was published in February 2005. The rights to the text are owned by Biblica. Zondervan published the TNIV in North America. Hodder & Stoughton published the TNIV in the UK and European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiritual gift</span> In Christianity, an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit

A spiritual gift or charism is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit. These are believed by followers to be supernatural graces which individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the Church. In the narrowest sense, it is a theological term for the extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others and is distinguished from the graces given for personal sanctification, such as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Gentile is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term gentile to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synonym for heathen or pagan. As a term used to describe non-members of a religious/ethnic group, gentile is sometimes compared to words used to describe the "outgroup" in other cultures.

<i>Thou</i> English archaic personal pronoun

The word thou is a second-person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in most contexts by the word you, although it remains in use in parts of Northern England and in Scots. Thou is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is thee ; the possessive is thy (adjective) or thine ; and the reflexive is thyself. When thou is the grammatical subject of a finite verb in the indicative mood, the verb form typically ends in -(e)st, but in some cases just -t.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revised Standard Version</span> English translation of the Bible

The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901, and was intended to be a readable and literally accurate modern English translation which aimed to "preserve all that is best in the English Bible as it has been known and used through the centuries" and "to put the message of the Bible in simple, enduring words that are worthy to stand in the great Tyndale-King James tradition."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elohim</span> Word for deity or deities in the Hebrew Bible

Elohim, the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ‎, is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel. In other verses it refers to the singular gods of other nations or to deities in the plural.

Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been written.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New American Standard Bible</span> English translation of the Bible

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published by the Lockman Foundation, the complete NASB was released in 1971. The NASB relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts was published by George M. Lamsa in 1933. It was derived, both Old and New Testaments, from the Syriac Peshitta, the Bible used by the Assyrian Church of the East and other Syriac Christian traditions.

Injil is the Arabic name for the Gospel of Jesus (Isa). This Injil is described by the Quran as one of the four Islamic holy books which was revealed by God, the others being the Zabur, the Tawrat, and the Quran itself. The word Injil is also used in the Quran, the Hadith and early Muslim documents to refer to both a book and revelations made by God to Jesus.

The Amplified Bible (AMP) is an English language translation of the Bible produced jointly by Zondervan and The Lockman Foundation. The first edition as a complete volume was published in 1965. “Amplifications” are words or phrases intended to more fully bring out the meaning of the original text but distinguished from the translation itself by a unique system of brackets, parentheses, and italics. The translation is largely one of formal equivalence (word-for-word).

Eisegesis is the process of interpreting text in such a way as to introduce one's own presuppositions, agendas or biases. It is commonly referred to as reading into the text. It is often done to "prove" a pre-held point of concern, and to provide confirmation bias corresponding with the pre-held interpretation and any agendas supported by it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The gospel</span> Religious message of salvation or thanks

The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits to humankind. In Ancient Greek religion, the word designated a type of sacrifice or ritual dedication intended to thank the gods upon receiving good news.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confession of Peter</span> Episode in the New Testament in which the Apostle Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Christ

In Christianity, the Confession of Peter refers to an episode in the New Testament in which the Apostle Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Christ. The proclamation is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 16:13–20, Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–21. Depending on which gospel one reads, Peter either says: 'You are the Messiah' or 'the Christ' ; or 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God',, or 'God's Messiah' or 'The Christ of God'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian views on alcohol</span> Christian attitudes towards the consumption of alcohol

Christian views on alcohol are varied. Throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and used "the fruit of the vine" in their central rite—the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that over-indulgence leading to drunkenness is sinful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John 1:1</span> Verse of the Bible

John 1:1 is the first verse in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The traditional and majority translation of this verse reads:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol in the Bible</span>

Alcoholic beverages appear in the Hebrew Bible, after Noah planted a vineyard and became inebriated. In the New Testament, Jesus miraculously made copious amounts of wine at the wedding at Cana. Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is a source of symbolism, and was an important part of daily life in biblical times. Additionally, the inhabitants of ancient Israel drank beer, and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture.

Ego eimi "I am", "I exist", is the first person singular present active indicative of the verb "to be" in ancient Greek. The use of this phrase in some of the uses found in the Gospel of John is considered to have theological significance by many Christians.

Seed of the woman or offspring of the woman is a phrase from the Book of Genesis: as a result of the serpent's temptation of Eve, which resulted in the fall of man, God announces that he will put an enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. In Christianity, this verse is known as the protoevangelium, and is interpreted as a prophecy of the coming of Jesus. In Judaism, the "seed of the woman" is taken as a collective reference to mankind in general.

References

  1. 1 2 Paul, William (2003). English Language Bible Translators. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 194.
  2. "The New Testament: A Purified Translation". www.biblecollectors.org. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  3. A review of a Purified Translation. pp. 445-454, Charles P. Pierce. 2009. The Time of Christ's Return Revealed - Revised Edition: Multiple Models Confirm the Time Given to Daniel. Author House.
  4. "The "Purified Version" is A Blaspheme of God's Word". bibleteacher.org. Archived from the original on 2010-11-20.
  5. Baptist Press , "Bible Translation Developments in 1999". Archived from the original on 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  6. "The Gospel According to Matthew". The Holy Bible: A Purified Translation. 2000. Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2020-03-20 via The L. L. REYNOLDS FOUNDATION. 9. A (`) in this translation indicates the second person singular. The plural remains unmarked. In this way, the distinction of second person forms will be preserved while the archaic 'thou,' etc. is abandoned.