As promised, my update to this post. The church presentation on Bible Versions / Translations was very good…and there’s no argument around the veracity of various translations. There’s also no credible critique of the veracity of the KJV. So, picking apart translations is a zero sum game on its face–let’s say a new believer on a desert island needs to adopt an English translation, for instance. Not a hard task–you won’t easily go wrong.
The church presentation did not attempt to discuss the topic of my previous post–common language. We did spend some time discussing this angle and there was general acknowledgement by many that changing language will affect culture, the two are intertwined. There was also a pragmatic admission by denominational leadership that different Bible translations in the pulpits and pews are around the proverbial corner–either a response to rank and file members already adopting a different translation or as a pre-emptive effort to ensure versions stay within sound parameters. Either way, we see a reflection of the pattern that our churches are moving away from each other, and, our members within a church are moving away from each other. I should say, that is my view. I suppose some will contend that you can have a diversity of Bible translations, prayer language, hymnology, and everyday vernacular and be as close as ever…I’m very very interested in examples of this. That sounds a little like the promises of Communism – great in theory, but never in practice. Until then, our churches are moving apart from each other and the members of churches will move apart from each other. I don’t even say this as a lament – well, yes, it is a lament of mine because I value close brotherhood and am willing to sacrifice many preferences for that cause. But, it is clear that the majority of our denomination does want to drift away–otherwise it wouldn’t be happening….so we are getting what we want. Common language and common experience are inseparable bedfellows. Imagine the bond between people who have neither.
You’ve heard it said, “our identity should be in Christ!” One contends that we don’t need another identity. We wrestle what it even means to be a member of the Apostolic Christian Church of America. A person’s identity is made up of many layers and I doubt anyone would contend that all layers are equal in value, impact, or force. No one has only one layer of identity. Most of us have dozens, I would guess. Next time, I’ll discuss some thoughts from a conversation I had with a friend that is related to this subject.