The Real Bible, Part 1
12/29/2004 17:08 Filed in: Faith & Reason
Thanks, Dan Brown...thanks a lot...
I'm sitting in a Moxie Java in Bossier City, Louisiana, preparing to write a blog that I've had in mind for about two weeks. December is just TOO busy of a month, isn't it?
In the corner about ten feet away are three individuals--two female, one male--who look to be about college-age. They're talking about the Bible. I so want to just walk over and butt in, but I've decided to remain silent. I've been in similar situations where I have decided not to mind my own business, but for some reason the moment doesn't feel right.
Anyway, here is the gist of the conversation I have overheard.
"I think the Bible we have is not the real Bible," says Girl 1.
"You mean that you think it's just been translated over and over and over until it no longer says what it originally said?" asks Girl 2.
Girl 1: "No, I mean I think they've purposefully changed it. I think the real Bible is hidden somewhere in the Vatican, and they've given us a copy that says what they want it to say. Like when a preacher says that the Bible says such and such, how do you really know that is what it really says? Maybe it says something is blue when really it's green or something like that. And if a preacher was really reading from the Bible, don't you think he would be speaking in Latin? And then, how would you understand it anyway?"
Oh my. I would need about an hour with these folks to begin to unravel this. And I really wish I had my Greek New Testament with me to demonstrate a few principles about where the Bible comes from.
Thanks, Dan Brown. Thanks a lot.
How common is this kind of skepticism? See this is why books like The Da Vinci Code are dangerous. In his book, Dan Brown mixes enough conspiracy theory and bogus history with real history and folks like the ones in the corner buy it. And they are not only suspicious of clergy, but of the church and the Bible itself.
If you want to read a quick view of the real history that Dan Brown distorts in The Da Vinci Code, see Collin Hansen's excellent article, "Breaking the Da Vinci Code." Or if you want something more in depth, get the little book by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul Maier, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction .
I am am going to come back in a few blog entries and write a part 2 to this entry which talks a bit more about where our modern Bible actually comes from. My fear is that not only does the kind of misuderstanding I overheard a while ago exist among those outside the church, but that at the very least confusion exists inside the church, too.
Silliness like The Da Vinci Code is not going to go away. In fact, it will get even more overblown once the movie adaptation directed by Ron Howard and staring Tom Hanks is released in a year or two. If you are a Christian with any kind of leadership position or if the book has raised questions in your own mind, you owe it to yourself and the people who look to you for answers to educate yourself on the facts. The two sources above are a good start.
And in the end, we might truly thank Dan Brown without the sarcasm. You see, anytime error surfaces, it gives us the opportunity to restate the truth with added clarity. Books like The Da Vinci Code give us a great opportunity to spread the true and historical gospel.
And with that said, let me turn to the subject of the original blog I sat down here to write...
I'm sitting in a Moxie Java in Bossier City, Louisiana, preparing to write a blog that I've had in mind for about two weeks. December is just TOO busy of a month, isn't it?
In the corner about ten feet away are three individuals--two female, one male--who look to be about college-age. They're talking about the Bible. I so want to just walk over and butt in, but I've decided to remain silent. I've been in similar situations where I have decided not to mind my own business, but for some reason the moment doesn't feel right.
Anyway, here is the gist of the conversation I have overheard.
"I think the Bible we have is not the real Bible," says Girl 1.
"You mean that you think it's just been translated over and over and over until it no longer says what it originally said?" asks Girl 2.
Girl 1: "No, I mean I think they've purposefully changed it. I think the real Bible is hidden somewhere in the Vatican, and they've given us a copy that says what they want it to say. Like when a preacher says that the Bible says such and such, how do you really know that is what it really says? Maybe it says something is blue when really it's green or something like that. And if a preacher was really reading from the Bible, don't you think he would be speaking in Latin? And then, how would you understand it anyway?"
Oh my. I would need about an hour with these folks to begin to unravel this. And I really wish I had my Greek New Testament with me to demonstrate a few principles about where the Bible comes from.
Thanks, Dan Brown. Thanks a lot.
How common is this kind of skepticism? See this is why books like The Da Vinci Code are dangerous. In his book, Dan Brown mixes enough conspiracy theory and bogus history with real history and folks like the ones in the corner buy it. And they are not only suspicious of clergy, but of the church and the Bible itself.
If you want to read a quick view of the real history that Dan Brown distorts in The Da Vinci Code, see Collin Hansen's excellent article, "Breaking the Da Vinci Code." Or if you want something more in depth, get the little book by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul Maier, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction .
I am am going to come back in a few blog entries and write a part 2 to this entry which talks a bit more about where our modern Bible actually comes from. My fear is that not only does the kind of misuderstanding I overheard a while ago exist among those outside the church, but that at the very least confusion exists inside the church, too.
Silliness like The Da Vinci Code is not going to go away. In fact, it will get even more overblown once the movie adaptation directed by Ron Howard and staring Tom Hanks is released in a year or two. If you are a Christian with any kind of leadership position or if the book has raised questions in your own mind, you owe it to yourself and the people who look to you for answers to educate yourself on the facts. The two sources above are a good start.
And in the end, we might truly thank Dan Brown without the sarcasm. You see, anytime error surfaces, it gives us the opportunity to restate the truth with added clarity. Books like The Da Vinci Code give us a great opportunity to spread the true and historical gospel.
And with that said, let me turn to the subject of the original blog I sat down here to write...