The Bible is The Bible is The Bible: “NOT!”
Posted on | May 3, 2006 | No Comments
I’ve been discussing spirituality with a long-lost friend that I grew up with. We’ve been apart for 20 years, but we grew up together in the same small church. We’ve been discussing that influence on our lives since.
We were talking about Bibles, and while the question didn’t come up directly, it got me thinking about the influence the choice of Bible has on our understanding of Christianity.
Many people assume that the Bible is the Bible, and they all say the same thing. While the “truths” that are communicated may be similar, the way those truths are communicated can be quite different, especially in “study” Bibles. Take, for example, the story of Eve in the Garden.
Let’s look at two popular Bible texts. First the New Oxford annotated Bible (Third Edition) in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and second the New International Version (NIV) (I have the blue-covered Zondervan edition). In the NRSV, Genesis 3: 1-7 goes like this:
In the NIV, Genesis 3: 1-7 goes like this:
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God dis say, ‘You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.””
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
“Big diff” you might say. And, you would be right. The difference is in the fine print, literally. Let’s look at the footnotes that come with the “study” versions of these Bibles.
First, the notes for the NRSV for the same passage read as follows:
Next, compare the notes for the same passage from the NIV:
3:1 serpent. The great deceiver clothed himself as a serpent, on of God’s good creatures. He insinuated a falsehood and portrayed rebellion as clever, but essentially innocent, self-interest. Therefore “the devil, or Satan,” is later referred to as “that ancient serpent” (Rev 12:9; 20:2) crafty. The Hebrew word for “crafty” and “naked” are almost identical. Though naked, the man and his wife felt now shame (2:25). The craftiness of the serpent led thm to sin, and they then became ashamed of their nakedness (see v.7). Did God really say…? The question and the response changed the course of human history. By causing the woman to doubt God’s word, Satan brought evil into the world. Here the deceiver undertook to alienate people from God. Elsewhere he acts as an accuser, to alienate God from people (see Job 1-2, Zec 3:1 and note).
3:3 and you must not touch it. The woman adds to Gods word, distorting his directive and demonstrating that the serpent’s subtle challenges was working its poison.
3:4 You will not surely die. The blatant denial of a specific divine pronouncement (see 2:17).
3:5 God knows. Satan accused God of having unworthy motives. In Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5 he accuses righteous Job of the same. Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God. The statement is only half true. Their eyes were opened, to be sure (see v. 7), but the result was quite different from what the serpent had promised. knowing good and evil. See note on 2:9.
3:6 good for food… pleasing to the eye… desirable for gaining wisdom. Three aspects of temptation. Cf. Lk 4:3,5,9, 1 Jn 2:16
3:7 they realized they were naked. No longer innocent like children, they had a new awareness of themselves and of each other in their nakedness, which now produced in them a sense of shame. They… made covering.s Their own feeble and futile attempt to hide their shame, which only god could cover (see note on v.21).
Does the Bible you study make a difference in the “message” you receive? It seems obvious to me that answer is “yes” based on the two completely different messages communicated in these footnotes on the same passage.
The NRSV makes one question the concept of original sin that has subjugated woman and blamed them for all the hardships of humanity, literally since the beginning of recorded history. It make you think about the symbolism of gaining “wisdom” (something that shouldn’t be vilified), and makes you think that maybe the orthodox church as things incorrect and that as spiritual beings, we need to engage our brains.
Imagine a person “studying” the NIV. If this seeker takes the time to study the footnotes, they will receive a sermon on the “party line” of the orthodox church, another indoctrination into the “spin” of church “fathers” (not “mothers” of course). The NIV supports its “scholarship” with citations and cross-references to biblical literature that was written centuries later and chosen by, you guessed it, the same church fathers that chose which books to include in the Bible to support their theology of blaming women for original sin to keep women subjugated and under their power.
So, choose your Bible and you choose your level of intellectual engagement. Choose your Bible and choose your relationship with Deity. Choose your Bible and choose a personal understanding of God, or to be spoon-fed your understanding of God filtered through 2,000 – 4,000 years of human error and manipulation.
It IS your choice.
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Kevin E. Houchin is an attorney, artist, teacher, author, and principal of
Houchin Consulting, PLLC, a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment,
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