The Bible; A Protestant Viewpoint

it's been that evening dr powell it's very good to have you here and speaking over a station wypr at the riverside church your institution union theological seminary and mind the riverside church have been neighbors and friends for thirty years now and we are glad for this further chance to cooperate together you talk about the bible is a perennial best seller and recently there have been a number of translations among the protestant translations to revise standard version and now most recently the very popular new english translation among our catholic friends there is the nats translation people read the bible for a number of different reasons one of the things we're talking about in these programs are some of the different reasons among roman catholics among jewish people among protestants and among those who read the bible as literature as a protestant theologian dr paul

would you share with us your conception of me distinctively protestant point of view with which job many us radar rivals lehman brothers and reform words as set the tone for the promise and intimidation of the bible they insisted that we have primaries source of the christian life the old testament of the new testament who has a particular arab independence upon him all the reformers and only protestant billy rose of the ages was insistent that the bible was it's all an interpreter that is to say that the bible in itself was clear that would've had to read it in its own terms and by news of an understanding of what it states wanted says

salo the austerity of the bible has always been one of the basic information said protestant christians have made and we speak off of protestant christianity as a as a publicist religion at a face which is focused upon the bible and depends in a very special way upon the bible even but to mix minister exclusively the bible is the sort of normal the christian life that won the traditional doctrines of protestants how would this and perhaps a deferred somewhat perhaps compared someone with a view of the jewish people well the chosen to speak off of the bible they'll bible but this is the old testament of the

christians i have the old testament and the new testament and the dude together constitute all i got but the book for the jews is the old testament forced judaism and christianity are arab religious one says and for us christians of the new testament that in addition to the old testament constitutes the book i say and now as far as art roman catholic friends is there a somewhat different point of view from that held by those of us in the process tradition are generally speaking what comes out of it also the gm long all full face and really just theologically teaching for the roman catholic is the bible and tradition yes the council of trent

made to leave declaration end distinction from me protestant churches of the reformation christians i had to rely not only upon the written words of the bible but also upon the unwritten traditions alive in me in the church the traditions as they had autism and the cause of the years in the practices all the church so for roman catholics it is the bible and tradition which is the ultimate more on the christian life is it possible to make still another distinction not only between the view of the bible held by jews and by roman catholics but in the world as you and i know it there are many

people we're not within these traditions at all and yet who revere the bible one has a number of courses taught in college the bible as literature or people who are not jewish you're catholic a protestant in the sense of adherents to one of these days but to see that the bible as literature not how would i have you contrast with that held by such an individual arms to get the eye of what i've read recently in rio the biggest scar oh one should emphasize the distinction between the bible that as literature and the bible as holy scripture course the bible consisting as it does all flawed of various kinds of literary pieces from him and at different times and places when you're presenting

literary expressions produced in the period all fall more than two thousand he is that solid off cause i say the bible is the teacher asked abuse of the drug that can be read as such like homer or why don't all play doh all the opening shots are or are there are any connection off of literary pieces but this close and this story is an historical details of poems and hymns reports but also passports reports contain and good news all these are all of our pieces and then one can read the bible as the detroit of course those who speak all the bible as potential do that really strictly speaking have this in mind they some people think they can read the bible as a good joint in an objective way

just in order to get acquainted with at him at avon lake's essentially without getting to be involved and i think that there's something awfully artificial about because even any piece of literature and the body all thought oh well written texts was produced for a a specific purpose namely communication and what does that really do justice to everybody over to join the best one lets himself be addressed in turns out what the author had in mind and wanted to convey ought to communicate to israel is therefore you can't really do with the bible as good a job and remain neutral it even if it takes the bible as literature or you let you look that did speak to you and it's if you want to speak to you you have to

take a position to a japanese side who accepted up to reject it and venue and correspondence with a bible then that you are in relation with it and then maybe it becomes holy scripture to you you've used these two terms dr park and i'm interested in the new views the term bible and then you use the term holy scripture and you've in a sense a midlevel contrast if i understand you between these two terms of what you their eyes are determined by were just means book we speak of all the books on the wood and the new testament has bible believing now by is the book and of course the sport is really carry that but for this one but we can tell you now is also full of reports yes so about the bible is the book then except in so far as

at it is referred to be an extraordinary book the book the bible yes nothing is said about it sent its special significance or in books but then be referred to it as holy scripture then we understand that to be a body of writing which in so far as there is holy speaks to us about god and that in that sense and as into a peculiar kind of relationship with the us so the bible is holy scripture up in so far as it actually speaks is is realized to speak a message there is good as such understood as well be this may be an artificial distinction know that it would take satisfaction in thinking that they were destroyed who is that that the law does say we almost returned to look to the earlier question concerned about westbrook a chore that

christians can refer to a tool to these books all the old and new testaments as the bible but they wouldn't vote to is always good job of the questions we're called holy scripture because believe it as the eighth of the vessel off got to ma'am lot of gospel so there's another term that i think that it confuses people and the term somewhat in the current mine particularly in the light of these new translations and this is the term biblical criticism of what's the implication of biblical criticism whoa people sometimes don't pay attention to the meaning of words and they just accept the convention and a ticket at that without inquiring one is all about

other to criticism of course is derives from the greek word dr crute nine which means to make distinctions and one no one leaves and eight text critically in order to make distinctions to be critical as recently with respect to what it says and this as we speak off of biblical criticism that doesn't mean we want to criticize the bible means we want to make distinctions with respect to or what the bible says or we want to make distinctions in the way in which we approach of the bible now we have these is the scholar's speak of him more criticism and high a criticism a lot of the criticism of the bible refers to the text and the higher

criticism that refers to what the text says all a true that as what the text is constituted a minute could sure the theater the bible it's made up of very old pieces of writing and as these pieces that are no longer accessible to us in the only general for those who wrote the individual books of the bible i have not done lift and they are writing whatever form it was in such a way that we can still see it and ermine and read on the subject of your call but it was always i don't play will surrender these old this library discovered out in palestine recently a still doesn't get back to the book of isaiah which was a funk that enables mobs manuscript was not the book which let's say the prophet isaiah wrote i

see and low oil prices and more criticism as studies that there is so manuscripts in the wage of copies of all ages times and places in which the bible has come down to us and we make these comparisons of all the textual transmission all the biblical books in law that as far as possible to get the most reliable a text that is excessive applause and that's what the call the more criticism of the bible because you can't establish a reliable text without distinguishing i live there is a tech says the opposite of that and after you've got the text as merely a lie what we believe isaiah row then you move on to what you called hired a decision then one has to try to interpret and understand the meaning and the message of the text those

people and almost to an awful lot of reading i'm not aware of the fact that to understand the literary peace any kind of writing is it a an ad aren't those who are professionally concerned with the invitation of literary documents most observers the standards aren't this large all five understanding and having to petition and this is what he called again remembering the meaning of the original meaning of the job criticism or the akron i'm making distinction one must make distinctions between the various aspects of the test subjects and up they included in relation to its origin in relation to those to whom it was directed in terms of the

all somebody had in mind and also in terms of the meeting with such attacks four men everywhere and all the sorts of conditions so now this brings us to the last question what then is the significance of all of these new translation so from this a protestant part of view and from this point of view of high records as you've talked about the words and meanings of the words and here we have new translations this is all part really of what you've been saying it had not destroyed it in two ways the first base mutton biblical scholarship the wake of all the so called biblical critics as a given us said had a very extensive and intensive understanding of the bible we today have a better decks all the books all the old testament and the new

testament than any generation before us we have no we today have access to a very great number of biblical manuscripts for instance is at a translation which is based on the most closely scrutinize text of the new testament and anybody who logo to read this new image by what can observe but just noticing the the footnotes on almost every page that the translators reef are two different visions of want to make sure that every race is this is this is conscious of all of the fact that they relied upon the best available text and then the second aspect of this transformation is of course that the translation in

order to convey that remain and the message of the text has to be made in terms of the language which people speak certainly i'm so we require of translations which opened up the text of the bible into language in which we move and communicate with one another and that this is what the village by will christ to accomplish in my opinion to accomplish is marvelously well and that this is what all the world whenever new translations of love love at the transmitters have in mind not the park where very grateful to you for coming and sharing with us in this conversation concerning the significance of the bible in a protestant tradition thank you very much talked about