Let me start by saying that this paper is not a scholarly work, it is personal. I like to study the Christian Bible. My grandmother taught me from the King James Version reprint from 1901 and that is the one I prefer to read. To me the Bible is the greatest book known to man because it tells us of God, his creation and Satin’s role here on earth. The Bible also has many stories that give us great insight into the human heart.
Please open your Bible to Isaiah 8:20 read what the prophets have written. Please turn to Exodus 20:1-17 and read the Ten Commandments (See cover photo) what’s this for? Do I see an image of carved stone tablets with Roman markings? How did Roman numerals get on God’s Law? Who put them there, and why?
Please re-read Exodus 20:4 and pay close attention to what God said to Moses. Later when Moses broke the original stone tablets, God did not delegate the task of carving his law into new stones, Moses fetched the new stones and God did the carving himself. How is it that we have Roman markings on them today?
The events on Mount Sinai happened around 1550 BC predating all Jewish and Christian scriptures from any language. 800 years after Moses; Rome was only a small town; the Vatican did not yet exist. About 950 years after Moses, The Babylonian Empire totally destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple around 597 BC. Many Jews were killed and others were taken into captivity. The whereabouts of Ark of the Covenant, the stone tablets God wrote and the Pentateuch (scrolls containing the handwriting of Moses) are unknown to this day.
During the 70 years of Babylonian dominance the Jewish Torah was still unwritten; it existed only in oral form. While Israel’s people were in captivity Rome starts to grow and is ruled by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus 616-579 BC. The Greek Civilization later becomes dominant and it is around the year 500-450 BC (1,100 years after Moses) the writing of the Jewish Talmud was started using Old Hebrew. About 100 years pass and Rome has a little more power with a key victory in the Latin War ending in 338 BC. Soon afterwards the Greek Empire effectively ends with the death of Alexander in 323 BC.
The Septuagint, a group of Old Semitic scrolls translated into Koine Greek, was started around 300 BC during the Classical Greek period. The Roman Army conquered Greece in 146 BC and the first Greek Old Testament was completed about 14 years later in 132 BC (total of 168 years).
During the Second Temple Period, (150 BC until 70 AD) an unknown Jewish group is living in caves at Khirbet Qumran. They have 972 scrolls of parchment and papyrus written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. These scrolls would lay undiscovered until 1947.
During Christ’s time, Rome is now a vast empire ruled by Tiberius Claudius Nero from 14-37 AD. According to Christian records Jesus was crucified during this time period. The earliest know Christian writings first appeared soon afterwards in 50 AD. Early Christian’s wrote in many languages including Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin but they did not have a Christian Bible and the English language did not yet exist.
The Army of Rome sacked Jerusalem and totally destroyed Herod’s Temple in 70 AD.
The Greek Bible, or Septuagint, is now translated into Latin and simply known as LXX. Yes, we seem to have more Roman markings on what is called God’s word. Why, perhaps it was out of necessity, because in 100 AD the use of Latin is just as common as Greek. Spreading the good news in two languages is more efficient throughout the vast empire.
By the end of the second temple period (70 AD) it’s the use of language that effectively splits worshipers into groups. The Jews abandon the use of the Greek Septuagint. The Greek speaking churches reject the Latin LXX and attempt to modernize and re-edit the different versions of their Septuagint. Most other Christian groups have nothing until Marcion of Sinope, enrages many Roman leaders by just attempting to assemble a Bible based his personal collection of New Testament writings. Last but not least, the re-editing of the Jewish Talmud is finished around 130-190 AD; this time it was modernized and rewritten in Mishnaic Hebrew.
All kinds of Christian writings begin to appear from different places 100 – 200 AD. For example; Theodotion's 150 AD Greek translation of Old Hebrew scriptures was so popular and widely copied by Early Christians, insomuch as that its version of the Book of Daniel virtually supersedes many older Greek works. It’s Theodotion's translation of Daniel that is closer to the Masoretic Text that we have today. Over time the Book of Ester also undergoes several variations. But both of these books, Daniel and Ester do not appear in the earliest known copies of the Koine Greek Scriptures. We do not know if they were simply overlooked or added to the collection of scriptures at some later time by some unknown people.
In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea was held under the order of Roman Emperor Constantine. Later in 381 AD the Second Ecumenical Council was held to standardize the many different Greek to Latin translations. Final editing of both Greek and Latin versions was done by Saint Jerome of Stridonium. The Vatican Pope, Saint Damasus held the Council of Rome in 382 to give his approval and issued the first official Christian Bible naming it the Latin Vulgate. Christians now have four distinct written sources for their faith depending on their chosen use of language (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin).
Around 700 AD Saint Bede the Venerable started to translate the Bible into Old English.
John Wycliffe in the 1380’s had parts of the Bible handwritten in Middle English.
Italian humanist Lorena Valla (1407-57) pens a manuscript containing annotations on the Latin Vulgate and noting places where it appeared that Saint Jerome promoted a mostly Latin work and seemed unfaithful to the older Greek texts. For example if we look at 1 Timothy 3:16 the Greek text seems to be adjusted from He (indicating Christ) to God introducing the concept of a Trinity. Villa’s work, as far as I know, went unpublished. However its impact upon the future of Bible translations should not be overlooked.
By order of the Vatican, Gutenberg was contracted to print about 300 very large editions of the Latin Vulgate in the 1450’s.
The use of the Early Modern English starts around 1500.
In 1514 the bishop of Toledo, Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros sponsored the printing an easy to read, yet huge (a six volume set), Christian New Testament. It received Papal approval in 1522, and was printed in parallel columns of four, commonly used, Medieval dialects (Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Latin) Known today as the Complutensian Polyglot, only about 600 copies were ever printed. I think that it is with this publication, and not the just the printing of the Latin Vulgate, that marks Rome’s best attempt to modernize and re-write all older holy books while promoting Latin as the most valid source of God’s words. For example this marks the first time that all the older versions of 1 John 5:7 is adjusted to conform to the Latin version.
In 1516, a Catholic scholar by the name of Desiderius Erasmus (Erasmus of Rotterdam) would forever change the future of translating and publishing the Bible with his Novum Instrumentum, a Medieval Greek New Testament inspired by Valla’s work regarding the presumed liberties taken by Saint Jerome. Erasmus’s first edition rushed to print and beat the Complutensian Polyglot to the (Swiss) bookstores with an astounding 3,000 compact copies. It’s the Novum Instrumentum that seriously attempts bypass Papal approval and directly publish a biblical work. As a reformist Erasmus first kindled an interest in Villa’s earlier works but it was largely a failure because it is just Erasmus’ personal translation. By 1535 Erasmus dedicates his entire life’s work to the Pope and remains faithful to the Catholic Church. His original works transforms itself into the Novum Testamentum Graece that actually reconfirms the Latin Vulgate. Once Papal approval was secured, his later works sold some 300,000 copies over the next 20 years.
Martin Luther first stood up against the Roman Church in 1517.
William Tyndale published a Modern English New Testament in 1525.
England broke with the Roman Church and Tyndale is condemned as a heretic in 1529.
King Henry VIII banned Tyndale’s Bible in 1530.
John Calvin, a French leader, broke with the Roman Church in 1530.
William Tyndale was arrested in 1535 and burnt at the stake in 1536.
King Henry VIII authorized the Great (Cromwell) Bible in 1538.
An English scholar named Robert Stephanus (Robert I Estienne) edited and revised the LXX in 1550. By using more modern works like the Polyglotta Complutensis, Erasmus’s books and 15 additional Greek manuscripts a much more complete and fully authorized edition of the Septuagint was published by Sixtus V in 1587. It would seem that the publisher has a close relationship with the Vatican. But perhaps I’m making too much of this! None the less, closely following this work the Church of England printed the Authorized King James Version (KJV) in 1611 using many terms of Latin origin.
An old manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch was found at Damascus in 1616. Surprisingly it differs from the Jewish Masoretic Texts on many occasions but agrees with the newer (1550) Latin LXX. The date of origin for this Samaritan scroll is unclear. Some of the faithful believe it to be from the time of the Exodus.
It was in 1633 that the phrase “Textual Receptus” was first created as an advertising blurb to herald the Swiss re-publication of Theodore Beza’s Geneva Bible. A huge sweeping success since the phrase is still in use today as a catch all phrase when referring to Christian translations dating back as the origin of the oldest Septuagint in 300 BC.
Let’s take a moment to look at the English language of the KJV in 1611 and its use of the Classical Latin alphabet; there is no letter J (for example Jesus is spelled Iesvs). This is easy if you know Latin but very difficult for users of Modern English. Thus in 1769 changes were made in conformity with the popular English Dictionary by Samuel Johnson. The King James Version was re-published in Modern English. Since that time the new and improved LXX has been translated into English in 1808 by Charles Thomson then in 1851 by Sir Lancelot Brenton.
It was Sir Brenton’s LXX that would become a long-time English standard. Its success owes a great deal to the publishers making it available and continually in print. This English LXX is based primarily upon the Roman Codex Vaticanus and contains the Modern Greek and English texts in parallel columns. Thirty years later in 1881 Westcott and Hort, in an attempt to avoid Roman influences, were the last to re-translate the Biblical Greek into Modern English. However their publications have not been as successful as those based upon the Roman Codex.
In 1947 the Dead Sea scrolls are found and they contain several copies of Biblical works like Psalms, Deuteronomy, 1 Enoch, Genesis, Isaiah, Jubilees, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Daniel's Prayer, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Job and 1 & 2 Samuel. The significance of the scrolls relates in a large part to the field of textual criticism and how accurately the Bible has been transcribed over time. While some of the scrolls are nearly identical to the Masoretic Texts, some manuscripts of the books of Exodus and Samuel found in Cave Four exhibit dramatic differences in both language and content. In their astonishing range of textual variants, the Qumran discoveries have prompted scholars to reconsider the once-accepted theories of the development of the modern biblical manuscript families: of the Masoretic text, of the Koine Greek Septuagint, and of the Samaritan Pentateuch. However the addition of the Dead Sea Scrolls complicates matters and may take ages to clear up.
Today there are over twenty English versions of the Christian Bible and most still closely follow the pattern set by Rome over 1,600 years ago.
Some English Bibles such as the New World Translation maybe more loyal to the older Koine Greek texts, like in Lorena Villa’s work. While the Authorized King James Version and New International Version follows the more modern Latin texts that were favored by Saint Jerome. There are likely to be many other variations, not noted here. Of course it is possible that there are many non-sectarian views that can account for these English language associations. For example, look at our modern Legal and Medical professions that have a language base in classical Latin while Philosophy, Rhetoric and Mathematics still has their language base in the older Greek.
I don’t understand very much about this stuff. But these facts seem self evident; our modern western civilization is deeply rooted in Roman times. Our faith in God has been Latinized. Long ago the Vatican felt that it was necessary to change all relevant Christian writings into Latin and then gain controlling interest in their publication. Perhaps it was the only effective way to spread the Gospel and preserve the Pope’s views over a very long period of time. It is my opinion that it has worked out well for them. Today, all of Christendom recognizes Rome’s mark upon God’s word and what it truly stands for.
Please take one last look at the cover photo of X-Commandments, the beauty of its subtleties should not be overlooked.
That’s all, Billy 14 April 2012
Additional things to consider:
Should Christians today pray to God and ask him to help the leaders of all faiths?
If the Pope says that Catholicism is the Universal Christian Church; how is he wrong?
Does the Vatican set the style for all other denominations to imitate? Consider such things as the Veneration of the Crucifix or Holy Cross, Sunday worship service, Prayer to the Holy Mother, God’s written words with Roman markings, the Christian Holidays of Easter and Christmas, last but not least is the teaching of a Holy Trinity, all these things have Roman origins and at least one of them is copied by most Protestants today.
Ask yourself, do the Jews and Muslims also worship God in this Latinized style?
Do Jews or Muslims use a Roman calendar to mark their religious holidays?
Has Rome actually deceived anyone or do these things just fit into our way of thinking?
Who can say what is true? I know my own deeds better than I know about the Pope in Rome. I’m a sinner, my heart is hard and my mind is defective, my eyes do not always see and my ears do not always hear. I cannot imagine any man worse off than myself, I need forgiveness and healing. I cannot save myself; I’m in need of a savior.
As a sinful man it is not my place to judge the deeds of others, I’m primitive in my thinking and cannot see all sides to the issues. It’s just plain arrogant for me to say that I know the real truth about anything. Only God knows what truth really is. I have an opinion about what truth is not, it is not set in texts of English or Latin, it is not manmade.
As I said at the beginning of this booklet, the Bible is the greatest book known to mankind. Although far from perfect, our faith in God must endure beyond our understanding of religion.
Self-righteousness is not found within the heart. It is not caused by that feeling of correctness or certainty about our faith.
Self-righteousness is born from our head (crown) in the knowing that there can be no way other than our own.
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice (act 3, sc.2) In religion, what damned error, but some sober brow will bless it and approve it with a text. Hiding the grossness with fair ornament
